The transformation of Third Party Watch into an overt arm of the Viguerie/Barr strategy to take ownership of the Libertarian Party continues to unfold.
Two days ago, blog owner Stephen Gordon sold the enterprise to Viguerie. Something along this line had been in the wind for awhile, as Gordon had recently joined Bob Barr's exploratory committee and had remarked publicly on more than one occasion that he was tired of all the abuse he took from more radical commenters.
Yesterday, the Libertarian Party Media Director revoked the convention press credentials of several TPW contributors, apparently at the request of the new management. For the individual contributors this was no big thing--most of them secured alternate credentials very quickly--but the next item will make it clear that a pattern is developing.
Today, disinter reveals that the new de facto managing editor of Third Party Watch is none other than Shane Corey, the recently ousted LP Executive Director who went to work for Viguerie yesterday. At least know we know what some of his duties are. Shane immediately posted new instructions for contributors that included this:
In other words, as Thomas Knapp found out yesterday, TPW correspondents no longer have direct posting privileges to the blog.
This change prompted at least one frequent contributor to advise Shane he was quitting; this had interesting results:
Meanwhile, the tenor of TPW articles has subtly changed in only about 24 hours.
Mary Ruwart's Chat with the Rocky Mountain News is carefully, almost adroitly slanted:
We start with the "Mary held her own"--as if that would be s surprise--but note that no details of her answers are provided. Instead, the focus of the post is the "good dig at her competitor, Bob Barr," that clearly was not part of Dr Ruwart's planned conversation, as it happened in response a questions. "A well placed question," is the characterization provided by an anonymous TPW writer.
Then:
So Ruwart's responses to questions about her rivals are now "punches," and the article insures that we don't miss the fact that she also refused to "spare" Dr George Phillies.
What else might an active candidate do, I wonder, but highlight differences between themselves and their competitors.
Well, not their competitors, as TPW has just declared Bob Barr to be the Libertarian frontrunner and bemoaned the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hit piece about the amazing Bob Barr Black Hole PAC that absorbs almost all money passing its event horizon without emanating any significant bucks back to the politicians it purports to support.
Hit piece, asks one commenter, Kyle B., (whose remarks I will preserve because even comments are rumored now to be disappearing):
Good point.
As a final note, it is obvious that the old readership of TPW is already beginning to desert. Posts that would heretofore have chalked up 80-120 (sometimes even 200) replies are now receiving 40 or less, occasionally less than a dozen.
This may have something to do with the sudden inspiration of Corey and Viguerie to ask Stephen Gordon at the convention if he'll come back to edit his old blog.
How to digest all this? Machinations like these are pretty commonplace in the Democrat or Republican Parties, but are a cut above (in terms of sophistication and bags of cash) anything that third parties are used to seeing. Perhaps, as Tyler Nixon suggests, this is good for the party, the message, and is a necessary part of growing into a major contender.
I'm not sure about that, even though the argument has some merit.
I tend to think that the whole maneuver has to do with two things: (a) the LP's potential 48-state ballot access, and (b) the demonstrated ability of Ron Paul to raise money from Libertarian and libertarian-leaning grassroots. Because we already know where money directed to organizations created by Viguerie and Barr ends up. . . .
. . . right in their own pockets.
And the rumor--at least partly substantiated on LPV--that Barr is shipping in additional delegates to pack the convention vote is, of course, nothing more than another dastardly attempt by old-line Libertarians to discredit the man who's going to single-handedly save their party for them (or from them).
Meanwhile, in typical Net-fashion, a putative replacement for the old TPW beat has appeared--Independent Political Report--with many of the same faces and bylines that made TPW popular. Check it out.
Two days ago, blog owner Stephen Gordon sold the enterprise to Viguerie. Something along this line had been in the wind for awhile, as Gordon had recently joined Bob Barr's exploratory committee and had remarked publicly on more than one occasion that he was tired of all the abuse he took from more radical commenters.
