Dean fans flog blog, rip Kerry to threads

[Feanorcurufinwe]

by Andrew Miga
Wednesday, August 13, 2003

WASHINGTON - The testy rivalry between presidential hopefuls John F. Kerry and Howard Dean has spilled over to Kerry's new campaign Web log, which has been swamped with mocking messages from Dean backers.

<snip>

But the Bay State senator's online journal - patterned after Dean's hugely successful BlogforAmerica.com - was soon invaded by swarms of taunting Dean supporters, turning cyberspace into the latest Kerry-Dean rift.

``Right after GWBush, I want to beat John Kerry the most,'' wrote one blogger.

Several pro-Dean bloggers lashed Kerry for stealing the former Vermont governor's Internet-savvy campaign tactics.

``When (Kerry) finds out that Dean has got momentum, he's copying everything from him,'' wrote a blogger identified as ``copycatkerry.''

The Kerry camp, while dismissing such Internet sparring as campaign pranksterism, insisted the online rants have badly misfired.

``The Dean trolls have actually fired up Kerry supporters, and increased their energy and excitement to organize for John Kerry,'' said Kerry spokeswoman Kelley Benander.

<snip>

A blogger named ``Trey Phish Head'' claimed he was a Dean backer and a ``shallow lonely stoner that lives to spam my enemy.''

Such comments irked Kerry supporters, who responded with a volley of blistering blog entries.

``Until this stops, I am going to raise hell on the Dean boards, and I encourage all Kerry people to join me,'' ranted a blogger known as ``Pocki,'' who added angrily, ``(Dean) is a traitor anyway.''

Another Kerry backer blasted Dean supporters for ``attacking like trust fund babies.''

<snip>

Dean spokeswoman Dorie Clark had no comment.

Full article: http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/national/pres08132003.htm

[vi5]

1. Wow....

And we wonder why we're people think we're going to get our heads handed to us yet again in '04.

If anyone thinks John Kerry, Howard Dean or any of the dem candidates are "the enemy" then they are flat out idiots who I personally want no association with.

[Warpy]

7. Count me in.

I understand wanting your horse, your football team, your favorite cheerleader to win. However, savaging the people who are basically on the same side is not the way to go about it. You're only giving the right wing smear machine hints on where to start.

Point out the differences in platforms, certainly. However, stop this idiotic factional bull puckey over personalities!!!

It's ANYBODY but BUSH, remember?

[phillybri]

2. And Karl Rove laughs his ass off....

Way to go, you assholes on both sides of this idiotic bullshit...

[blm]

6. probably the same ones who were banned here.

They were pretty abusive and certainly made me more combative over the last 7 months.

[Larkspur]

9. Funny you say that because you made me more combative against Kerry

also.

What an inspiration you are!

[blm]

19. Time to look in the mirror...

your victimization falls a little short in the credibility department.

[Larkspur]

22. You were a Kerry fan long before I commited to Howard Dean

I remember you trashing Al Gore until he dropped out, blm. I really think that Kerry fans vehement attack on us Dean fans is that a lot of us Al Gore supporters went to Dean instead of Kerry and you guys and gals are just frustrated by that.

Actually, I don't hate John Kerry, and I would vote for him in the general election. But I won't buy his spin about his 2002 vote for the Iraq War and his 1991 vote was dead wrong also. Those are just 2 major strikes against him, but if there was no other choices, I'd probably be for Kerry but not enthusiastic about him.

After Al Gore bowed out, I gave EVERY Dem candidate a chance to impress me, even Joe Lieberman, who I despise. I'm from the Midwest originially and we believe in fairness, so I gave EVERY Dem Prez candidate the chance to impress me. The only one who did was Howard Dean and it wasn't until April of this year that he finally convinced me to commit to him. Since then Howard has just kept impressing me, but you know he deserves my full support. The guy is working his butt off trying to win this nomination and election and I respect that in him.

[blm]

24. Why be untrue? I never trashed Gore.

And you can say so till the cows come home and it won't make it true. I was always respectful of Gore, while disappointed in that he didn't fight tooth and nail.

So what? That puts me with bartcop and most others. We can love and respect Gore and disagree with the execution of his battle plan without trashing him. If you think that me pointing out that Gore suffered from a form of stage fright is trashing, then you need a meter check on your sensitivity level.

