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Back on August 31, 2008, the Austin, Texas, USA, American-Statesman published an article by Omar L. Gallaga headlined "Political discussion Web site owner keeps it neutral." You might find it interesting. I did.
"Campaign staff members and reporters once were the primary researchers of candidates in an election. These days, blogs break news the same way a news outlet or campaign could," contends Gerald Witt, staff writer at the News & Record of Greensboro, North Carolina.
He has a point. Sometimes bloggers get it right and sometimes they get it wrong. At least they are contributing to the political discourse. I just hope all political bloggers are making a diligent effort to be accurate in their reporting and attempts to break news during the present presidential campaign.
See Witt's September 7, 2008, post headlined "This election, it's "word of mouse" for voters" for more of his view on the subject.
Blogger David Oatney of White Pine, Tennessee, USA, who blogs at The World According to Oatney, told his readers in a February 4, 2008, post:
I've received a couple of e-mails asking why I'm not part of the team covering Super Tuesday [February 5, 2008] for the Knoxville News-Sentinel. I think the KNS has put together an outstanding group of bloggers to cover the election on the ground tomorrow, and because of the unique local issues involved in the vote in Knox County, the News-Sentinel needs folks who can be on the ground there in some of the key precincts covering those races in a way that I just can't do. As for me, I have a different assignment...
I'm very pleased to announce that The World will be joining the team of bloggers at the Media Bloggers Association who will be giving our unique perspectives and lending our voices to Newsweek's online coverage of Campaign 2008 at Newsweek's online blog aggregator The Ruckus.
Congratulations to Oatney. If you care to read his entire post, see "Joining the team at MBA and Newsweek."
Ron Klain at The New York Times blog Campaign Stops opined in a February 1, 2008, post headlined "Speaking Truth Without Power":
The blogosphere has had impressive electoral success in Senate and House races, especially in 2006. But at the presidential level, while the blogosphere has been effective in changing the political debate and the party’s direction, it has been less successful in helping its preferred candidates to victory. Why?The blogosphere is an outsider’s movement and the presidential nominating process favors “insider” candidates. The blogosphere is a classic outsider movement. And like all outsider movements, it identifies with the underdog. This year that meant support for Mr. [Dennis] Kucinich and Mr. [John] Edwards in the Democratic race, and Ron Paul in the Republican contest. But presidential nomination campaigns — with their big budgets, mainstream media saturation coverage, arcane rules and treasure troves of party leadership delegates — all favor candidates with establishment appeal.
Klain noted that, "In the battle between David and Goliath, the blogosphere is all about David; history shows, however, that in presidential nominating contests, Goliath almost always wins."
Scott Karp over at Publishing 2.0 announced January 31, 2008, that, "Publish2 is organizing a network of newsrooms, journalists, freelancers and network-affiliated bloggers to aggregate the best news coverage of the “Super Tuesday” February 5 U.S. primary elections, leading up to it and after."
"Publish2 is still in private beta, but we’re going to syndicate everything out via RSS feeds," he wrote.
Karp said, "Publish2’s web-based bookmarking feature will aggregate bookmarks from all participants, which can then be published on their sites with headline links and brief descriptions. Think Digg + del.icio.us, syndicated, with a defined group of users, rather than an open free-for-all (which can be gamed)."
I think this is a good idea. If you want to know more or learn how to take part, see "Join the Publish2 Election News Network."
Owen Walker, described in the New Statesman as "a journalist for a number of titles within Financial Times Business, primarily focusing on pensions," told readers in a January 28, 2008, post:
In the week Peter Hain [link added] finally fell on his sword [link added], Iain Dale salutes his fellow blogfather, Guido Fawkes [link added], for breaking and persisting with the funding scandal story:“Bloggers do not exist to get political scalps. But when a blogger reveals possible law breaking and drives the media debate, as Guido has done, let’s recognise that as a good thing and give him the credit he is due.
Dale was joined in his blog back slapping by scores of posters on Guido’s blog.
Walker cites the opinions of several political bloggers in the United Kingdom who've followed the inquiry into Hain's role in a political donations scandal, and bloggers reactions to it.
By the way, Hain was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Wales under British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Leader of the House of Commons under Tony Blair, Brown's predecessor.