Yesterday, the Libertarian Party Media Director revoked the convention press credentials of several TPW contributors, apparently at the request of the new management. For the individual contributors this was no big thing--most of them secured alternate credentials very quickly--but the next item will make it clear that a pattern is developing.
Today, disinter reveals that the new de facto managing editor of Third Party Watch is none other than Shane Corey, the recently ousted LP Executive Director who went to work for Viguerie yesterday. At least know we know what some of his duties are. Shane immediately posted new instructions for contributors that included this:
Please continue to post your work but save in draft mode, we’ll take a look, edit and review here in Manassas and will publish to the site for you.
In other words, as Thomas Knapp found out yesterday, TPW correspondents no longer have direct posting privileges to the blog.
This change prompted at least one frequent contributor to advise Shane he was quitting; this had interesting results:
Now that I have been deleted, all the posts I wrote (only about 20 or so) about the Green Party appear to be gone.
Meanwhile, the tenor of TPW articles has subtly changed in only about 24 hours.
Mary Ruwart's Chat with the Rocky Mountain News is carefully, almost adroitly slanted:
Mary held her own on the issues covering health care, gas prices, end even put in a good dig at her competitor, Bob Barr, thanks to a well placed question
We start with the "Mary held her own"--as if that would be s surprise--but note that no details of her answers are provided. Instead, the focus of the post is the "good dig at her competitor, Bob Barr," that clearly was not part of Dr Ruwart's planned conversation, as it happened in response a questions. "A well placed question," is the characterization provided by an anonymous TPW writer.
Then:
The punches didn’t stop there as “Mark Scrib” setup the islamo-fascist question on Wayne Root:
So Ruwart's responses to questions about her rivals are now "punches," and the article insures that we don't miss the fact that she also refused to "spare" Dr George Phillies.
What else might an active candidate do, I wonder, but highlight differences between themselves and their competitors.
Well, not their competitors, as TPW has just declared Bob Barr to be the Libertarian frontrunner and bemoaned the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hit piece about the amazing Bob Barr Black Hole PAC that absorbs almost all money passing its event horizon without emanating any significant bucks back to the politicians it purports to support.
Hit piece, asks one commenter, Kyle B., (whose remarks I will preserve because even comments are rumored now to be disappearing):
I wouldn’t say the AJC piece was a hit piece on Barr since the 4 days before they ran that story they ran four very positive Bob Barr stories all on the front page of the paper. In fact today on their website they published a reply to the story from Barr’s campaign manager. So don’t think you can claim the AJC is out to get Bob Barr. Overall they have given him very positive press and a lot of it.
Good point.
As a final note, it is obvious that the old readership of TPW is already beginning to desert. Posts that would heretofore have chalked up 80-120 (sometimes even 200) replies are now receiving 40 or less, occasionally less than a dozen.
This may have something to do with the sudden inspiration of Corey and Viguerie to ask Stephen Gordon at the convention if he'll come back to edit his old blog.
How to digest all this? Machinations like these are pretty commonplace in the Democrat or Republican Parties, but are a cut above (in terms of sophistication and bags of cash) anything that third parties are used to seeing. Perhaps, as Tyler Nixon suggests, this is good for the party, the message, and is a necessary part of growing into a major contender.
I'm not sure about that, even though the argument has some merit.
I tend to think that the whole maneuver has to do with two things: (a) the LP's potential 48-state ballot access, and (b) the demonstrated ability of Ron Paul to raise money from Libertarian and libertarian-leaning grassroots. Because we already know where money directed to organizations created by Viguerie and Barr ends up. . . .
. . . right in their own pockets.
And the rumor--at least partly substantiated on LPV--that Barr is shipping in additional delegates to pack the convention vote is, of course, nothing more than another dastardly attempt by old-line Libertarians to discredit the man who's going to single-handedly save their party for them (or from them).
Meanwhile, in typical Net-fashion, a putative replacement for the old TPW beat has appeared--Independent Political Report--with many of the same faces and bylines that made TPW popular. Check it out.
Comments
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com