In early 2003, when no one believed in the Dean campaign, there were two individuals and two online communities in particular that were there from the start and were instrumental to any success we achieved - Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong were the two individuals and DailyKos and MyDD were the two vibrant communities that breathed life not just into our campaign - but into a new kind of politics that led to progressive victories across the nation in 2006 and 2008.
I personally owe this community a debt of gratitude, and know to my core that much of what we see today in the success of the progressive community, on and offline, started here and continues here.
I cherish this community and the larger progressive online community. And that is the hardest part of acknowledging my responsibility for the recent disrespect towards this community.
I apologize completely.
There are two issues:
First, that no matter how long my association with the blogging community in fact because of that long association - it is even more important that I disclose any professional relationship with any candidate or issue I blog about or comment on.
I have failed to do that - I apologize for not doing it. And it will not happen again.
This failure was mine completely - how I didn't see it or in my own words how I didn't "get it" is beyond me - but I do now - and I will not fail in disclosing my professional relationships with candidates or the causes I believe in or work for in the future.
Second and just as important to me personally is the recent disrespect shown by sockpuppeting. And I take full responsibility and apologize completely for this as well. It is no excuse that I knew nothing about it - I promise you I did not. And yes it took bringing it to my attention before I looked into it.
But once I did it became clear to me that interns and a few staff who are my responsibility did create seven DailyKos accounts - two of which were never used but five of which were used to comment and post diaries here for the same candidates I was working for, sockpuppeting the same things I was saying here and elsewhere. This is so unacceptable that I cannot believe it happened - but it did.
Having been an avid member of the blogging community for over 10 years I am certain that this activity was recent - beginning in the last few months with comments over a few weeks and limited to DailyKos and one or two other sites.
But for it to have occurred anywhere for even one account for even one day or even one comment is reprehensible to me.
I apologize to the DailyKos community and the greater blogosphere- and to Markos Moulitas who was there at the beginning. I know many of you will not believe this apology is sincere. That is the price I pay for the actions that cost your trust. I can only hope to earn that trust anew over time.
Joe Trippi
- I've also Twittered this apology to the 500,000 people who follow me on Twitter to make sure others see it.
UPDATE [A number of people have asked that the following comment that I posted below, be added as an update]:
I was on the road constantly during late May and mid June. I wasn't paying much attention to comments here or anywhere -- and only had time to post a few times and mostly Twitter. I just never focused on the sockpuppeting issue until Markos asked me about it a few days ago. When I looked into it I couldn't believe it happened in my shop -- even if it was done by some interns and newer staff. This just isn't something we do. Period. That is why after 10 years of being online this has never happened until now. Its my fault that I didn't respond and look into it on my own. Markos asked me a few days ago if I knew of the liveblueordie account - the idea was so alien to me that when I called my staff I asked them if they knew who Livbly Ordy was? And that is when I started to discover the rest. It is my fault that it took Markos asking me about it for me to look into it.
Here are the accounts and what I learned about them:
There are two accounts that were created on Kos but never were used:
Albanywonk
BuffaloOrBust
These Accounts were created and used on kos:
liveblueordie
nysmith123
solid blue rob
pilotlarry
ny democrat23
I have made it clear that they are never to be used again -- and that no accounts are ever to be created again. If a intern or staffer wants to be a member of this community they should join be active and disclose that they work for me.
My legendary temper which I have held in check for years was lost when I learned about this.
I will deal with my staff and interns. I take full responsibility for this. It was my responsibility to train them and make sure this did not happen. Being on the road is no excuse -- but I have no one to blame for this but me. I can't blame a bunch of young people excited about working with me for something I didn't teach them or talk to them about. And I can't blame them for me not looking into it until now.
My fault. I don't know what else I can say. I am sorry.
Further Updated with the Post of June 24th which was pretty straight forward about a poll and facts related to a poll:
Poll shows Rep. Carolyn Maloney leading potential senate matchup in NY Hotlist
by Joe Trippi [Subscribe] [Edit Diary]
Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 01:08:26 PM PDT
UPDATE: Full disclosure, as many of you know, I have been publicly supportive of Carolyn Maloney beyond this one post and I have discussed her potential candidacy with her personally. If she runs - which I hope she does since she'd be a great Senator - I'd be honored to work on her campaign.
--
Interesting news out of NY: A Quinnipiac poll released today looking forward to a possible matchup for the 2010 Democratic Primary for US Senator from NY, shows US Rep. Carolyn Maloney ahead of incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and challenger Jonathan Tasini.
It is pretty extraordinary to show an incumbent Senator losing a primary to an opponent who hasn't begun to campaign. Just as significant as the head-to-head poll, despite a well-publicized six-month effort by Gillibrand to sway New York voters, her favorable numbers have not moved.
