| Augsburg Now |
 |
| Augsburg College > Augsburg Now |
|
|
|
||||
|
|
ALUMNI PROFILE: by Lynn Mena Not long ago, Phil Madsen came across a stray textbook left over from his days as a student at Augsburg. Without a thought, the '79 graduate tossed the outdated text into the trash. But moments later, a sentimental tug at his conscience prompted him to retrieve the text and place it on his bookshelf. "It was a book from the one and only political science class I took at Augsburg," says Madsen, pausing to chuckle before continuing. "The book represents the sum total of my formal training in politics." Which is ironic, since Madsen's unusual path has led him into a successful career in politics that will likely place him into political science textbooks. In November, Madsen, 45, became the Internet strategist for New York real estate tycoon Donald Trump's exploratory campaign for presidency. He is also treasurer and director of Internet operations for the Jesse Ventura Volunteer Committee.
Madsen founded the Independence Party of Minnesota, and served in numerous leadership positions in the years that followed, including party chair, secretary, treasurer and chief author of the state party constitution. In 1996 the party changed its name to the Minnesota Reform Party, and two years later, Madsen served as the volunteer webmaster during Jesse Ventura's campaign for governor. Although Madsen had never done a Web site before, he says in his bio that he brought to the project "a set of intellectual, leadership and grassroots political skills that serve people well in the developing field of online politics. My infantry officer training, sales experience, passion for political reform and years of third-party door-knocking produced a view of the electorate, organizational insights, a set of instincts and ways to engage the people that are highly effective on the Internet." In March, Bill McAuliffe wrote in the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Ventura's election campaign "is being admired for its breakthrough use of the Internet - joining meager finances with high technology to generate campaign donations, instant communications and a quick-to-mobilize force of committed volunteers." McAuliffe added that Phil Madsen "has become something of an Internet oracle for politicians and pundits, delivering talks at Harvard University and other halls of learning." In the same Star Tribune article, Phil Noble, president of PoliticsOnline, a South Carolina-based company and Web site, credited the Ventura online campaign effort as being an important breakthrough in political technology. "Every time a new communications technology is invented, some politician understands that new technology and comes to dominate their political era," Noble said. In the 1930s, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill utilized the radio; in the 1960s, John F. Kennedy advanced his campaign through the use of television. "In terms of the Internet, I think Jesse is one of the most important politicians in the country." At the time Madsen became politically active in 1992, he was a certified financial planner and owned and operated a financial planning practice in Edina, Minn. He has also worked in other fields including the U.S. Army Infantry, auto mechanics, Lutheran church work, sales, software training and computer consulting. After he graduated cum laude from Augsburg with a double major in history and philosophy, he received a degree in auto mechanics in 1981 from Dunwoody Technical Institute in Minneapolis. Madsen's work with Trump will be on a part-time basis. His responsibilities, as quoted within a Star Tribune article by Dane Smith on November 18, will include such things as "overseeing providers and developers of electronic communications," including "E-team Trump," a group of online volunteers. He will continue to work full time with the Jesse Ventura Volunteer Committee from his Lino Lakes home. |
|||
| Copyright 2007.
Augsburg College all rights reserved. |
