Metafilter had a piece today on the bloggers that are cashing in on the current election cycle. It seems as though, given new campaign finance reporting laws, the campaigns are having to name everyone they’re giving money to, and some resourceful reporters are identifying the bloggers on the various payrolls.
Here’s a quote from Beltway Blog on one of our local Michigan bloggers:
…Laura Packard. Her duties as Internet communications director for the campaign of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., include writing at the campaign blog. Her salary is nearly $3,700 a month. Aaron Hofman also posts entries to Stabenow’s blog, and he earns about $2,200 a month…
So, apparently Laura made $44K… I want to say that I could have done it for less, but I recognize that it would be motivated primarily by jealousy. Looking at it objectively, I think it’s probably a good thing… Yes, it seems a bit odd that Stabenow’s “blog person” is the second highest paid in the country, but I think it’s great that they’re investing online. Hopefully we’ll see the Democrats using the web, and blogs specifically, more and more in the future to communicate with people and build community.
6 Comments
Debbie, herself, makes a tidy sum … and I wonder how she proposes to “reverse” her vote to restore our legal safety net of habeus corpus and disavow torture for all time, plus many other distasteful and outrageous provisions she voted for.
I very much liked the Dean “agenda” Mark posted and believe Howard’s 50-state strategy was the right one given the tide we are witnessing this evening. But will the Dems really pull through and repair the evil we have wrought in the world and within our own borders. I hope so. But … I wonder.
FWIW, Laura is WAY more than Debbie’s “blog person”. Also, she gave up lucrative opportunities (and potentially stunted her career path) by taking on a low-paying, short-term political gig. Most paid campaign staff can be young, inexperienced and trained. You have to buy certain talent…
In any case, it was well worth it to see Laura (and the rest of us) screaming for joy last night when Amway Guy conceded.
In retrospect, we should have put more effort into defeating Proposition 2. I don’t know about everyone else, but my efforts (and my money) were directed primarily toward getting non-Republicans elected.
As for Laura, I don’t think the sum is that large. It just appears HUGE when put in the context of blogs, where probably 99% of those involved don’t even make enough through ads, etc. to pay their monthly hosting charges.
When push came to shove, I couldn’t vote for Stabenow because of her support of the Military Commissions Act. I left the whole area blank, rather than vote for Bouchard. While I am thrilled so many Democrats got in, I don’t feel Debbie is a Democrat any more. Nor do I feel she is representing me and my beliefs.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was recently paid $15,000 to endorse the vegetarian lasagna party.
I don’t disagree with you, Mensch. As I said in the post, even though I’m tempted, out of jealousy, to make the case that she didn’t deserve that kind money, I don’t in fact believe it. I think that what she and other bloggers did this election cycle was instrumental in delivering last night’s victories, and I hope that more money is spent building and nurturing online political community in the future.