[Note: Also cross-posted at BlueOregon.com. Full disclosure: My firm built Jeff Merkley's campaign website, but I speak here only for myself.]
Deep inside the Willamette Week endorsement interview of the Dems running for the U.S. Senate, there's a clip of Jeff Merkley and Steve Novick talking about blogging. And it sparked a mini-firestorm in the netroots over the weekend.
In the clip, Jeff Merkley praises the blogs, noting that the netroots will spread the word about our Senate race in the fall. But Steve Novick dismissed blogging as "a way for a number of people to waste a vast quantity of time."
And while it's certainly true that there's plenty of time wasted all over the blogs, it's also true that the netroots have become a central part of the progressive infrastructure in this state and across the country - helping take this country back. We share information, build community, get organized, raise money, and influence the dialogue. Novick's backhanded dismissal is just bizarre.
One-minute video clip on the jump...
Reactions...
Over at the Northwest Progressive Institute:
I can hardly believe Novick actually said this, but you can see it for yourself - it's all on video. I've observed before that Oregon's netroots community is split between Novick and Merkley. Novick has many supporters online, so why is he dissing people who have invested time building new media?
...Given how hard Novick has tried to present himself as a people's insurgent against an establishment rival, I can't help but conclude he's done himself some damage with these comments. Whether or not his supporters get upset about this remains to be seen, but Novick has already managed to lose favor with us.
Merkley's answer, on the other hand, is what I would expect to hear from a Democratic candidate who appreciates the value of the netroots community.
Senate Guru mentioned the comments in his Saturday round-up - which sparked a massive comment thread from bloggers around the country upset about it. A sampling:
ryanlkelly -- What the hell is Novick thinking? It's almost like he's trying to throw the damn primary away and build support up for Merkley. If I was voting there, I'm pretty sure my vote was already behind Merkley but it's just solidifying more and more now.
Jeremiahthemessiah -- Insulting Bloggers. That's kind of the last straw with me. I don't jump financially into a bunch of races. I'm still a college student! But now, I'm seriously considering tossing 40-50 bucks in for Merkley. I don't want to see Novick win. Period. Weaker GE candidate, and he's had a number of statements that will come up from the primary that makes him a huge risk in the general.
emilyxgeorge -- Why wait until after the May primary to add Oregon to expand the map [fundraising effort]? Clearly, you should add Merkley now after Novick's latest assault on reason. Novick was always a long shot, but at this point he's shot himself in the head so many times it's clear if we want to get to 60, Merkley needs to win the primary.
populista -- Novick has said some stupid things that have made me go from a supporter of his to a soft Merkly supporter but there is no reason to take sides in Expand the Map.
On Sunday, Steve Novick rightfully apologized on his campaign blog:
In the Willamette Week endorsement interview the other day, I gave a pretty dumb answer to a question about the impact of blogs on politics. Some folks online are blowing my comments up as a betrayal of the netroots, so I wanted to take a moment to apologize for my statement and clarify what I was trying to say. ...
My concern, which I agree came out very poorly, was whether the internal fights between like-minded progressives can distract us from the larger task of taking back our country. In my own primary, we’ve seen bloggers who are typically allies divided into increasingly personal and repetitive fights that I worry do little to help reach a broader audience or advance our cause. Of course, as I noted in my comments, this is (hopefully) really just a loss to those individuals, but I worry about the cost to personal relationships and uniting progressives in the general election.
The whole thing has been very weird, especially since - until he ran for Senate - Steve was a regular contributor here at BlueOregon. As the Oregonian's Jeff Mapes noted:
For someone who once was a regular contributor to a political blog, Democratic Senate candidate Steve Novick has had a funny relationship with the netroots this campaign season.
Bizarre.