It's that simple. If John Edwards is really not ashamed of Amanda "Pandagon" Marcotte and Melissa "Shakespeare's Sister" McEwan, he will offer them some consultation or contract work, even though they aren't officially part of his campaign any more.
Outsourcing some of his campaign work to them will show that he's not ashamed of them, nor is he excluding them. If he doesn't do this, then he's almost certainly ashamed of them, and is Donohue's demure and deferent doormat as well.
(He's already on Donohue's "snit list", so I'm not sure what Edwards has to lose...)
One problem with Edwards is the flip-flop thing, just as with his old running mate, Kerry. Edwards was for the war in Iraq before he was against it. (And now, just look at his condemnation of non-binding resolutions; guess Harry Reid is an ol' dummy compared to John...or has Edwards flipped a little too far?) He was for Amanda and Melissa before he was against them before he was for them again, regardless of their deciding "on their own" eventually to resign from his campaign.
(more A and M below)
Marcotte and McEwan seem frightened of working for Edwards, seeing all the threats against them. However, Edwards should still publicly offer some work to them, and if they don't want to do it, they can simply decline.
Some may say, why bring up the issue again? Well, as Faulkner says, the past isn't dead, it's not even past. Amanda and Melissa live and breathe. Is Edwards going to reach out to them or not?
Nuff said.
--And of course, there is the progressive blogosphere issue here. Are we satisfied with Edwards just letting the bloggers be intimidated, or is he going to fight against it? What kind of precedent do we want to be set? Well?
(I note that even an Edwards supporter at the U. of Michigan College Dems pancake breakfast I attended yesterday, wonders if Amanda and Melissa really resigned freely rather than being subtly pushed out...)
Finally, I see the Edwards campaign is really getting into the online "Second Life" thing. Maybe he should worry about his first life for a change, and his reliability with real bloggers rather than with virtual imagery...
. . . . .
Appendix: this exchange between Amanda and myself is always good for a laugh, if nothing else. Or maybe it shows that she still has some fight left in her, and Edwards should not pretend she doesn't exist.....
----- Forwarded message from amanda.marcotte@gmail.com -----
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 08:14:54 -0600
From: Amanda Marcotte <amanda.marcotte@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Amanda Marcotte <amanda.marcotte@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Kos poll shows Amanda beating Edwards for President
To: "dboyle[my e-mail address]>
BWAH HA HA!
On 2/7/07, dboyle[my e-mail address> wrote:
> Dear Panda People:
>
> Check out my current diary at Daily Kos, "Straw poll: John Edwards
> vs. Amanda Marcotte for president" at
> http://www.dailykos.com/... , in which Amanda is
> thoroughly whipping Edwards' booty...I wonder what CNN would think!
> Best,
>
> Cordially, David Boyle
>
>
----- End forwarded message -----