The Bob Novak column that Epp has been discussing ran today. Readers might be interested in its contents:
S.D.'S ENDLESS CAMPAIGN
The 2004 Senate victory in South Dakota of Republican John Thune over then Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle did not end the bitter election campaign. Since the election, at least five South Dakota blogs have appeared with the only apparent purpose of attacking Thune.
Former Daschle staffers openly run two of the blogs, and two others are anonymous. A fifth is run by Todd Epp, who did part-time legal work for Daschle's campaign. Epp told this column that Steve Hildebrand, Daschle's campaign manager, learned from Thune's use of paid bloggers in 2004 and now "is kind of behind some of this."
A footnote: In its July quarterly report, the Daschle campaign reported more than $1 million in post-election spending, including a $2,000-a-month salary for Hildebrand and thousands more for his consulting firm. The campaign still has $545,000. Because Daschle has exceeded $5,000 in spending, the Federal Election Commission under its rules asked him if he is a candidate against Thune in 2010. Daschle replied officially that he is not.
Personally, I find blogging about blogging and bloggers a bit tedious. It is about as interesting is media coverage about media coverage. It ends up in a feedback loop that can border on narcissism, i.e., "there is nothing more interesting to talk about than ourselves." This is not to say that any form of media should be unaccountable, I am simply suggesting that I find the subject uninteresting. Like many things, watchdogging (is that a word?) blogs must be done, so I am glad there are people who are interested in doing it, and I am equally glad I am not one of them.
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