If you want to read Walker's entire post, see "The curse of Wales."
Renown tech blogger Robert Scoble says he's "going to vote for Barack Obama in next Tuesday’s [February 5, 2008] primary here in California."
I'm going to vote for him here in Chicago. No, it's not because he lives a few blocks from me in the Hyde Park section of Chicago. I like him because he's making a genuine effort to unify the nation. Secondly, he's inspiring young people to get involved in the political process. And, frankly, I think the Clintons have had their turn. We don't need a Clinton co-presidency.
By the way, I wonder how many tech bloggers support Obama.
If you want to know why Scoble intends to vote for him, see "John Edwards drops out of presidential race."
I really like redblueamerica.com," an E.W. Scripps Company-owned political and cultural Web site that debuted January 16, 2008. This is what the company says on its "About Us "page:
America is a divided nation. Red or blue. Republican or Democrat. Liberal or conservative. Is there any media platform where the two sides come together? Is there any common ground? Fox or CNN? Wall Street Journal or New York Times? Free Republic or DailyKos?"We believe the answer is yes," the Scripps adds. "We believe that a significant percentage of American adults – peopleSadly, the answer appears to be, “No.”
If there were, would people from both sides flock to it?
who vote regularly, people who care about news, people involved in their community – would go to a Web site where they could read the best thinking from both sides of issues they care about." "That’s why we created redblueamerica.com."
I encourage TBJ readers to visit the blog, if you haven't already. I'd love to know what you think about its goals.
The site is powered by the Drupal open source content management system. For more on this, see "Scripps goes with Drupal for RedBlueAmerica.com."
Note: Links were added above for readers, especially international readers, who may not be aware of the terminology used in the statement above.
The January 16, 2008, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an informative feature about journalists "on the press bus on Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani's three-day, 700-mile tour of Florida this week."
According to Post-Gazette Political Correspondent Mackenzie Carpenter, who "is on the campaign trail in Florida:
Journalists aboard the Giuliani juggernaut may still get a little punchy after a long day -- Monday night's schedule stretched 16 hours to nearly midnight -- but for the most part, they're a serious, hardworking bunch of 30-and-early-40-somethings who face pressures unheard of just a few years ago.
Carpenter said, "The insatiable demands the 24/7 news cycle -- print, Web blogging, "v-logs," video for television, audio for radio and live stand-up -- is a far cry from "The Boys on the Bus," as reporters on a presidential campaign were described in Timothy Crouse's classic 1972 book, hunched over their portable typewriters banging out one story before that night's deadline."
By the way, "The Boys on the Bus" is one of the best books I've ever read on reporters covering political campaigns.
If you want to read more of Carpenter's article, please see "High-tech changes reporters' lives.
The Blogometer, "a daily report from The Hotline taking the temperature of the political blogosphere," says in a January 9, 2008, analysis of how poll numbers in New Hampshire led some political bloggers to draw inaccurate conclusions about the outcome of the contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton:
The New Hampshire primary has come and gone, and while most bloggers accurately predicted a John McCain victory, no one expected Hillary Clinton to win. Bloggers on the left and right are shell-shocked that HRC managed to win after a string of polls showed Barack Obama with a substantial lead. Bloggers are speculating that a number of factors could have been responsible for HRC's victory, from the Bradley effect to Michael Whouley's GOTV talents to McCain peeling away Obama's independent voters.
Blogometer said, "Most liberal bloggers agree that women voters broke heavily in favor of HRC out of anger at the media's (allegedly) unfair coverage of her. One thing is clear: regardless of what Matt Drudge says, HRC isn't going anywhere."
I think The Blogometer's analysis is worth perusing. If you're curious, please see "1/9: Let's Hear It For The Girl.
Technorati Tags: Blogometer, Political Bloggers, New Hampshire Primary
Karen Brooks of The Dallas Morning News notes is a January 9, 2008, article that "The results weren't even in when the blogosphere started to hum with a theory that sharply divided Democrats online: Barack Obama lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire because the vote was rigged."
If you want to read more, please see "Bloggers form theory New Hampshire vote was rigged."
