Yesterday, the Dodd campaign responded to a request by Fox News' personality Bill O'Reilly to comment on a selection of cherry picked and non-representative comments from the popular liberal blog DailyKos. In a diary on Kos, Tim Tagaris wrote, “Senator Dodd is a proud member of the Daily Kos community, most notably engaging this community in a live video give-and-take prior to the New Hampshire debate. He is also an enthusiastic confirmed participant for Yearly Kos.”
O'Reilly attempted to smear DailyKos by contending that the most extreme statements found amidst millions of comments (attributed to no specific people) were representative of the whole community. As Hari Sevugan, Dodd campaign Communications Director, said yesterday, “to selectively choose the handful of the most extreme comments from the millions of voices in the conversation and fashion that as representative of a whole community is patently unfair.”
Today, I'd like to offer up some representative comments from the DailyKos community, all of which appear on the diary Tagaris posted yesterday afternoon. I'll even tell you who wrote each comment.
Sandy on Signal: “Thank you, Senator Dodd. Oh thank you so much. We look forward to meeting you at the Yearly Kos.”
Maura in VA: “Senator Dodd, thank you for standing up for this medium of free political speech.”
joanneleon: “Thanks to Senator Dodd and to Senator Dodd's staff. What a great way to handle smearmongers. It really made me feel good to read that response.”dkmich: “Sen. Dodd's response was on target.”
rhfactor: “I salute Chris Dodd's team — I think they are far more savvy about these things than the hyper-calculating former First Lady's team… His web team and overall communication strategy is second to none — and further — in my eyes the best we;ve seen to date since the heady Dean days.”
Jeffrey Feldman: “Well done, Dodd team! Very proud to have you in this year's field of candidates.”
gravitylove: “Dodd's approach, saying what you mean in a way that is understood by his intended audience, is best.”
sele: “Even without the whole O'Reilly trash and Dodd's great response to it, the more familiar I become with Senator Dodd, the more respect I have for him and a desire to learn more about what he has to offer. I'd like to see him gain greater coverage in both the online and traditional media.”
These comments are representative of the DailyKos community, unlike O'Reilly's selections. As Hari said yesterday, “Senator Dodd is proud to participate in the Yearly Kos conference and engage in a free exchange of ideas with this important community.”