Blogs Behaving Badly

June 29, 2007 — -- Celebrities have been the butt of blogger wrath for years -- just log onto www.perezhilton.com for a taste of puerile star wars. But now presidential candidates are getting a taste of Internet bashing.

Online since April, www.hillaryis44.com is a staunchly pro-Hillary Clinton blog, featuring daily opinions, updates on Clinton's position at the polls, T-shirts and buttons.

There's also a healthy dose of good ol' fashioned mudslinging. In particular there are a number of attacks on Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. The blog encourages readers to send in "confidential tips," ostensibly to further scrutinize the Illinois senator. And in doing so, it begs the question: Is Clinton's campaign affiliated with the blog?

The campaign insists it is not. ABCNEWS.com's e-mail request for an interview with the person or persons behind hillaryis44.com -- sent to the blog's "confidential tips" address -- has not been met with a reply. On the blog's "Why Hillary" page is a statement that reads: "We are not affiliated with the Hillary for President Exploratory Committee, or any official Hillary Clinton organization in any way."

But questions persist. Conservative columnist Peggy Noonan wrote in a recent syndicated column that the Web site "reads like The Warrior's Id ... In tone the site is very Tokyo Rose....its primary target and obvious obsession is Barack Obama."

Comparing the Web site to the "Sopranos" spoof video that the Clinton camp released a week ago, Noonan suggests that the senator's campaign could be involved: "This appears to be the subterranean part of Hillary's campaign, the part that quietly coexists with the warm, chuckling lady playing the jukebox with her husband."

David D. Perlmutter, associate dean for graduate studies and research at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, told ABC News, "I wouldn't be surprised [if the Clinton campaign is behind it]. It's a very dense effort and some of the stuff smacks of political insider knowledge.

"Put it this way: I would be surprised to find that it's a couple of 14-year-olds fooling around in the basement. But then again, that doesn't necessarily mean it's Chelsea. There are many politically aware people out there."

Simply a Fan?

The blog's "mission statement" reads: "We will keep an especially sharp eye on 'progressives' or Democrats who repeat Republican talking points to undermine Hillary or any of our candidates."

ABC News' Jake Tapper pointed out in his Political Punch blog Monday that the Web site doesn't just target Obama -- it has fellow Democratic hopeful John Edwards in its sights as well. "The Edwards campaign is simply a mess," it reads. "We will examine his mess of a campaign in a later post which will probably have to include a table of contents to catalog all the mistakes this mess of a campaign has made."

Are these simply private viewpoints from a passionate Clinton fan (or fans)? Is there any connection to Clinton's camp, even if only through a rogue staffer acting alone? A few months ago, Philip de Vellis was employed by a firm consulting for the Obama campaign when he independently and anonymously posted the anti-Clinton "1984" video on YouTube. When de Vellis' identity was revealed, he was fired by the firm.

Weighing in on hillaryis44.com, Stephen Bainbridge, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), wrote on his own Web site, professorbainbridge.com: "Scanning hillaryis44.com, I'd say Noonan is right that the blogger is obsessed with Obama. Indeed, the very purpose of the site would seem to be to 'abuse' Obama, 'embarrass' Obama and 'harm' Obama's presidential chances."

Cyber Criticism

Clinton has been on the receiving end of no small number of online potshots herself. According to a recent ABC News report, the Facebook group Stop Hillary Clinton has over 171,525 members.

The creator of the group, Stephen DeMaura, said in a recent interview with TechPresident.com: "To many on the right and the left Hillary Clinton is a polarizing and unacceptable candidate for president."

Other anti-Clinton groups on Facebook include Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich as well as If Elected, Hillary Clinton Would Usher in the Apocalypse.

Another anonymous Web site, I-hate-hillary.com, sells merchandise like a handbag that has "Life's a bitch. Don't vote for one" silk screened on to it next to a portrait of Clinton.

Anonymity vs. Disclosure

So why the anonymity with hillaryis44.com? The fact that known bloggers are often seen as politically affiliated might be a factor in this anonymous blogger's choice to remain as such.

"Once I get an e-mail from a blogger I know is working for a campaign, I treat it as campaign spam, because that's what it is," Glenn Reynolds, the creator of the independent blog, Instapundit, told Mother Jones.

And sometimes, disclosing your blogger status can leave you out in the cold, as Jerid Kurtz, the administrator of the Buckeye State Blog, Ohio's largest and most influential political blog, found when he attempted to attend one of Obama's Faith, Action, Change forums at Keene State College and was promptly asked to leave by Nicole Derse from the political desk of the Obama New Hampshire campaign because the event was "closed to the press."

"There's a natural distrust of the media in general, and bloggers have unfortunately become involved in that," Kurtz told ABC News. But, he continues, "If you're not blogging with full disclosure, how do we know that you're a truthful, reliable source? The same standards should apply for everyone."