Technorati Tags: New Hampshire Vote, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Blogosphere
The New York Times' Katharine Q. Seelye reported January 1, 2008, that Republican Presidential Candidate Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee of Arkansas "held a little event here [in Des Moines, Iowa] on Tuesday [January 1, 2008] to thank the roughly 700 bloggers who, he said, were responsible for keeping his campaign alive."
"Because he had no money and initially got very little media attention, he said, he could not have kept going without their dedication," Seelye reported
To read the entire article, see "Huckabee Thanks Bloggers."
Tags: Michael Huckabee, Conservative Bloggers, Katharine Q. Seelye
In a December 22, 2007, post in the Netherlands-based PoliGazette headlined "The Nature of the Political Debate in the US," founder and Editor-in-Chief Michael van der Galien made the following observation:
If you want to get an idea of just how poisoned, obsessed and idiotic the political debate is in the US these days, just read these posts and articles on whether or not Mitt Romney literally saw his father marching together with Martin Luther King Jr. That’s just sad.
The observer from abroad said, "It’s interesting to see that, now that the elections come closer, bloggers - almost each and every single one of them - suddenly turn into activists."
With this gross exaggeration, I presume he means political bloggers. Most bloggers, myself included, probably don't give a damn whether Romney's father, George Wilcken Romney, marched with Martin Luther King.
Technorati Tags: PoliGazette, Michael va der Glaien, U.S. Politics
I've finally gotten around to taking a look at "The Ruckus, "a new group blog about politics for Newsweek.com launched by Newsweek and the Media Bloggers Association (MBA). Conclusion: It's a great concept and is a strong indicator of how so-called mainstream media outlets and skilled bloggers can work together.
I congratulate Robert Cox, the MBA's president and founder, for the progressive leadership he's displayed in making the organization a force that is taken seriously in reputable media circles.
As The Ruckus notes, "The blog will feature posts from nine MBA-member bloggers about the presidential campaign on a single page, giving Newsweek.com..." In fact, it is already doing it.
Technorati Tags: The Ruckus, The Media Bloggers Association, Newsweek
Technorati Tags: Fort Wayne Blogger Network, The Centerline, New Media, New Rules
Technorati Tags: Bluegrass Policy Blog
I like the simplicity of Blogs for Fred Thompson. It's well-organized and has a clean look.
CHICAGO, USA -- Eric J. Sinrod, a partner at "Duane Morris LLP, one of the 100 largest law firms in the world," has a September 19, 2007, post at c|net News.com headlined "Why political bloggers can breathe easier."
According to Sinrod, "political bloggers can breathe a sigh of relief, as the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has just resolved two complaints by determining that Internet blogging activities are not within FEC regulation because such activities fall within media and volunteer exemptions to the Federal Election Campaign Act."
Politico Senior Editor Andrew Glass asks in a September 4, 2007, column: "How did [Washington Post columnist] David Broder go from being revered as the dean of the Washington political press corps to being reviled on both the left and the right as the apotheosis of what has come to be known as Broderism?"
For Glass' answer, see "Why can't we all practice Broderism?" Thanks to Rox Populi for the tip.
On August 9, 2007, author, blogger and columnist Eric Alterman, professor of Journalism at the CUNY [City University of New York] Graduate School of Journalism, among other other things raised what I think are important questions about bloggers and blogging and tried to provide some answers. Notes Alterman:
MSNBC.com asked yours truly to create a blog back in the spring of 2002. We called it "Altercation," and it was the first mainstream media outlet to publish a blog. Now virtually every mainstream media outlet publishes one. So what is a blogger anymore?Is blogging about attitude? About unprofessionalism? Is it about partisanship? Is it merely about publishing what you write in little snippets right away and inviting reaction? Is it about not trusting the mainstream media to tell the truth?
Alterman said, "The question arises in part because of the extraordinary attention paid to the netroots community at the second Yearly Kos convention [link added], which took place last weekend [August 2- 5, 2007] in Chicago."
To read his entire perspective, see "The Rise and Rise of 'Netroots Nation'."
PressThink editor Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University and one of the foremost analysts of new and old media, has produced the best analysis I've read so far on press coverage of the YearlyKos Convention held in Chicago this past weekend. Writes Rosen in an August 5, 2007, post at PressThink headlined "Why Do We Suck? and Other Questions Political Journalists Asked Themselves at YearlyKos":
I've been reviewing the press coverage, blogging and video from the Yearly Kos conference in Chicago, trying to make sense of what happened between the press and the liberal blogosphere at this event. My main conclusion: more respect expressed for the blogosphere, and a little less wariness between the two groups. (But let's not overstate it.)
