I posted this comment in response to Steve over at his blog, and it generated a very apt response from one of his commenters and another from Steve:
My comment:
First of all, there were 14 bloggers at the conference (and my son, who is a non-blogging law student who was not invited but whom they graciously allowed to accompany me.)
Markos, who is Latino, was invited, but chose not to attend.
Only the beginning of the meeting, which lasted 2 /12 hours, was off the record. The rest was on the record and we were free to write what we wanted.
Most of us have no problem with commenting on politicians as well as writing to help some get elected. There was no quid pro quo for attending. I don't even recall Hillary Clinton's name being mentioned.
This was about outreach, about communication, about how to strengthen the blogoshphere.
I'm sorry you didn't get an invite. If it had been up to me, I would have invited you.
If there are candidates you genuinely support, there's nothing wrong with blogging that. You can also comment negatively about the system and those you don't like. I don't see why one precludes the other.
I doubt there was anyone in the room who hasn't written a negative piece on one of the Clintons. I don't think that was the criterion for an invite, but I wasn't part of the inviting process so I can't say for sure.
It was an exhiliarating afternoon, and one I will always remember. Usually we get to hear politicians give speeches and answer our questions. This was a real conversation, a true roundtable.
Please don't judge the meeting, and us bloggers, so harshly.
Steve's commenter joejoejoe responded:
TalkLeft - Jeralyn, do you do any fundraising on your blog? I don't remember you doing any unofficial fundraising for pols like FDL or Daily Kos. I've seen praise and criticism of pols ON THE ISSUES but not the kind of strategic political calculating that some other blogs do.
I didn't see what was critical about blogs or the meeting in Steve's post other than it could have been a bit more inclusive. In a lot of ways TalkLeft is similar to The News Blog in discussing the day's events mixed with the authors intersts and expertise. But TalkLeft and The News Blog aren't becoming defacto party infrastructure like Daily Kos and FDL.
Advocating for an idea and advocating for a candidate are two different things. When you are advocating for a candidate sometimes you hold your tongue when discussing uncomfortable ideas, at least that is how I read Steve's post. I don't expect to see that at either TalkLeft or The News Blog but it's only reasonable that partisans on FDL and Daily Kos don't trouble themselves with making the oppositions job any easier. Primary debates are chaotic at Daily Kos but the general elecition runs are usually very unified, beat the other side, issues be damned.
If a hypothetical terrorism death penalty case arose a month the '04 election arose and John Kerry pandered on it I suspect you would cover it in full detail on TalkLeft. I don't suspect it would get much coverage on the front page of Daily Kos. Both decisions would be OK with me.
Fair enough. And it's true I am not a fundraiser. I've had my ActBlue page up for months, there have been two contributors for a grand total of $135.00. I am a Democrat, sometimes to the point of being a cheerleader for the party and I want the Democrats to win, but I'm only an activist on criminal justice issues and no one seeks me out for money. I've publicized all over that my maximum campaign contribution (unless I know them personally and have found them responsive or there's a concert involved headlined by one of my favorite bands) is $25.00. I've also been quite critical of plenty of Democrats for their positions on criminal justice issues, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore and John Kerry. But I don't understand why Bill or Hillary Clinton should not reach out to bloggers. We're an increasing voice on the political landscape and we have readers. We can reach people they may not be able to. What's wrong with some synergy? Synergy is not back-scratching, it's networking. I'm used to combining forces with strange bedfellows when it serves our mutual purposes, such as when the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation joined forces with criminal defense lawyers to acheive forfeiture reform and oppose Newt Gingrich's proposal in his Contract on America to legalize good-faith warrantless searches.
Steve Gilliard responded to my comment:
TalkLeft,
I was trained as a newspaper reporter. I don't do those things, period and have never done them working as a reporter.
Liza's judgements are her's solely. The reason I posted it was that she had a legitimate beef which deserved to be seen.
Me? Pete would have wasted his time inviting me. Because I don't go to meetings with politicians. I didn't go to Yearly Kos for the same reason. I'm just not interested in having people be nice only to have to feel bad when I say not nice things about them.
I'm extremely uncomfortable when politicans try to "reach out" to me. Because then I'm being bullsh**ted.
I don't need a discussion, just answer the questions for the record.
As I said earlier, Steve is a journalist, with journalism training which I don't have. I'm not a neutral reporter but an opinion reporter. I report the news and then give my anything but neutral view on it, which is clearly stated on the "about page" of TalkLeft. I agree Steve the journalist might not have wanted to attend, but I wonder why Steve the blogger wouldn't want to attend. He's never shy about voicing his opinion. Later in the comments, he says if the entire meeting had been on the record, he might have attended.
The lunch is also featured at Danny Glover's Beltway Blogroll at the National Journal. Pam Spaulding of Pandagon weighs in here. The Guardian has this article about it in tomorrow's paper.
So of all the blog posts I've read, the only one I take issue with is Ann Althouse's. Particularly coming from a woman of stature, a law professor with a unique blog voice who often writes intersesting pop culture, and travel posts, and who I think I would like if I ever met her, this one struck out with me.
Update: Now there's a third catfight going on between Liza and Firedoglake. Apparently, Liza has previously attacked Jane. Let me be perfectly clear on this one: Jane Hamsher and Christy Hardin Smith (and all the FDL contributors) are outstanding. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their contribution to the blogosphere and the cause of progressive candidates. This one isn't even close to me. I enjoyed being with Liza one night in Amsterdam, but FDL is family -- one that believes what I believe and has the courage and ability to express it, day after day.
Update: Edited to correct that Danny Glover writes at the non-partisan National Journal.
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