A Blogger Resigns From Edwards Campaign
A top progressive blogger has resigned from John Edwards’ campaign. And despite the controversy and point/counterpoint that continues to rage over her previous writings , one thing appears clear:
The resignation will likely usher in a new era in which bloggers from all sides who want to work for political campaigns must now have to take care in re-examining their previous posts and comments for writings deemed too offensive, fiery, and/or prone to exploitation by a candidate’s political enemies. They can become part of a political campaign in ways they had not intended.
Pandagon’s Amanda Marcotte ran this announcement:
I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for what’s right. Unfortunately, Bill Donohue and his calvacade of right wing shills don’t respect that a mere woman like me could be hired for my skills, and pretended that John Edwards had to be held accountable for some of my personal, non-mainstream views on religious influence on politics (I’m anti-theocracy, for those who were keeping track)….
Read the entire post but here’s another prime point:
Regardless, it was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign. No matter what you think about the campaign, I signed on to be a supporter and a tireless employee for them, and if I can’t do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn’t have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won’t do it. I resigned my position today and they accepted.There is good news. The main good news is that I don’t have a conflict of interest issue anymore that was preventing me from defending myself against these baseless accusations. So it’s on. The other good news is that the blogosphere has risen as one and protested, loudly, the influence a handful of well-financed right wing shills have on the public discourse.
Here are two different viewpoints on this latest twist:
Amanda Marcotte resigned from the Edwards campaign. It was her decision. Amanda feels encumbered by the campaign and unable to effectively defend herself from the right-wing. As such, it’s the correct decision to make because a Presidential campaign is the wrong place to be if you want to hit back at the right on your own behalf. Aspiring bloggers for campaigns should take note of the restrictions placed on your freedom when you go to work for a campaign. The personal cost can be quite high.
That doesn’t just go for bloggers. Anyone who works for a campaign could be subject to intense scrutiny if they work in an outreach or public relations-type position.
It’s highly unlikely Edwards’ campaign would have significantly suffered if she had not quit. The main reason: the people going after her for her previous writings are not people who would likely vote for Edwards anyway. And voters who would vote against a candidate because someone doing blog outreach and coordination had written some things they hated were probably “squishy” voters who could not be counted on.
But Stoller is correct in another sense: no matter how it played out, waging a side war would have been a bit of a distraction for the Edwards camp.
But as I wrote HERE it raises an issue about whether campaigns who hire bloggers — and when people read most blog posts they don’t think they’re reading CSPAN — could find the bloggers become targets in 21st century political warfare where the overall goal of opponents is not so much debating X candidate on X stand on X issue but to find ways to drive up a foe’s negatives. And the most common way is to go into attack mode.
Frankly, yours truly was just WAITING for Australia’s Prime Minister to chime in, too….
Another view of this comes from conservative blogger Ed Morrissey who writes, in part:
I’m actually surprised that she quit, and at this point rather than last week when it might have meant something. As Daniel Glover and I discussed on CQ Radio last week, the story was just about over. It seemed unlikely that anyone would find more insulting language on Marcotte’s blog than already produced, and the decision by John Edwards appeared to tamp down the topic.And let’s face it — this story would not have had much more momentum in any case. Democrats were unlikely to anger the netroots by openly using it against Edwards, for two reasons. One, the eventual nominee will need these activists after the primaries, and secondly, Edwards is no threat to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama anyway. By next week, no one would have bothered following the Edwards’ campaign blog to check for signs of a meltdown.
Read both posts in full.
So get ready Blogtopia (a word coined by skippy). Any blogger hired by a conservative or Republican campaign better be ready for every word, comment, and post they’ve ever done to be examined — because it stands to reason that they will now be held to the same standard…which is going to raise an issue of whether political campaigns that need to win over people can afford to hire those cyberspace word grapplers known as bloggers. Or they’ll just have to hire bloggers who have seldom written anything controversial.
UPDATE: The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz gives his take on this blog-politics-flap. Parts of it 4 U:
Days after Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards decided against firing two liberal bloggers with a history of inflammatory writing, one resigned last night with a blast at “right wing shills” for driving her out of the campaign.