[Larkspur]

27. You Kerry fans sharpened your knives on Al Gore and

after he bowed out you made all pretty for a short time hoping to lure us Al Gore supporters to your candidate, well it didn't work with all of us.

After Al bowed out, Kerry became the Top Gun on the Dem ticket by default, but Kerry didn't have a plan to handle or take advantage of that moment when he could have seized the day. Of course, his war vote crippled his credibility with the very strong anti-war crowd.

Kerry just has no ability to see events unfolding and how to take advantage of them. That was evident in both his Iraq war votes. Howard Dean has that ability to see events unfolding and the courage to take advantage of them. Vision and courage to act are why a governor from a small state now challenges or sits in the lead over Sen. Kerry, and that gnaws at you Kerry fans.

[blm]

28. That's YOUR fairy tale.

.

[Larkspur]

34. Nope, it's the truth and too bad you don't like it

.

[blm]

37. I fight lies, Larkspur.

There are other posters here who have noted that I was always respectful of Gore. In fact the only time I went overthetop was to make a point with seventhson that his theory about Kerry being part of the BFEE was absurd, and that even Gore could be made to look guilty.

Hopefully some other posters who remember that time will weigh in. If not, I know I rest easy with the truth.

[w4rma]

38. I do not remember blm ever slamming Al Gore for anything (n/t)

[molly]

3. Noone posting on DU would sink this low - would they?

"which has been swamped with mocking messages from Dean backers"

[blm]

4. They should go back to heckling Kerry at his speeches.

Shouting that Kerry is "Bushlite" is just SO honest of them.

[Larkspur]

5. Where's the proof that it is Deanocrats shilling on Kerry's log?

Just because a poster says they are for Dean, doesn't mean that they really are.

Anyway the Dean Campaign has strongly urged it's members not to troll on Kerry's blog, which I'm not interested in anyway.

[LuminousX]

8. Mainly

I don't want to do with anyone who has nothing but negative things to say about another candidate. After the convention, we will all have to link arms quickly to back whomever gets the Party's nomination. The more ill-will that gets spread the harder that is to do.

If a Dean supporter has the time to go to the Kerry Blog to post negative comments than that supporter had the time to write letters, pass out flyers, and volunteer time to answer phones for Dean. Bashing Kerry will not help Dean succeed. And if the Kerry supporters think retaliation will somehow make the supposed Dean people stop, they are sadly mistaken. I am willing to bet that those 'Dean supporters' on the Kerry Blog just like to stir up trouble like any ol' troll. They realize there is a soft spot there and keep kicking it.

[killbotfactory]

10. Welcome to the internet

Now invest in a moderator.

[poskonig]

11. Could Kerry be encouraging this?

as a tactic to keep brand loyalty, keep their supporters in line, encourage activism, attacks on Dean, et cetera?

[blm]

20. Sure he is...and Gore spread the rumor he

called Bob Kerrey a cripple.

Oops....no...that was Bradley's campaign workers. Wonder what they are doing now?

[wtmusic]

12. It's all posturing for the primaries

none of these people would drop Kerry for Bush

[DrFunkenstein]

13. I Wish I Could Find The Pictures of The Dean Supporters

Crashing a Kerry rally. Dean supporters here defended them by saying that the rally was "open to the public." Alot of the self-justification in similar Dean supporters reminds me of cheap GOP logic (and tactics).

[molly]

14. Remember the DC pug employees during the recount?

[Larkspur]

15. The Massachusetts Convention was open to the public

and while I did not attend, I know that the Mass for Dean groups did. They didn' heckle Kerry as much as the cheered for Dean.

[scoelhoMA]

25. I was there

Dean Supporters were obnoxious and rude. I was there as a delegate and I came away with a bad feeling about the Dean People. They acted like republicans. In my book that is very bad. I think we should all support whoever we want but not try to republicanize the other candidates. Bush will win if we lose site of the prize. Beating Bush. Most of them were very young but that is no excuse. The adults around Dean should get them under control.

[molly]

30. I would not attend a Dean rally, why would a Dean supporter

attend a Kerry rally to CHEER for Dean. That's heckling IMHO.

[Larkspur]

33. The Massachusetts Convention was NOT a Kerry rally

It was a convention of Mass State Democrats and Mass Dems for Dean had as much right to attend that convention as Mass Dems for Kerry.

