Do we have a thread on NYT article on John Edwards problems

[leftyladyfrommo]

with his bloggers. I'm always late to the table here and I'm sure this is already being discussed.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Paid bloggers? What does that entail?

Is it for his website, or/and astroturfing?

What's the scoop apart from the obvious? :shrug:

[NYCGirl]

2. Here's an article from Salon:

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2007/02/07/edwards_bloggers/index.html

The right-wing blogosphere has gotten its scalps -- John Edwards has fired the two controversial bloggers he recently hired to do liberal blogger outreach, Salon has learned.

The bloggers, Amanda Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon, and Melissa McEwan, of Shakespeare's Sister, had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs. A statement by the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, which called Marcotte and McEwan "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots," and an accompanying article on the controversy in the New York Times this morning, put extra pressure on the campaign.

Speculation from sources that the two bloggers might be rehired was bolstered by Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, who said in an e-mail that she would "caution against reporting that they have been fired. We will have something to say later."

This isn't the first Internet-related misstep for the Edwards campaign, which had been making an effort to reach out to the "netroots" but has found its popularity dropping in a straw poll done on the landmark liberal blog Daily Kos. Though he still leads the poll by one point over Sen. Barack Obama, Edwards' support has dropped nine points in the past three weeks. He has also come under fire in the liberal blogosphere for his statements on Iran and his campaign's failure to return the calls of supporters and press, and was embarrassed when his Web site mistakenly revealed his candidacy a day before his official announcement in New Orleans.

MORE AT LINK

[FrenchieCat]

3. Just found this as well...at mydd

More Instability
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/2/7/101919/8338

[madfloridian]

4. Salon's tone on that shows they are doing the same thing to Edwards..

they did to Dean during the primaries. The tone of that article is very snide toward Edwards.

[Adelante]

5. Holy Shit!!

He fired them?? I hope it's not true.

I was just reading Mahablog and agreeing with her this was such unacceptable right wing bullshit.

[FrenchieCat]

6. So are the bloggers fired, or not?

I'm confused!

Plus what is the job of these bloggers? specifically?

[Adelante]

7. I don't know

Just what the Salon link says.

[CarolNYC]

8. Yeah,

they've been hired, fire and re-hired already?! :shrug:

I was reading mahablog earlier about this as well. I agree with you and maha on this...We need to stand up to this shit, not cave and then un-cave or whatever's going on here.

Maybe it's just a rumor that they were fired?

[KingofNewOrleans]

9. Unless the two bloggers actually threatened

or promoted physical violence against the Church, I don't see what the problem is.

It is also awkward phrasing by Salon to say "they may have been rehired" when the Edwards campaign explicits cautions them against reporting that they have been fired.

[Pithy Cherub]

10. Where is Edwards statement of either support

or confirmation on this? :shrug: His reputation is taking a beating and he being snail mail slow before the blogosphere gets a head of steam going is not smart.

[madfloridian]

11. The whole right wing is out in force after him, and many at DU are...

helping them. Give him a minute. The Catholic right and the religious groups have a lot of power in our Dems now...give him time to assess.

He was probably caught off guard.

[Pithy Cherub]

12. Blogspeed is the new reality.

Edwards needs to move out or the blogosphere is going to interpret the empty space. Power abhors a vacuum, especially on presidential campaigns. Edwards needs the netroots more than other candidates for funding and buzz - he already was slipshod on Iran and myDD just let him have it. Respect for how fast the blogs move is one of the reasons he hired them in the first place - he needs to step it up or others will and they don't work for him.

[venable]

13. Pithy - I agree with you!!

I do think he needs to move quickly, and to understand how fast the blogosphere moves.

The two women are not fired, as I understand it.

But you are right, you either catch up with the speed of things as they are now, or you get left behind. It's a new day.

Pithy- our first agreement ever. Cheers.

[FrenchieCat]

14. To be honest Venable......I find it weird.....

how you alway know what's about to happen with the Edwards campaign.

Last time you knew that he was going to tone down his rethoric on Iran after his grand speech.

And sure enough, he calls the Prospect for an interview specifically for that purpose.

Now, you know exactly what's going on with the Bloggers, although no one else knows.....and you seem pretty authoritative about it.

Are you John Edwards?
Or do you work for John Edwards?

Cause it just seem bizarre. ::shrug:

As much as I like Clark, and read everything that's going on.....I don't ever anticipate or know what he's about to do...considering that he is his own man, so no one knows but himself.

Maybe its just a coincidence....but whether its Iran, House, or Bloggers, you know the deal before the deal is known.

[venable]

18. No, just a guy on the margins

though I've supported Edwards for a while now - from early in the 04 primaries.

The reason I thought he would clarify the Iran thing is that I've heard him state things very different from the Herzliya stuff. From my spot on the periphery I heard rumblings that this muddle would have to be cleared up.

I also knew from the schedule that he woud be on MTP, and suspected that was a good opportunity to address the issues. My predictions were as much hope as anything.

I know nothing about 'the house' other than what I've read. I've met both him and Elizabeth, and found them salt of the earth, as many do, so I tried to combat the house business with that knowlege.

The bloggers - if you look closely, you find nowhere that says they were fired....and then if you look around different blogs, they began to mention this afternoon that the Salon article was not confirmed. I had hoped the campaign, or the candidate himself, would have addressed this by now. They haven't, so maybe I'm off in my clairvoyance. I still hope they confirm that the two women are not fired. I will be disappointed if they are.

[Pithy Cherub]

16. LOL! You are being assimilated...

I almost said snicker - but that's way too controversial in these parts. Seriously, the longer this stretches out...and in blogtime its a disaster in a billion bytes in the making.

If agreement happens again you name your second, you have to be Alexander Hamilton. :)

[venable]

17. i would have hoped they would have straightened this out by now

Because, as you said, the blogosphere is lightning fast. In spite of Frenchie Cats confidence in my prognostications, I think I might be wrong on this.


Anyway - Web Speed - I am a great believer in this phenomenon, and believe is to be, in the main, a wonderfully democratizing force.

The very concept of citizen journalist is inspiring.

But what you observed above is the different tempo that it creates...the free flow of information entirely separate from that staple of the MSM - the news cycle.

Is that you, Mr. Burr?

[Clark2008]

15. Salon is right-wing?

Since when?