He has some of the same quotes we used above then adds:
Marcotte charged that Donohoe had been running a “scorched earth campaign” against her and that he “made no bones about the fact that his intent is to ‘silence’ me. . . . It was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign. . . . Bill Donohue doesn’t speak for Catholics, he speaks for the right wing noise machine.”After days of indecision, Edwards said in a statement last week that he was “personally offended” by the writing of Marcotte and a second blogger, Melissa McEwan, but that he was keeping them on in the interest of giving everyone “a fair shake.” The statement was coupled with carefully worded apologies from the two women toward anyone who may have been offended.
The former North Carolina senator was caught between conflicting pressures. On one hand, Marcotte and McEwan, like many writers in the freewheeling blogosphere, had written profane and offensive attacks on their detractors, using language that no presidential candidate would be comfortable defending. On the other, liberal bloggers were embracing their cause, depicting them as victims of an orchestrated conservative campaign to discredit them.
The key, again, is the nature of blogging as it has EVOLVED, not as many predicted it would be or wish it to be.
Many blogs are less “citizen journalist” sites with original reporting and interviews than lively (sometimes addicting) extended op-ed pages.
They’re less ventures in literary or journalistic prose; if anything, they increasingly resemble talk radio or informal talk among friends (because many readers will only read blogs they already totally agree with).
People used to newspaper and magazines can be shocked when they visit some blogs due to the bluntness of language. But that is how the blogworld is evolving: less (for now) towards a citizen journalist model, and more towards a kind of intricate (you can say more in print than on the air) cyberspace talk radio model. . Except some ideas and language on some blogs would be bleeped out on talk radio (which is why blogs are increasingly appealing to many, particularly to younger people). MORE FROM KURTZ:
Every major presidential candidate has hired one or more bloggers as a way to tap into the network of online activists who can generate considerable buzz, and donations, in a campaign. But many of these bloggers have a long cybertrail that leaves them vulnerable to criticism in the more buttoned-down environment of national politics.
He then quotes some of her more controversial writings.
But Kurtz’s most delicious line is his last one:”Donohoe and the Edwards campaign did not return calls seeking comment last night.”
25 Responses to “A Blogger Resigns From Edwards Campaign”
I’m with Ed. She should have resigned immediately or not at all. Not at all in my opinion.
“She should have resigned immediately or not at all. Not at all in my opinion.”
Exactly! Even though her resignation story sounds genuine, this still looks as if the Edwards campaign surrendered to right wing extremists Donohue and Malkin. It will be impossible to get rid of rumours her decision was strongarmed by campaign consultants. This makes the Edwards’ camp look like spineless wussies.
Good advice by Matt: “Aspiring bloggers for campaigns should take note of the restrictions placed on your freedom when you go to work for a campaign. The personal cost can be quite high.”
Well, indeedy. However, a smart girl like Amanda should have thought about this before joining. Not a convincing move to drop out when the going gets tough. If this really was her decision, she may have hurt the campaign more than by staying on board.
�Donohoe and the Edwards campaign did not return calls seeking comment last night.�
Who cares about what the nutcase Donohue has to say? But this makes the Edwards people look very incompetent, again. Not even capable of making a public statement in time? What are they doing, discussing the topic for 36 hours again? Will this convince the public that Edwards is the up and coming, totally new ‘decider’?
Ridiculous.
Joe said: “Any blogger hired by a conservative or Republican campaign better be ready for every word, comment, and post they’ve ever done to be examined — because it stands to reason that they will now be held to the same standard…”
As in not being completely, stark-raving nuts, and provocatively offensive to a vast swathe of the voting population (i.e., Christians; most males)? I doubt there exists a right-wing blog as stark raving as Pandagon.
I would point out that her compatriot from Shakespeare’s Sister did not resign/get fired…mainly because S.S., while clearly left, is not wildly inflammatory as Marcotte.
I would also point out something Joe did not note in his excellent overview of this affair (there are a lot of implications!): the Duke case!
