| And whether it is or isn't, when Blue Jersey was created, I had always assumed that it would be the New Jersey version of dailyKos or MyDD in that it would be a voice for the progressive grass roots in the state that recognized that both the Democratic establishment and the Republicans were both the primary obstacles to progressive policy-making.
And at times, it has been. When the party bosses and their cronies have given them fun and juicy stories, Juan et al have made the most of their opportunities. They did a great job covering the Loretta Weinberg-Ken Zisa story last year and are now having a lot of fun at the expense of Charles Epps, rightfully so. But these are no-brainers.
But when given the opportunity to cover their first contested primary like the one going on between Camille Abate and Paul Aronsohn, Blue Jersey has disappointed me to no end. When I commented earlier, I never said that Blue Jersey ignored Camille. Heck, I think that it would have been better for her if you had.
What bothers me most about the coverage is the overt hostility towards her campaign and the reasons given for it. I seriously doubt that Kos or DD would turn on Ned Lamont if some of his more emotional supporters took umbrage with elements of their coverage of the CT Senatorial primary and there is no doubt in my mind that they would not go ballistic if he made some amateurish mistakes that first-time candidates are prone to make.
It would be my guess that true progressive bloggers like them would be happy enough that someone had the guts to stand up and call Joe Lieberman out for being the worst Democrat in the United States Senate in the same way that I would have hoped that after Anne Wolfe, a real progressive, was pushed aside by Paul Aronsohn and the Bergen County machine, Blue Jersey and the rest of the progressive community would have rallied around Camille for having the guts to stand up to both and give the Democratic and unaffiliated voters in the 5th District a real progressive option.
But that didn't happen, not by a long shot. Instead, the bloggers at Blue Jersey chose to be mean and petty. And the saddest part of the whole thing is that I don't think that they did it to ingratiate themselves with the Democratic establishment or even to present themselves as "fair and balanced". I have yet to read anything particularly positive about Paul Aronsohn as much as I have read some of the most brutally negative statements about Camille. Based on this, I feel that they chose to be mean and petty just because they could be.
Fortunately for some of this year's other first-timers like Carole Gay, Rich Sexton, and Tom Wyka, because they are not facing primary opposition and they are taking on Republicans who will be easy targets for the Blue Jersey bloggers, they are going to be given a pass if/when they make some of the unpolished or unprofessional missteps that Camille has been so mercilessly hammered for. Or at least I hope they will be. Considering the fact that they are willing to stand up and be standard-bearers for the Democratic Party in some of the most Republican parts of the state, they should be given every benefit of the doubt imaginable, just as Camille should have for doing what she has done and continues to do.
As for brilliantatbreakfast's offer to bear my child, if I wasn't married and my wife and I weren't expecting our first child in November, I might have taken her up on it. Instead, I will settle for poached eggs (not too firm and not too loose), corned beef hash, and a toasted english muffin (Thomas's only please). |
