(This is unrelated to the 2008 Senate races, but still too intriguing to pass up posting on. For daily news & updates on the 2008 Senate races, check out Senate 2008 Guru: Following the Races.)
It has been noted recently that the right wing's netroots efforts have resulted in a massive bellyflop. But how about their use of blogs in general?
Sure, the below tale is just recent anecdotal evidence, but, basically, Republicans use blogs the same way they use other media: to spread lies and smear opponents:
Republican Party leaders in Yakima now regret endorsing a successful city council candidate in light of a blogging scandal.
The mayor has called for newly elected City Councilman Rick Ensey to step down after he acknowledged his wife had posted anonymous blogs that included unfounded rumors his opponent had been arrested for drunken driving.
Republican Party chairman Jim Keightley says the blog incident exposed character flaws that violate principles valued by Republicans.
The only Republican "value" Ensey and his wife violated was "Don't get caught." Is Keightley, as a show of support for these Republican "values," going to urge for Ensey to step down, as the Mayor has called for? The answer is an obvious "No.":
Party chairman Jim Keightley said in a guest commentary running on the Yakima Herald-Republic's opinion page today that Ensey's tacit support for his wife's anonymous blog -- which ridiculed and potentially libeled City Councilman Ron Bonlender throughout the runup to the Nov. 6 general election -- exposed character flaws that violate
precepts valued by Republicans. ...
But Keightley did not apologize to Bonlender. Indeed, much of his guest commentary consisted of attacks on Bonlender, accusing the incumbent of making the race partisan and publicly supporting same-sex marriage and "many other liberal positions held by the Democrat Party."
Ensey narrowly defeated Bonlender and is scheduled to take office Jan. 8. He declined to comment for this article.
Asked in an interview Monday whether he and other GOP leaders are joining widespread calls for Ensey to step down from the City Council, Keightley said the local GOP leadership has officially "unendorsed" Ensey over the blogging flap. But, he said, they are not endorsing Mayor Dave Edler's call for Ensey to step down.
"The outcome is what it is," Keightley said. "Certainly we were not pleased."
I think Keightley is actually quite pleased. An "unendorsement" after the dishonest candidate has already narrowly won his race is hardly the rebuke Keightley is portraying it to be. I hope Bonlender is able to achieve some form of legal retribution against the Enseys. I also hope, but don't remotely expect, that Ensey will do the appropriate thing and step down.
Just another example of Republicans treating honesty as an obstacle rather than a value.