« Walking The TNR Plank | Main | CapitolLink: The Speaker's Journal »
October 26, 2005BELTWAY BLOGROLL
The 'Blogfather' Blogs No More
MyDD blogger and political consultant Jerome Armstrong -- considered the "blogfather" by many online activists, including the more popular Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos -- has ceased his independent blogging for the time being because of his ties to Democratic campaigns and political committees.
As Beltway Blogroll reported last month, Armstrong currently is the Internet director at Forward Together PAC, whose honorary chairman, Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, is a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008. Perhaps more importantly, Armstrong is in charge of blog advertising for Rep. Sherrod Brown, an all-but-announced Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio.
That gig has caused quite a stir because many "netroots" activists support just-announced candidate Paul Hackett instead of Brown. Armstrong's role as a consultant has sparked questions about his blogging activities. (The Blogometer has covered the controversy from the start, with news today, yesterday and Monday.)
"There's no upside, and the downside of posting personal opinions, where it's easy to mark it as a political ploy by the opposition, is plenty," Armstrong wrote in his MyDD farewell. "If you do see me blogging, it will be with the campaigns or committees sites or blogs I'm working. ... Though I thought I could personally blog my opinions while openly disclosing my work-related interests, that seems unrealistic given the competitive situation."
Bob Brigham of Swing State Project lamented Armstrong's departure even though Brigham is supporting Hackett in the Ohio Senate race. "This is a sad day for the blogosphere," Brigham wrote. "I consider myself one of the many people who have looked to Jerome as a friend and mentor. For those who would see this as a cause for celebration, I would suggest that the champagne remain corked. I keep thinking about one line: 'If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.'"
The editor of Ohio 2nd, a blog that boosted Hackett's meteoric political rise, also weighed in with comments at both MyDD and Daily Kos. He wrote: "Right now we have a problem in that the people driving the liberal blogosphere bus are also trying to dictate which way the bus goes. People are going to react that, and often it isn't going to be pretty. ... Our pundit/bus driver/consultants need to decide if they want to drive the bus or plan its route. You can't do both at the same time and expect to avoid some serious problems from your passengers."
Posted by | 12:10 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://amcblog.nationaljournal.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/297
