Message to the John Edwards Campaign

Technorati Tags: John Edwards, Amanda Marcotte, Melissa McEwen

I just sent the following e-mail to the Edwards campaign:

To John Edwards, and the Edwards campaign staff:

If the rumors that you have fired Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen are not true, then please let us all know.

As of now, Salon and others are reporting that you *have* fired them.

It's difficult to find the words that would adequately express how disappointed I am in John Edwards for caving in to the first sign of pressure from the right-wing search-and-destroy machine.

Where to even begin? You knew Amanda's and Melissa's politics and writing when you hired them. If you didn't feel you could handle the RPGs you knew the right would throw at you, why did you hire them?

How could you even consider firing Melissa and Amanda over the way they express their opinions on their blogs when being opinionated and having the guts to express your opinions is what being a blogger is about?

One of the reasons that I liked and respected (yes, past tense) Edwards so much was precisely because he was a major contender for the Democratic nomination who actually was not afraid to signal that he was going to run a left of center campaign by hiring two strongly left of center bloggers to help with his campaign.

I have admired Edwards for years for his commitment to ending poverty -- an issue almost no one else in politics will touch -- but who could believe now that Edwards will support and advocate and implement strong anti-poverty policies and measures when he has fired these two bloggers, who signed on to Edwards' campaign to begin with because of his integrity in admitting past mistakes and because of his commitment to helping the most powerless among us to raise themselves up? If Edwards can renege on his commitment to his staffers, he can renege on his commitments to his supporters as well -- and those include the poor and working class in our country.

Frankly, I don't trust John Edwards anymore.

Please explain to me, if you can, why you value the opinions and good will of the far right -- people who would never vote for you in a million years -- over the opinions and good will of people like Melissa, Amanda, the entire liberal blogosphere, Democratic voters? Tell me why you permit the likes of Michelle Malkin and Bill Donohue -- two of the biggest trash-talking bigots in public view -- to define "trash-talking bigotry" for you.

It's tragic, what you've done. Not sad, tragic. I am waiting for a Democratic candidate who can stand up to the right, and WITHstand the volcanic lava flow of threats, intimidation, and bullying the right unleashes at any candidate for high office who opposes their agenda.

I thought YOU were such a candidate, Mr. Edwards.

I was wrong.