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It sounds like Edwards wanted some cutting edge people to do his blogging. I do find it curious that no one over there expected that this would be controversial.
That does not mean I am happy that these folks were forced out. Nor am I pleased with the role of academics like KC in the process. I understand his reason, but if we ban everyone from working for a campaign who has been egregiously wrong about an issue, then we are setting a terribly high standard that will exclude many fine and talented people.
Ms. McEwan, the second blogger, has resigned from the John Edwards campaign as well. She posted her resignation on her blog, Shakespeare's Sister earlier today. This cannot be helpful to the Edwards campaign, but I would say the real problem was poor evaluation of the two before they were hired. Both may be opinionated and pointed, but neither would be likely to win votes with middle of the road swing voters.
Whatever one says in public becomes fair game for public comment. That includes published books and articles, interviews on TV and radio, and, yes, blogs. If you are hiring someone to be one of your public spokesmen, it would be a good idea to see if their public comments are generally compatable with the public persona you want to project. That, it seems, is where Mr. Edwards and his staff failed.
I actually thought many of the things she wrote about Catholics were pretty darn funny. I say that as a recovering Catholic who can laugh at herself and many elements of her faith.
But. A political campaign cannot be connected with those kinds of statements.
Adam, I don't think that the religious left is anymore bound to support the secular left than I want the secular right to necessarily come to the defense of the religious right. What's odd about this whole thing is that the left (including Amanda) keeps interpreting it as a victory for the religious right. _As if_ she hadn't said _many things_ that would offend faithful Jews, Christians, and Muslims -- whether they were people of the left, right, or center politically. She packed her own baggage and doesn't want to be held accountable for it.
Even when they're right.
This also illustrates that right-wing nut-jobs always get what they want in this country.