Edwards’ base is North Carolina. Marcotte declared – in January 2007 – “We have conclusive evidence” of the guilt of the 3 Duke players. If you have been following this saga on “60 Minutes”, K.C. Johnson’s blog etc., you know this case has imploded. The DA is up on charges, and there is NO evidence of guilt. The only reason the case hasn’t been thrown out of court is the importance of the Black vote to the Democrats in North Carolina. However, as Edwards (a defense lawyer) would know, this case is radioactive, and is regarded by the vast majority of the US as a gross miscarriage of justice.
At some point in the next few months, the Duke case will implode…causing havoc in Edwards’ North Carolina base.
Did Edwards want a nutter on his side, who rages on her blog that she has evidence of the players guilt, with commenters who argue differently being accused of being rapists and racists?
This is not simply controversial. Unlike Shakespeare’s Sister, Marcotte is toxic, and her wacko views on one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in recent legal history strike at the heart of Edwards’ political base.
This is not about blogs, but one flaming nutter: That is why Shakespeare’s Sister is still on the Edwards’ team, and Marcotte not.
I should add, I wish Edwards had NOT fired Marcotte.
To have the author of a passage like the below, closely associated with a Democratic presidential candidate, would be like Christmas come early for conservatives! Here is Marcotte, in full flaming, self-conceited dementia:
“I’m not an idiot. I’m a twat. Get it straight.
I’m a hot, moist, inviting twat. Warm, wet, inviting. But not to you or your friends. Even if I were single, these nubile thighs do not wrap around the hips of Republicans. You can fuck yourselves or the dry twats of the self-hating misogynists who will allow you tiny penis to penetrate them. Have fun! Um, the wounds you get from rubbing you un-lubricated dick repeatedly into your heartless, soulless woman–iodine is your best friend, my be-scarred friend.”
Exactly and it seems to me that this is exactly what happened. Why would she issue an apology first … and resign later if not for giving in to outside pressure? She should have stuck to her guns: apologize and ignore.
Marlowe:
Sure, she is harsh, blunt and her style is not my style BUT… Edwards knew this when he hired her.
MVG said: “Sure, she is harsh, blunt and her style is not my style BUT… Edwards knew this when he hired her.”
I would suspect he didn’t. This is a typical vetting problem.
Consider a dreary, consistent theme of the early days of every new administration, where a proposed cabinet member is found to have an illegal maid/nanny, or is not paying social security.
If vetting breaks down at the Cabinet level, why not at the blogger level?
If President-elect Clinton can toss over a cabinet-level appointee who is a potential embarrassment, why can’t candidate Edwards toss a blogger who is a much greater potential embarrassment?
No blogger should ever sign on to a political campaign to blog for that campaign, point blank.
Edwards’ Bigoted Blogger Resigns…
Just when it mattered least, Amanda Marcotte resigned from the John Edwards campaign: I was hired by the Edwards campaign for the skills and talents I bring to the table, and my willingness to work hard for whatÂ’s right. Unfortunately,……
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As a Republican, I can’t help but find some aspects of this story funny. When the controversy developed last week, the netroots framed it as a pivotal moment for Edwards to stand up to rightwingers. In doing so, they completely boxed Edwards into a corner. He can’t win the general election with only the support of moonbats, but he wants to court them and still keep a more moderate constituency. I’m guessing that the ‘potential firing’ rumor was a trial balloon and when many on the left reacted by saying “he’d better not cave to pressure from right wingnuts!”, Edwards knew that he couldn’t fire Marcote. He also probably became aware of how offensive her past comments were though, and knew that she’d be a liability.
This is the first of what I believe will be many examples during this season of the fringe elements from each party demanding that candidates must prove themselves to be aligned with them in some way. Hopefully this will continue to result in disaster for the candidates who choose to do so, and we’ll end up with more moderate candidates in the general election.
It would be one thing for a candidate of either party to use the blogosphere or talk radio to get a message out, but it’s completely another thing for them to hire someone who represents this form of media to represent one’s campaign. In other words, Democratic candidates can grant interviews to blogger-journalists or submit guest posts, and Republican candidates can go on talk radio shows. These activities aren’t an endorsement of the host/blogger, they’re just ways to use the media to speak to a particular part of one’s constituency. Going on a right wing talk show is different than hiring a right wing radio show host for a communications position in one’s campaign, and the same goes for left wing bloggers.