Can it be said better that? Perhaps. But when I read Jay's post, my conclusion was: Damn! This man is good. By the way, the post was also published in The Huffington Post, where Jay also blogs.
Can local bloggers "influence the outcome of small elections"? An August 4, 2004, article in the San Francisco Chronicle on the YearlyKos Convention held in Chicago this past weekend suggest they can.
Writes reporter Joe Garofoli from Chicago: "And as more newspapers cut staff and can't cover many of the stories they used to, bloggers who cover local politics have become the de facto watchdog in some communities and over some areas of government. While they see the news through a partisan political lens, their reporting has become a tip sheet for journalists at traditional outlets. Like the recent YouTube/CNN debate that featured questions asked by "real people," the rise of local bloggers is another step in the convergence of old and new media."
Well said, Mr. Garofoli. To read his entire post, please see "Local blogs are key to future of politics."
R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator, asserts in an April 12, 2007, post:
Now, cowed by the bullies, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have pulled out of forthcoming Black Caucus-Fox debates. There is courage for you. An anonymous army of bloggers from Color of Change and MoveOn sitting around in their pajamas and underwear tap out threats and the aforementioned Democratic presidential candidates vamoose.
"Yet there is the stuff of amusement here," Tyrrell contends. "Despite their tough language the bloggers' uniforms remain pajamas and underwear. The tougher ones probably wear no clothes at all. Sitting before their computers the naked armies of the night are intent on taking over the Democratic Party. I look forward to their appearance at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. My only question is: Who will be pliable enough to be their candidate?"
I would think Tyrrell would appreciate such vigorous displays of democracy. To read more, please see "The Naked Bloggers."
"Yesterday [April 11, 2007] in a conference call with conservative bloggers, [Republican presidential candidate John] McCain attempted to pander to the blogosphere by ensuring them that they would be tapped in to his administration, if he becomes president," reports Think Progress in an April 12, 2007, post headlined "McCain Panders To Bloggers After Previously Calling Them ‘Infatuated With Self-Expression’"
The Hotline, National Journal's daily briefing on politics, today highlighted Greg Cole's Giuliani Blog'. There's a brief interview with Cole. Alex Locke of Students for Barack Obama will be highlighted next, according to The Hotline.
The growing excitement surrounding the U.S. presidential campaign has caused me to resurrect The National Political Observer, which was founded during the 2004 political campaign and suspended in November 2005.
It will offer occasional political news, commentary and gossip about politicians, pundits, political journalists and other players in the U.S. political arena.
According to Jonathan Montpetit at Canada's CNews, the Canadian province of "Quebec's political leaders are ,,, being forced to take their [political] campaigns to a less traditional and more lawless battleground - the Internet."
"While the web has played in a role in past campaigns, this is the first provincial election where parties are seeking to harness the power of blogs," Montpetit reported March 3, 2007.
To read more, please see "Blogs the new frontier in Quebec politics."
"Since You Asked," journalist Joe Klein's March 2, 2007, post at the TIME magazine blog Swampland, continues to elicit responses from some bloggers and commenters. The post is Klein's idea of what constitutes "a left-wing extremist."
Joseph "Paradox" Arrieta over at The Left Coaster offers a strong rebuttal with "Picked the Wrong Guy, Joe."
Nicole Casal Moore at NCSL State Legislatures Magazine, a forum maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures, published an article in the January 2007 edition headlined "Bloggers Press for Power." She noted that "Whether bloggers qualify for press credentials is getting a lot of attention in state capitols."
Frank D. Russo, proprietor of California Progress Report, cites that article in a February 25, 2007, post headlined 
"Important First Amendment Considerations on Press Credentials to Cover the California Legislature. It's an account of his effort to obtain press credentials this year to cover the California legislature. He received a press badge from the legislature in 2006.
According to Russo, on January 3, 2007, "the first day" applications "were available, I submitted another "Application for Accreditation" for a media credential to the Legislature. I'm told that my application has been approved by the Joint Rules Committee of the Legislature and the Sergeants at Arm," he wrote.