[hedda_foil]

16. Dorie Clark might not have had a comment but ...

Since this was a topic of great concern on the Dean blog two or three days ago, and Joe Trippi personally and immediately posted (on the main Dean blog page) a strong request to stay away from the Kerry blog (even to further express the apologies which had already been offered to Kerry supporters there by many, many Dean bloggers) I strongly suspect that Dorie has been more than a little misquoted.

[dsc]

17. My bet

they either never called her. Or for some reason she didn't call them back (maybe they called 5 mins before press)

[quinnox]

18. To be fair

The article also says this,

The cyberskirmishing prompted an online plea from Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi urging supporters not to post messages on rival blogs. Other pro-Dean bloggers apologized for the vitriolic messages from fellow Dean backers.

``I am truly embarrassed that some alleged Dean supporters have posted nasty messages,'' wrote blogger ``Passing Shot.''

Some were frustrated by both sides.

``All I found on one side are potty-mouthed Deanies - and on the other, snooty Kerryites,'' wrote ``Lilly James.''

Aides to both Kerry and Dean suggested mischievous Republicans could also be behind some of the anti-Kerry entries allegedly from Dean supporters.

[crissy71]

21. Dean should publicly apologize

For his supporters' freeper-like conduct

[LuminousX]

29. Apology was in the Blog

As Trippi asked the people who attend the Dean Blog not to disrupt the Kerry Blog.

Dean has ZERO control over people's actions. No one connected to the campaign is doing it so Dean shouldn't make a formal apology. And both campaigns agreed that Republican disruptors could be the real culprits. Should Dean have to apologize for the actions of Republicans?

[crissy71]

31. It could be Repugs doing it

Although the tone isn't that different from what I've read at DU (which could also be freepers in disguise) - it begs the question, why don't Freepers bombard the Dean blog? (hint: no threat there)

[LuminousX]

32. Uninformed Opinion

But I believe, while the Dean Blog has suffered its trolls, they have very active moderators. Kerry's blog, being new, wasn't prepared for the onslaught.

Thus, in my uninformed wild-assed speculation, the Dean blog as suffered its Pug attacks over a longer period of time because it has been up longer. And because of that, the moderators have been able to get on top of the problem before it got out of hand. Kerry's blog was fresh meat with moderators unprepared for the onslaught.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

36. Trey Phish Head

A blogger named ``Trey Phish Head'' claimed he was a Dean backer and a ``shallow lonely stoner that lives to spam my enemy.''


Yeah, that sounds like a story a Repub would come up with...

[w4rma]

23. There was a thread on DU that was calling on Kerry supporters to go to the

Kerry blog and fend off Freepers. The person did NOT want Dean supporters because it wasn't Dean supporters doing the trolling. Dean supporters were being *accused* of doing the trolling, but the Dean supporters on the Kerry blog were actually trying to fend off the freepers and explain to the Kerry folks what was going on.

I can't find this thread, but I'm sure that it was in either General Discussion or Politics and Campaigns within the last 10 days.

[w4rma]

26. I found it. Here is the thread: Kerry supporters- your blog needs you!

The Kerry folks have put up a great site with a blog. Unfortunately, their blog is being polluted by trolls, mostly posing as Dean supporters. It's gotten really ugly, and it appears that the Kerry campaign can't manage to get it under control. If they don't deal with it soon, the blog will die, and it would be a terrible loss for them.

Dean supporters like myself have tried to explain what's happening, that these are trolls who have found a vulnerable new site where they can play on peoples emotions and whip up fights between Kerry and Dean people. Unfortunately, the scene is now so antagonistic, that any "help" from the Dean camp would be percieved as trolling. Some of us have been corresponding off blog with Kerry people who have posted on the Dean site about the problem.

If you spend time here on DU and you are a KERRY SUPPORTER ONLY, you've probably refined your BS detectors and can help them reign in this problem. If you're a moderator, and a KERRY SUPPORTER ONLY , your input would be really helpful. Help them understand that they need to ban IPs, delete posts, whatever it takes.

(Dean supporters and all others need to STAY OFF the blog. No posting of apologies, nothing, it's all pollution at this point.)

Hope they can pull it out of the mire.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=18695

[crissy71]

35. Then it's settled

Let us now return to bashing the Unelected Fraud and his minions