Big developments in N.C. presidential candidate John Edwards’ blog imbroglio: Both of his campaign employees who became controversial last week for their record of raw blog posts have now reportedly resigned, just days after Edwards said he was keeping the two on staff.
Amanda Marcotte, who caught the most heat, resigned yesterday. Now, on Tuesday night, comes the news that another popular lefty blogger hired by Edwards, Melissa McEwan, has quit.
Marcotte mostly stuck to her guns, but explained that the controversy “was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign.” McEwan was quoted today as saying that “This was a decision I made, with the campaign’s reluctant support, because my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was inevitably making me a liability to the campaign.”
The resignations have sparked a new round of debate over whether Edwards should have hired the bloggers — and whether they should have stayed on. So far, this early-in-the-campaign firestorm shows no signs of flaring out.
— Jon Elliston, news editor
