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The So-Called Friends Of Peter Daou

Imagine landing a dream advisory job with a candidate who could become the first female president of the United States. Now imagine sharing your excitement with your friends, only to have them wonder aloud whether you've sold out to "the man" -- er, the woman.

That's exactly what happened to former Salon blogger Peter Daou this week. He announced that he is the new blog adviser to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, the wife of former President Clinton and herself a likely Democratic contender for the White House in 2008.

Daou's goal is "to facilitate and expand her relationship with the netroots" -- no small task considering her unpopularity among many Democrats active in the Internet grassroots. The enormity of his task became glaringly apparent soon after he announced the job change.

The commenters at Daou Report were the first to question his decision. "So you've joined the dark side too, Peter," one of them wrote. "Sigh. I [hope] you got a good price in exchange for selling your soul to Queen B." Another said he is "troubled by the idea of [Daou Report] being edited by a partisan working on the team of a declared senatorial candidate and an undeclared presidential candidate."

Perhaps far worse, though, were the people who professed to be Daou's friends (at least in the netroots sense) yet chose to publicly warn or chastise him about working with Clinton. Two such entries appeared at The Huffington Post.

Under the header "Friends Don't Let Friends Work For Hillary," R.J. Eskow warned that Clinton's outreach to bloggers won't work because her philosophy and theirs do not mesh.

"I would be insulted at the idea that the substantive differences that I (and many others) have with Hillary can be resolved through some sort of outreach program," Eskow said. "This member of the 'online community' is not going to be persuaded by some 'Internet game plan' that her stand on Iraq, and defense issues in general, is anything but a) unprincipled, and b) poor political strategy."

Cenk Uygur put his commentary at The Huffington Post in this context: "Peter Daou is one of the most astute and aggressive bloggers in the country. Senator Hillary Clinton is the poster child for equivocation and triangulation."

Uygur then listed three possible outcomes to a Daou-Clinton relationship that he compared with former President Richard Nixon visiting China in 1972: Clinton will heed Daou's advice and "adjust her views and actions;" Daou eventually will leave the job because of frustration; or Daou "will become an apologist" for the "hideous and morally repugnant" views of Clinton.

With friends like that ...

UPDATE: Daou has a friend on the right in Patrick Hynes of Ankle Biting Pundits, and Hynes both praised Daou and congratulated him on his new job earlier this week -- with one caveat. "We wish Peter Daou all the best ... well, almost all the best. We would be thrilled if he came in, say, second place in November of 2008."

Posted by Danny | 07:59 AM

Comments

Hillary, sweetie, your netroots are showing...

richard mcenroe | 06.30.06 01:07 AM

So far, so good, but you missed an important element: Daou's noisy tribe of resident commenters. When some Blogger, often a conservative, ruffles Daou's feathers, he posts about the insult. And, once the target has been identified, the howling mob attacks with vicious intensity, and extreme vulgarity.

If they turn on him, they'll shred him like a pack of hyenas after a newborn Springbok.

Black Jack | 06.30.06 11:51 AM

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