"However," he added, "the Capitol Correspondents Association, which, according to Joint Rule 32 of the Legislature is supposed to "authenticate" it has failed to approve me. So, I don't have my media credential."
Both articles are definitely worth reading. The question of press credentials for political bloggers and bloggers interested in covering trials won't be going away anytime soon.
I really like Cliff Schecter's reporting and commentary over at The Real McCain, which is described as "an educational project of Brave New Films."
Schecter uses the blog to fact check Arizona Senator John McCain. If you're following the presidential campaigns, you know that McCain is seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
Well, if you want to know anything about his flip-flops on issues, see The Real McCain. While Schecter's reports are opinionated, and sometimes caustic, I don't regard them as nasty and mean-spirited. That's why I'm a subscriber.
DesMoinesRegister.com has a February 24, 2007, post headlined "What the bloggers are saying about Vilsack." That's Governor Thomas James Vilsack of American state of Iowa who ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president February 23, 2007, because he couldn't raise enough money to make it worthwhile.
As you might expect, fat cat Democrats and Independents are giving the bulk of their donations and holding fundraisers for Senator Barack Obama, former John Edwards and Senator Hillary Clinton.
"These days, even the U.S. State Department is blogging," notes Tara Copp, a staff writer at the American-Statesman newspaper in Austin Texas, USA, in the introduction to a February 18, 2007, Q & A with Karen Hughes, "the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs," who has "hired a half-dozen Arabic speakers to surf international blogs and post messages that counter "propaganda and rumors with facts."
To read about Hughes' sisyphysian efforts, see "Q&A: Karen Hughes: Bush diplomat hopes programs prevent further anti-Americanism from taking root.
Washington, DC-based political activist and blogger Matt Stoller has a February 17, 2007, post at MyDD headlined "The Role of a Campaign Blogger." He describes "four basic duties of a campaign blogger or netroots specialist." They are:
Smear patrol:Your chief responsibility is to detect smears on the Internet from the right and bring those to the attention of the communications director along with a plan of action to deal with them. Let's just say that the Edwards campaign didn't do this.Content management: Since good bloggers do a lot of listening, bloggers are in a good position to write emails that resonate and blog posts that help describe your candidate's position. Again, coordination with the comm team is critical.
Online Surrogate Management: Campaign bloggers should serve as the editor of the campaign blog, bringing in perspectives from field, media, management, surrogates, candidate and campaign manager.
Blogger Outreach: Campaign bloggers need to communicate with a network of bloggers that share their candidate's values and are interested in the race. They should use this network to influence influentials and reach voters as efficiently as possible.
Stoller said, "They must also communicate with the larger universe of bloggers who have interest but not allegiance to your candidate, providing them with information they find helpful and open discourse."
He offers much more on the subject. I think its worth reading. Bloggers venturing into political combat need all the advice they can get. They don't have to use it. But at least read or listen to it.
Pandagon blogger Amanda Marcotte has a post at Salon.com headlined "Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign."
I recommend it. I also recommend Joan Walsh's Fighting words All word in politics are potentially fighting words. They are like bullets.
Tris Hussey over at Blog the Campaign in 08 asks in a February 13, 2007, post: "Should campaigns use professional bloggers--or can candidates really blog? "
His post was prompted by Jim Turner's February 12, 2007, post headlined "Hiring Professional Bloggers Is Popular."
Pandagon blogger Amanda Marcotte explains in a February 12, 2007, post why she resigned from the presidential campaign of former Senator John Edwards. See "Announcement" and the more than 260 comments it had generated at post-time. Marcotte wrote:
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). Bill Donohue—anti-Semite, right wing lackey whose entire job is to create non-controversies in order to derail liberal politics—has been running a scorched earth campaign to get me fired for my personal beliefs and my writings on this blog.
"In fact," Marcotte adds, "he’s made no bones about the fact that his intent is to “silence” me, as if he—a perfect stranger—should have a right to curtail my freedom of speech. Why? Because I’m a woman? Because I’m pro-choice? Because I’m not religious? All of the above, it seems."
Amanda, he can't silence you as long as you have your blog or can blog at other sites. What he can do is use your past posts to made it appear to some people that you are a detriment rather than an asset to your candidate. It takes skill and diplomacy to win political wars. The key is not to make enemies if it's not necessary.
