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How Much Did Those Bloggers Cost John Edwards?

The April quarterly campaign reports have been filed, and that means everyone can get the answer to the question I know you've been asking since February: How much did those two bloggers who caused so much trouble for Democrat John Edwards back in the winter cost him?

In one sense, you can't put a price tag on the cost of the first blog scandal of Campaign 2008. We'll probably never know whether Edwards alienated Catholics by hiring Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon and Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare's Sister, two bloggers whose sharp-tongued and sometimes vulgar religious criticisms won them almost universal scorn after the Edwards campaign hired them in January.

Edwards' decision not to fire Marcotte and McEwan in the face of that outcry actually won him the favor of the netroots, a core constituency in the Democratic Party. Chris Bowers of MyDD vowed his support to Edwards precisely because he stuck by the bloggers. Bowers also noted that Edwards won a national primary poll amid the controversy.

But thanks to the Federal Election Commission, it is possible to put a price tag on the scandal in terms of dollars and cents: The Edwards campaign paid Marcotte and McEwan a total of $4,769.06 between Jan. 31 and Feb. 14.

The first payment of $1,769.06 went to Marcotte on Jan. 31 for "salary." Then on Feb. 14, two days after Marcotte had resigned and one day after McEwan had done so, each of the bloggers was paid $1,500 -- Marcotte for "consulting/Internet services" and McEwan for "consulting/events."

The language of campaign finance reports is often confusing, so I'm not sure why Marcotte was paid a salary the first time and referred to as a consultant in the second payment. I'm also unclear as to why they were paid after resigning their jobs, though presumably it was a payment for "time served" during the previous several days, a severance payment or some combination of the two.

I contacted the Edwards campaign by telephone and e-mail but have not received a response yet. I will post an update if the campaign gets back to me.

Posted by Danny | 12:38 PM

Comments

We'll probably never know whether Edwards alienated Catholics...

Well, you'd just have to do a poll. I'm guessing that roughly 0-1% of Catholics would show any recognition of Edwards and his bloggers. The whole thing was silly from beginning to end.

Kari Chisholm | 04.16.07 02:25 PM

It's really something how seriously the media took an outrage artist like Donahue, despite his past comments about how "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular."

Neil the Ethical Werewolf | 04.17.07 03:31 AM

I think the guy's a putz, but it's really not too much compared with:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/16/165557/148

Dan Collins | 04.17.07 07:26 AM

Hey, if they had called Christians "nappy-headed hos", then we would have had a real scandal on our hands, eh?

Jimmie | 04.17.07 10:33 AM

Edwards didn't alienate Catholics. The people who did are people like Danny here, who deliberately swift-boated me and Melissa in hopes to get us fired and to hurt the Edwards campaign. Don't blame the victims.

Amanda Marcotte | 04.17.07 03:20 PM

And it's pathetic the way you resent us for the nickels and dimes we managed to get out of our work. I realize your mission in life is to bankrupt liberal bloggers, but you might want to do a better job of hiding your sadism.

Amanda Marcotte | 04.17.07 03:22 PM

"Swift-boating" (adj) derived from the sinking of John Kerry's Presidential bid, when his attempt to 'play up' his Vietnam War experience to a level that was much greater than in reality actually occured, the great exaggerations of said service by that ketchup-slurping Massassachusettes Senator were revealed by his crewmates on the "Swift Boats" on which they all served. These crewmembers published the truth, and jeered Kerry's attempts to make his service seem 'extraordinary'. For other examples of sheer stupidity in a politician's attempts to exaggerate or 'make believe' military service, see "Dukakakis Rides a Tank".

serr8d | 04.17.07 09:42 PM

Amanda -

You're not a victim. There are no victims in this affair.

By 'swiftboated,' I assume you meant 'showed people what you wrote about Catholics, men, etc. under your own name and with hyperpartisan invective.'

You 'swiftboated' yourself, kitten.

Good Lt | 04.18.07 12:19 AM

Neil
Donahue was right I have worked over 20 year in media in LA and new York and I can catagorically state his remarks are a correct assessment of the situation. The problem is we live in a society where some group are fair game and others protected species. You can slander and do anything to one, and cannot make accurate criticisms of the the others..

z10506 | 04.18.07 09:24 AM

In the grand scheme of things, this amount is minuscule compared to the amounts that any of the candidates are raising. Most of their campaign funds that don't come from preexisting war chests or personal fortunes are coming from major donors who write very large checks. As long as that's the case, that's who candidates are accountable to, in more ways than one.

Now if the campaign's money came from public funding, well, that would be a different story.

just6dollars | 04.18.07 11:58 AM

I am a Catholic, and Amanda's harsh rhetoric towards my faith would have been a poisonous thing for any candidate to associate with.

Robert | 04.19.07 10:56 PM

I was hoping to see some follow up to the Edwards blogging fiasco. I see from replies above that Marcotte is still trying to blame others for her being fired when she should actually be looking at the gun she has pointed at her own foot.

Rico J. Halo | 04.19.07 11:42 PM

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