Daily Kos' comments on Blogging Credentials

As we've mentioned, Cottonmouth did not receive blogging credentials for the DNC Convention in August. We're still following up on several comments and e-mails, and we really do appreciate the support from our friends out there who believe we should have received the credentials, including those at Daily Kos.

This piece also includes information on the different types of blogging credentials.

There is still a chance we'll be given a general pass.

The DNC's blog credentialing f'up

So how did the DNC choose to recognize the growth of local blogs "in line with Governor Dean's 50-state strategy"? Mostly, they got it right. At least in 45 states. But they blew it big time in five others, dissing some of the best state bloggers in the country.

In New York, the excellent Albany Project was passed over for a site focused on NY City corruption founded by the Politico's Ben Smith. Go to that site, and it's nothing but press releases. [Update: That press release page is a lower-level page, which I
got when I clicked on the "blog" link in their navigation. They have real writers on their home page.]

In New Jersey, the inimitable Blue Jersey got passed over for PolitickerNJ -- a non-partisan, corporate owned site run by the guys who own the New York Observer. Somehow, I doubt that's inline with the spirit of Dean's 50-state strategy, online organizing, or being agents of change.

In Alabama, Left in Alabama was passed over, as was Cotton Mouth in Mississippi, passed over in favor of a site, Natchez Blog, devoted to Natchez MS, population 18,000 -- a site, by the way, that didn't have a single post or action alert on the MS-01 special election we won last week. Cotton Mouth was one of the best resources on that race (and the Senate race as well).

Finally, Michigan Liberal was given the big diss as well.

The DNC's online guy at the convention, Aaron Myers (email: myersA@demconvention.com) claims that it's a big ado about nothing, that the snubbed blogs will be getting regular blog credentials when those are announced sometime this week.

But that's not the point.

The state blogger corps were a special program and a particularly coveted one since it allows those bloggers to sit with their delegations on the convention floor. Regular bloggers can't do that. They may "have access" to the state delegations, but they won't be sitting with them.

The solution was easy -- take the five blogs that were given their unwarranted access, and give them regular blog credentials just like most everyone else. Those are the same credentials sites like Daily Kos will have, so there's nothing shameful about
them.

Then they could give those five state blogger corps passes in MI, AL, MS, NY, and NJ to the blogs in those states that have are TRUE reflections of Dean's 50-state strategy, those blogs that are organizing and building for a Democratic majority at the local level with little recognition virtually and no money. Those are the bloggers who are in the trenches helping make victories like MS-01 possible.

This fix could've been done quietly and without any public commotion, but Aaron Myers and whoever ultimately makes those decisions have decided to be obtuse about it. They're pretend that there's no difference between the regular credentials and the state blogger ones, a farcical position.

If there was no difference between the two classes of credentials, then there wouldn't be two classes of credentials.