Foul-mouthed Lib bloggers “resigns” from Edwards campaign…
After gloating over media stories reporting her firing, Amanda Marcotte ahs now announced that she has quit the Edwards campaign. I’m very familiar with these "resignations" that come amidst political scandal. I was once fired from a job aft…
I doubt there exists a right-wing blog as stark raving as Pandagon.
Hahahahahahaha… listen, I’m not a fan of Amanda at all — I filtered her ut of my Pandagon reading, and never went back to it when Jesse left, but one of the bloggers prominently criticizing her was DAN RIEHL, who’s crazier by an order of magnitude.
Her actions now, along with the combination of her rhetoric in both her ‘resignation’ post and her recent review of ‘Children of Men’, calls into question just how sincere her recent ‘apology’ was, and show that while the initial controversy was winding down as Capt. Ed pointed out, Edwards had to realize that there were going to be more problems going forward.
There are equally vicious and flame-throwing bloggers on both side of the aisle. Hopefully, this will help ensure that they remain where they should be in the political process, on the sidelines, not part of an official campaign, if we are at all serious about wanting less vitriolic and incendiary campaigning to occur.
Hah, thanks for pointing me to the movie review of Children of Men, AR. Not surprised that she liked it and I suspect she’d hate the book which was completely distorted by the filmmakers. I got a good laugh from this line that she wrote in her review:
Yeah, why should those pesky fathers be relevant at all?? LOL
It’s Always Someone Else’s Fault…
but her critics only quoted her writing, which beyond being foul is so childish, self-absorbed, bigoted, bitter and illogical.
Welcome to the real world Marcotte where in order to be respected you need to act like an adult.
…
The obvious: She was hired for what is essentially a political writing and PR job to draw in voters, her writing and PR skills notably stink, and in such a way that alienates more voters than it draws in. She shouldn’t have been hired. Duh.
CS – Actually, just saw Children of Men with my daughter the other day. Brilliant movie, IMO. Much more subtle and nuanced than you might suspect (which is why so many different people can create such radically different reviews on the ‘message’ of the film).
I especially like that it doesn’t answer all the background questions, and instead focuses on the here and now of the characters.
Oh, I didn’t think the movie was bad…though I disagree with you on the subtle comment. I found it about as subtle as a sledgehammer.
But there’s no doubt that the movie’s producer had a political agenda that required substantial changes from the novel. He completely twisted it’s message of where redemption comes from.
I would have preferred something that was more true to P D James’ work, but I enjoyed the film for what it was. Especially liked hearing “Court of the Crimson King” as part of the score…it’s been ages since I’ve heard that song.
Komrad Marlow Are you now a paid shill for the other side, have you turned into a Capitalist dog?
As Carp mentioned above, I suggest you look up Little Debbie Schussel for someone on the Darkside, she replaces Catholics with Arabs, enjoy.
While the lovely Michele Malkin doesn’t work for any campaign, see is much more effective as Billo’s loofah girl.
Hmmmm- maybe we can get Malkin a job on the Giuliani campaign, and Coulter could blog for McCain. Two of the GOP frontrunners would be accused of offending the 95% of the population who find these ladies repulsive!
In any case, I actually agree with Marlowe (first time for everything, lol) that Edwards should have been a little more selective, since every word that bloggers representing presidential candidates write will be hashed and rehashed 24/7 on cable.
I think many people still don’t quite grasp just how much information is available on the web.
[...] For my previous posts and thoughts on this issue, CLICK HERE. Posted on February 13, 2007 | Permalink | Categories Blogging, Politics, 2008 Elections, Conservatives, Liberals, John Edwards | | View blog reactions » [...]
Komrad Marlow – Do you have a link to Ms. Marcotte sexy talk? I would love her more if she had an Adams Apple like Ms. Coulter, she/he won’t be as hot when the sex change operation is completed. An audio link would be even better. I wonder if Marcotte and Michele Malkin have ever ahd a thing together, this would be like the resurrection of Lenen and Marx, maybe even Groucho
.