As Michael alluded to on Friday, Show Me Progress was rejected (twice) in our bid for credentials to cover the Democratic National Convention. The credential for Missouri's slot in the state blog pool went to Fired Up Missouri, and no other Missouri-based blog was credentialed in the general blog pool. You can read up on some of the controversy elsewhere; Matt Stoller, Kos and Pam Spaulding have some good roundups of different angles of controversy in the selection process. But I want to talk specifically about our own disappointment with the results.
Marc Ambinder picked up a letter from 21 progressive state bloggers frustrated with the selection process. I wrote about this on Sunday and Monday, pointing to the credentialing of a state party friendly blog in Michigan over one that has higher levels of influence and accomplishment but had been critical of the state party. It now appears that the blogger given credentials works for the Governor of the state, though I can't confirm that since she won't return my email (I have put the question to her in her comment thread).
The issue here is simple, and doesn't have to do with any specific bloggers given or not given credentials. State parties are clearly using blog credentials to reward bloggers they think support them best. In some cases, in most actually, they are willing to reward critics. In some states, though, particularly New Jersey and New York, it's possible that the decision cut out progressive activists because they are willing to speak out about problems within the party. Leaving progressive bloggers out of the convention is a financial and political penalty for these small businesses, many of which will now shy away from being independent and progressive out of fear of retribution.
This is a problem.
Update: Ok, apparently it's common knowledge that Cathleen Carrigan is an employee of Governor Granholm. That is absurd. Simply absurd. An employee of the most powerful politician in the state was given convention credentials over a larger progressive blog. This is just ridiculous. Granholm can get her employees credentials, she doesn't need to take them from independent progressive activists.
Update again: Carrigan is not an employee of Granholm, but is an employee of the Michigan Democratic Party. This is a distinction without a difference. I do find it frustrating that Carrigan refuses to answer my questions and then mewls on about being persecuted and misrepresented. I am perfectly willing to issue corrections and sought her response before printing anything about her employment status.
I keep hearing more and more rumors that state parties simply chose the blogs that got credentials for the Democratic National Convention. And the evidence seems to suggest that is the case. I mentioned Michigan as one of the problem cases, so I'll walk you through why the selection seems odd. The blog chosen to be credentialled was Blogging for Michigan, a progressive community blog. It is a good blog. But Michigan Liberal is far older and more established, with 737 RSS subscribers, a large number for a state-based blog. Moreoever, ML has over 2200 technorati links, while Blogging for Michigan has just over 1000.
Why is this a big deal? Financially speaking, conventions see big traffic boosts, and that means advertising revenue that Blogging for Michigan will get that Michigan Liberal will not. Politically, Michigan Liberal won't get access to the floor delegation, and Blogging for Michigan will. Of course, mistakes happen, but in this case, it's disturbing to see that the person granted the credentials, Cathleen Carrigan, is also an author on a sycophantic blog dedicated to praising Governor Jennifer Granholm and her policies, while Michigan Liberal has been quite outspoken about the Michigan Democratic Party's handling of the primary scheduling fiasco and its chair, the savvy and powerful Mark Brewer (who has something of a history with progressive bloggers).
The process for credentialling state bloggers has been problematic, with unclear standards and questionable motives for selecting bloggers. Make no mistake, this is a financial and political decision - Michigan Liberal will lose out because of this choice, as will Blue Jersey. And we have no idea why progressives and those critical of the party were turned down. The Democratic National Convention has had subtle problems with bloggers for a long time now, with the lead spokesperson getting into it with the progressive tech giant blog BoingBoing. The lack of thought going into the selection of progressive blogs is an easily correctable problem, and it's a problem the convention and the Democratic Party doesn't need.
Dissent is a good thing, and it would be a shame if independent progressive activists were penalized because they are willing to speak out about problems with the party. That's how Republicans act.
UPDATE: I'm told Carrigan actually works for the Governor. I'll email her to find out.
STATE BLOGS
