The reason that I think it’s critically important to push back against the Right’s efforts to have veto-power on John Edwards’ personnel decisions is that failing to do so gives the Right a Get Out Of Jail Free card for their own dubious hires.

The Catholic League, a right wing pressure group, has taken up the banner of Malkin and Riehl to try to determine how a candidate they would never vote for runs his campaign. This is not to concede Donohue’s claim that the Edwards has hired anyone who isn’t a stellar operative or worthy of helping craft the strategies that will be deployed to help John Edwards win the presidency. Marcotte and McEwan were hired for their skills as bloggers, not in spite of them. I know that I’ve written somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 blog posts in the last two years and I’m sure some people would find some of what I’ve written objectionable - that’s the nature of blogging. Allowing the Right to exert veto power over the movement of our bloggers onto campaigns - a process that democratizes political campaigns and makes them accountable to the base - is simply unacceptable for us as a movement. More precisely, this political moment is not about John Edwards, but about what the liberal netroots will let the Right get away with in their efforts to limit our political power.

Democrats hire opinionated, feminist bloggers and the world is apparently coming to an end. Republicans hire racists, anti-Semites, crooks, and alleged crooks and the press does not emit a sound. This free pass has to end and we’re the people who are going to end it. The hypocrisy we see in the sea of criticism surrounding Edwards’ hires plays to one of the greatest challenges Democrats need to confront: the conservative media. An email I received this morning on the subject said:

a guy who (no offense, amanda) is a lower-level staffer uses a few dirty words in a previous job, and edwards caves?

it’s almost as if there’s a conservative media bias in america. but wait, that can’t be true. rush limbaugh told me there isn’t.

The situation exists because the media has allowed it to exist. Regardless of what happens with Amanda and Melissa, the right’s free pass ends today.

Technorati Tags: Amanda Marcotte, Melissa McEwan

Posted by Matt Browner Hamlin
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 2:06 pm

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