Denver Post staff writer Claire Martin reported February 12, 2007, that "The increasingly muscular spectrum of blogs and websites known as the blogosphere offers candidates a forum both intangible and substantial." She noted:
Politicians announce their candidacy via online video and podcasts, which appeal to voters because of immediacy, transparency and convenience. They pepper supporters with e-mailed updates and fundraising solicitations. They post on blogs and conduct question-and-answer sessions.
Martin said, "Their supporters can mobilize a demonstration - real or virtual - within hours of sending e-mails and text messages."
Not only that they can instantly check lying politicians, journalists and bloggers. To read more, please see "Net inspires politics up from roots."
C-SPAN will record "Blog to the Chief: The Impact of Political Blogs on the 2008 Election," an event set for 7:30 p.m. on February 13, 2007, at the University of Kansas at Lawrence's Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, according to InfoZine Kansas City, "Greater Kansas City's user-driven news source."
According to InfoZine, bloggers scheduled to take part in the free event are:
(1) Patrick Hynes, blog consultant for Senator John McCain's Straight Talk America PAC and creator of the blog Ankle Biting Pundits;
(2) Erick Erickson, managing editor of the conservative blog RedState.com;
(3) Jerome Armstrong, one of the architects of Howard Dean's Internet campaign;
(4) Joan McCarter, a contributing editor at Daily Kos; and
(5) Scott Johnson, co-founder of Power Line blog.
NOTE: Links added for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the participating bloggers. The descriptions of the participants are as found in InfoZine's February 12, 2007 post.
"The 2008 Presidential campaign has its first official political-religious-technological controversy," The Los Angeles Times opines in a February 11, 2007, editorial.
"Last week," the paper noted, "Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, issued a broadside against Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, two relatively obscure bloggers recently hired by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, calling them "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots." The candidate's response — and the blogosphere's — show how both entities are changing each other," The Times contends.
To read more, please see "Campaign bloggers caught in web."
NOTE: links were added to The Times' editorial for clarity and for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the issues that prompted the editorial.
"My writings on my personal blog Pandagon on the issue of religion are generally satirical in nature and always intended 
strictly as a criticism of public policies and politics," wrote John Edward's campaign blogger Amanda Marcotte in response to attempts by William Donohue, president of the Catholic League [for Religious and Civilrights to get her fired for alleged anti-Catholic rants, among other things.
Donohue and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin's attacks on Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, who blogged at Shakespeare’s Sister before hooking up with Edwards, have started a furious, he said she said debate among political bloggers.
To read more, please see "About My Personal Blog."
Out of the 50 or more blogs posts, both liberal and conservative, that I read on the political controversy surrounding John Edward's campaign bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan, posts by Garance Franke-Ruta over at The American Prospect and James Joyner at Outside The Beltway made the most sense to me. Bloggers who think people should be able to say whatever they wanted and not be judged on it when they entered the political big leagues made the least sense.
It's war folks, the kind where each sides is game for the takedown. And the first thing you try to takeout in war is the other side's communications. It's a long-standing practice. So why the surprise when conservatives went after Marcotte and McEwan?
As Blogging Journalists readers probably know by now, Marcotte blogged at Pandagon before leaving to take a job with the Edwards campaign, and McEwan blogged at Shakespeare’s Sister before she hooked up with Edwards. According to published reports, Marcotte was hired as a campaign blogmaster and Edward's netroots coordinator, whatever that is.
As Matt Ortega notes in a February 7, 2007, article at The Huffington Post, "William Donohue [link added], president of the Catholic League [for Religious and Civilrights [link added], levied strong allegations against [the] two Edwards campaign bloggers for comments he claims were "anti-Catholic." Donohue is known for incredibly insensitive remarks of his own," Ortega noted. See "Donohue: Other People Bad, in General, Actors, Jews and Muslims, in Particular People Bad, in General, Actors, Jews and Muslims, in Particular."
The hiring infuriated some conservative activists and bloggers. Catholic World News quoted Donohue as saying Senator Edwards “is a decent man who has had his campaign tarnished by two anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots. He has no choice but to fire them immediately.” Donohue and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin's
