Over the period of this hotly contested primary campaign there have been accusations of paid commenters from both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns. Nobody has, as far as I know, provided evidence for these accusations, and some flags have been raised.
What I would like to present for examination is a diary paragraph that showed up yesterday and that seems to indicate that the Clinton campaign is providing copy for diarists. I’m not going to say that the diarist who submitted the diary is paid, but it looks like perhaps he/she is working with the campaign to disseminate advertising material on DK.
Maybe that is OK with people on this site, maybe not.
What I want to do is present the evidence and see what people think.
The diary in question is Hillary Up Close and Personal.
It is a very nice piece recounting the author’s personal experiences with the Clintons. Many Clinton supporters praised it. I read it and was surprised to find this passage at the end of the diary:
(Note: In addition to our regular content, Hillary HQ is interested in posting guest pieces from readers, particularly on weekends. So if you have an idea for a post, get in touch with us. We can also crosspost an existing piece from your own site. Thanks! -Scan)
There is a diarist called Scan, who has cross-posted at least one other diary from HillaryHQ.com .
What do people think? Is DK the place to be posting campaign-generated puff pieces? What do they add to discussions about the candidates? Are they any more substantive than McDonalds commercials? Is this any different from linking to campaigns’ TV ads?
As a footnote, I got flagged for this remark in that diary:
Nice bit of propaganda from HQ.