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In The Blog's-Eye: Still No There There?

Blogger Matt Stoller caused a stir at last year's Democratic Party convention in Boston when he dared to speak something other than a positive word about party darling Barack Obama.

"To be honest, I don't get the big deal," Stoller wrote of Obama at The Blogging of the President. "I've seen him speak a few times. He seems very charismatic, but I have yet to cross that bridge with him where I feel like he's saying anything really interesting or useful. He's a lot like [John] Edwards -- charismatic and demographically useful for the Democrats. But is there there there?"

The party was so taken aback by Stoller's posting that he was asked to cease his volunteer work as the "blog community coordinator" for the rest of convention week.

Fast forward to the present: Obama, D-Ill., is now a senator and still a party darling. Some people want him to run for president in 2008.

Stoller just completed a blogging gig for the Senate campaign of New Jersey Democrat Jon Corzine and earned kudos in the summer for a report on "The Emergence of the Progressive Blogosphere". He also testified before the Federal Election Commission about applying campaign finance law to bloggers.

Now blogging at MyDD, Stoller is on Obama's e-mail list. But apparently Stoller is still not enamored with the freshman senator. He just posted an entry that includes an image of the Obama family's holiday e-mail card under the headline, "Merry Christmas, Barack. Now How About Doing Something?"

Stoller's current gripe about Obama is in reaction to the ongoing controversy over secret wiretapping of Americans by the Bush administration. "[T]he president just claimed the executive branch has absolute power," Stoller wrote to Obama. "Might I suggest you use some of your political capital and quit the 'Aw, shucks, I'm new here' shtick? You did teach constitutional law."

Any wagers on whether Stoller will be on the Obamas' mailing list this time next year?

UPDATE: Not surpringly, Stoller caught some heat for his post, including a call from Obama's office. So Stoller posted a more detailed explanation of why he is so upset with Obama.

The gist of Stoller's argument: President Bush is "a liar and a fraud," but Obama has been undermining that argument by saying the president is not a bad man and loves his country. "You cannot do business with George W. Bush and his ilk," Stoller wrote, "and talking him up undercuts the goal that all of us, including Senator Obama, seek."

Posted by | 09:33 PM

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