Minnesota Lawyer
Maureen Reed and Tarryl Clark in the last 24 hours both unveiled maps that show U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann‘s travels across the country. The gist of the message from the DFL congressional challengers: Bachmann is more interested in raising her national profile than working on behalf of constituents in the 6th Congressional District.
But Reed’s campaign is alleging that the Clark camp ripped off their idea. Reed’s “Where is Michele Bachmann?” site went live last night at roughly 9 p.m. Clark’s campaign followed with its own interactive map today.
“They clearly copied our page and used our research,” says Jason Isaacson, Reed’s campaign manager.
But Zach Rodvold, Clark’s campaign manager, says the timing is merely a coincidence and that the map project had been in the works for some time.
“I’m flattered by the suggestion that we would be able to pull something off in a matter of hours,” says Rodvold. “I think it’s just an interesting and funny coincidence.”
Below are the dueling maps.
The Reed effort:
And the Clark map:
