The Edwards Blogger Resolution

by Matt Stoller, Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 04:47:01 PM EST

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.

Melissa at Shakespeare's Sister is still with the Edwards campaign. Bill Donohue's attack on Edwards failed, and we know that creepy bigots like him only have power if we grant it to them through our own actions.

... I basically agree with David.

The lesson here seems pretty straightforward to me: if a blogger gets hired to work on a political campaign, that blogger should cease personal blogging. Just don't do it. If you're blogging for a candidate, there's nothing you can say on your own blog that is anything but a liability for your candidate, so you're just hurting the person you presumably want to win. It's annoying to me that someone like Donohue ends up getting what he wanted in this case, and that could have and should have been avoided.

Tags: Amanda Marcotte, John Edwards (all tags)

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

This makes me quite uncomfortable with the Edwards campaign.

They apparently didn't do any, well, due diligence, before hiring Marcotte. That's pretty amateurish, no?

Then they accepted her resignation, instead of asking her to stay: so, in the final analysis, they bowed to pressure from a professional hatemonger, and gave him exactly what he wanted.

At best, this looks weak.

by BingoL 2007-02-12 05:03PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

She chose to resign so she could fight back w/o involving the campaign. You really are jumping to conclusions here. I do not think they bowed to any pressure.

by littafi 2007-02-12 05:19PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

"She chose to resign so she could fight back w/o involving the campaign"

How lame.

Edwards, her new boss, called her posts "personally offensive" and "intolerant"...the same thing the right wing Donahue called them.

Who's she in a fight with...Edwards apparently.

Edwards looks foolish and hypocritical.

by BrionLutz 2007-02-12 06:00PM | 0 recs

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we'll get a chance to see how Obama does

LOL--your man Obama repeatedly reinforces right-wing frames by making himself look good in comparison with those bad Democrats who are intolerant of any mention of God, etc. I'm sure he would have stood firm behind Amanda...

Seriously, let's see how Obama reacts when he is asked to disavow something some supporter has said or written.

by desmoinesdem 2007-02-12 06:32PM | 0 recs

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Re: we'll get a chance to see how Obama does

"Seriously, let's see how Obama reacts when he is asked to disavow something some supporter has said or written."

Why would Obama have to disavow something a supporter would say? He's not responsible for what other people say.

If you are referring to Edwards comments that people he just hired were writing things that Edwards found "personally insulting" and "intolerant", if that were the case I would expect those people to be fired.

That's was Edwards problem, he agreed with the right wing critics.

by BrionLutz 2007-02-12 07:48PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Why try to defend the actions of a couple of hate filled wing nuts?

by Link 2007-02-12 06:20PM | 0 recs

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cause I think you're basically a good person

and I won't have people speak ill of you, Link.

by Teaser 2007-02-13 03:36AM | 0 recs

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Agreed on all counts.

The campaign made an ill-considered hiring decision without due diligence, and then waffled on the decision, and now has withdrawn the decision, costing a week of hand-wringing and gaining nothing.

But there is a bright side. Robert Novak has come out for Edwards over Clinton in today's Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con tent/article/2007/02/11/AR2007021101168. html?nav=hcmodule

Novak says Edwards takes firm positions and admits errors. The problem is that serial admission of errors (Iraq, the bloggers, the vote in favor of the Bankruptcy bill) is not the stuff of successful presidential campaigns.

by francislholland 2007-02-12 07:40PM | 0 recs

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Re: Agreed on all counts.

Robert Novak is going to take a jab at whoever is the front runner.

by PhillyGuy 2007-02-12 07:48PM | 0 recs

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Re: Agreed on all counts.

Nor is serial denial.

by benmasel 2007-02-12 11:45PM | 0 recs

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Re: Agreed on all counts.

The campaign did not force her to resign.

You really should not talk about things of which you have no knowledge.

She resigned. She wanted to fight back. Smack me if I am wrong, but she was correct in deciding that john Edwards's campaign blog was not the place to fight her own personal battle with the right wing nutjobs.

I wish she had stuck it out and realized she was working for something bigger than that and that her own personal battle could wait.

But she felt it was important to punch back and defend herself. So she resigned.

Those of you who already disliked John Edwards will see this as the campaign firing her. Amanda could get up on a mountain top with a giant neon sign that said "I heart John Edwards" and you would disresect her by stating that she must have been forced to do it.

Here's a clue - Amanda Marcotte is an independent self-assured and capable woman who is fully able to make her own decisions. You don't need to look for excuses for her.

by DrFrankLives 2007-02-13 05:49AM | 0 recs

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Re: Agreed on all counts.

"The campaign did not force her to resign."

Effectively, it did. Via its refusal to categorically refute the ridiculous and blatant self-righteousness of Donohue, its awkward, slow, and, let's say it, limp "defense" of Amanda's right to stay with the campaign, combined with the fact that there was going to be no way Amanda could try to defend herself without the campaign taking some heat over it, which they showed no inclination to want to take...yeah, I'd say she was basically forced to resign or quit being Amanda Marcotte.

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 09:09AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

How do you know any of this?

The answer - you don't.

You have no idea what was said to anyone, what they said to her when she offered her resignation, what Edwards said to her on the phone. Nothing. YOU. HAVE. NO. BASiS. ON. WHICH. TO. COMMENT.

by DrFrankLives 2007-02-13 06:33AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Now wait a minute. He didn't say "this is what happened and I know it for a fact." He said "this looks weak", given what we know.

We're not naive, are we? Can we not assume, is it not even in the realm of possibility, that a political calculation was behind the firing, rehiring, and tepid "I disagree with her and she offends me but I'll keep her on" statement? Give me a break.

There is every reason to be suspicious. This has a bad odor, and that's a basis to comment.

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 09:02AM | 0 recs

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Go ahead ASS-U-ME

you know how that works.

by DrFrankLives 2007-02-13 10:36AM | 0 recs

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Re: Go ahead ASS-U-ME

Oh ha ha ya got me there...sheez

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 02:00PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

No, actually, there is no reason to be suspicious, unless you have a predeliction for mistrusting John Edwards or Amanda Marcotte.

You are essentially calling them both liars.

by DrFrankLives 2007-02-13 10:37AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

No I am not. I am saying there is every reason to believe that the original firing was almost certainly a knee-jerk reaction by "experienced" political operatives, because that's the default action when a minor staffer causes problems for your candidate. Minor staffers are a dime a dozen to these people. And in that environment, that and everything that came after just smells of political maneuvering. Amanda is being very principled about it and not slagging off the Edwards campaign, saying that it was her decision to leave; but it was a decision she wouldn't have had to make if the campaign hadn't fumbled around triangulating.

Wake up and smell the coffee.

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 02:05PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

How exactly do you figure Donohue's attack "failed"? How long before Melissa "decides" to resign?

Edwards knuckled under, and if the blogosphere is just going to pretend he didn't, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in.

by dave1021 2007-02-12 05:07PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

When Amanda signed onto the campaign, I was really astonished. Given how she writes, I didn't think she'd be happy working under those constraints. I mean, go back and read a few weeks' worth of Pandagon posts! Do you think somebody who likes writing like that could happily work under the constraints of a campaign blog, even under non-Donahue circumstances?

There's no reason to invent conspiracy theories here about Edwards forcing her out. The natural character of Amanda's writing (which I love, I should tell you) and the nature of blogging for a campaign together provide a perfectly satisfactory explanation.

by Neil the Ethical Werewolf 2007-02-12 05:12PM | 0 recs

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They didn't think this through together n/t

by francislholland 2007-02-12 07:42PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

I have pretty good sources on this one. It wouldn't make sense for Edwards to cave on this, anyway. If he were going to cave he would have done so a few days ago. Amanda just quit.

by Matt Stoller 2007-02-12 05:17PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Sorry, I just don't buy it.

The only thing missing from Marcotte's statement was her desire to spend more time with her family.

by dave1021 2007-02-12 05:25PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

That's your choice not to believe this. But why would Edwards not also fire Shakespeare's Sister?

by Matt Stoller 2007-02-12 05:30PM | 0 recs

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if they were forcing her out

they would have waited a month or two--not done so four days after the big scandal.

Probably both the Edwards campaign and Amanda should have thought through some of these potential problems before she joined the campaign.

I am sorry to see her go but look forward to watching her go after Donohue.

by desmoinesdem 2007-02-12 05:32PM | 0 recs

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your sources are unimpeachable

right?

by Teaser 2007-02-12 05:58PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

You need to watch what you say because you're feeding the media narrative. The hotline blog picked up your comment and posted it. Unless of course you want to sabotage the Edwards campaign and feed the MSM BS.

by adamterando 2007-02-13 05:23PM | 0 recs

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Amanda will be missed

I'm really sorry to see her go. Amanda running the Edwards blog was (in the eyes of this Edwards fan) like FDR having Molly Ivins as his chief blogger.

And it's easy to see why she left. For someone as outspoken as Amanda, working within the constraints of a campaign had to be really hard, and the Donahue thing only made it worse. The extra scrutiny from enemies, combined with the desire Amanda must have felt to hit back in her usual fiery way, can't have been comfortable.

At least we get Amandariffic Pandagon posts for the rest of the next year and a half. I look forward to reading them.

by Neil the Ethical Werewolf 2007-02-12 05:08PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

This is a terrible sequence for Edwards. He gets attacked for this, then he has to publically defend Amanda Marcotte, and then she quits. WTF?

Well, at least Melissa's still there.

Does anyone have the story on what's going on internally in the Edwards campaign with respect to the divide between those who wanted to fire Amanda & Melissa and those who fought to keep them on board? What's Matthew Gross have to say about all of this?

by blueflorida 2007-02-12 05:14PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Edwards should quit. Hiring this no good was a mistake he should never have made. Her comments are so far off the mark from what sane voters think that Edwards will never be able to scrape this dung off his shoes.

by BornJohnny 2007-02-12 06:26PM | 0 recs

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A new story in the BlogWar

From ABCNews:

The Secret Service has been alerted to an apparent death threat made against '08 presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.

....

On Sunday, a threatening rant was posted on a website run by Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill.'s campaign.

"You're too black for whites and too white for blacks," the author said of Obama.
"But please put up a good fight for us - and if you get a chance to shove a pillow over Hillary's face and smother her to death before the primaries, 20 black-eyed virgins will wait on you in paradise."

A campaign staffer for Obama tells ABC News the posting clearly violated the rules of not posting "threatening" language, and it was removed when it was discovered. However, it had reportedly been on the site for several hours at that point.

It's pretty shameful that Hillary's campaign released this to the press. C'mon, trying to embarrass Obama because of crazy commenters on his blog? WTF?

by blueflorida 2007-02-12 06:26PM | 0 recs

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Re: A new story in the BlogWar

Who said that it was a Clinton staffer that alerted the media? You should not instigate with untrue, sensational accusations!

by PhillyGuy 2007-02-12 06:50PM | 0 recs

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Plot thickens

This story is a little more complex than it initially appears. It seems that Amanda took new heat today for a post on her blog yesterday that made mention of the Christian allegory of the virgin birth. Here are the Chris Cilizza and Ben Smith version of the backstory.

by blueflorida 2007-02-12 07:11PM | 0 recs

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Amanda's already fighting back

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/12/don-qui-w ho/

Go get 'em!

by Phoenix Woman 2007-02-12 07:23PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

I buy that she didn't want to work under the constraints, and I buy that it was her decision, and I buy that Edwards didn't buckle. But it's gotta be really bad timing for Edwards. They should have agreed to some situation through which she was still working for him but on a much lower profile and waited for some time to pass so the controversy dies down. Then she could leave -- for the reasons she stated -- without as much media attention. Edwards shouldn't have let her go until way later. As it is it has the taint of Edwards seeming to stand tall and defend her, then having the campaign have her resign anyway. It looks like he's just trying to have it both ways -- she's off the payroll/doesn't offend the Right in the future and he stood up for the netroots left. That's unfair, but that's the appearence, and it's sad that that's one way it seems to have come off.

by afertig 2007-02-12 07:27PM | 0 recs

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We can help her fight back...

...go here: http://pandagon.net/2007/02/12/don-qui-w ho/

by Phoenix Woman 2007-02-12 07:30PM | 0 recs

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Good for her

predicted here

by dblhelix 2007-02-12 07:53PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

I'm not hiring any house bloggers for my 2012 Senate run. I'd rather defend my own intemperate remarks.

by benmasel 2007-02-12 10:42PM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Why wasn't a personal blogging blockade part of the contract?
That sounded like SOP if not in legal terms, in terms of the professional commitment from the political bloggers I've met.

They went on their blogging haunts explaining why we wouldn't hear from them for a while, and that's they way it stayed until the campaign ended.

by drowsy 2007-02-13 04:06AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

It wouldn't have mattered. Amanda was attacked for statements she made BEFORE she joined the Edwards campaign. They didn't even wait to see if she would be as outspoken once she actually took over as blogmistress; they went after her right away, seeing an avenue to attack Edwards' perception as a good Christian gentleman and stir up controversy with his campaign.

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 09:42AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

She's currently suffering a spam atack at Pandagon.

THey made need some tech help.

Good Christian hackers are attacking, you know. Jesus is all about stifling dissent.

(Note, that is sarcasm)

by DrFrankLives 2007-02-13 05:58AM | 0 recs

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It isn't resolved

Here is the latest - Donohue is demanding that edwards fire ShakeSis TODAY - or ELSE.

http://www.catholicleague.org/07press_re leases/quarter_1/070213_can_mcewan.htm

Also that the Clinton and Obama campaigns condemn Edwards.

You can't help but wonder why Donohue feels he can dictate to the Dem candidates, except that it seems that they may allow it.

by tiponeill 2007-02-13 08:46AM | 0 recs

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Unsurprising

As far he's concerned, it's one down, one to go; and no matter whether she stays or goes, he will hammer Edwards for hiring them in the first place. That's why it's such a mistake to give in even an inch to these fanatics. You'll never win with them; so you might as well stand up for your principles.

Donohue is a self-righteous, arrogant religious nut. He's convinced that God speaks to him and it's his duty to save the world from the wickedness of all who disagree with him. Unfortunately, people like him are legion in this country.

by liberalrob 2007-02-13 09:50AM | 0 recs

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Re: The Edwards Blogger Resolution

Edwards is a yellow dog. He knew these two bigots were hurting him but he didn't want to offend the wingnuts by firing them. That is why he will never be president.Personally I wish that Edwards would keep them both so that his gutlessness can be widely revealed.

by Link 2007-02-13 09:20AM | 0 recs