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I find it hard to believe that Ms. Marcotte, who appears to be a well written, intensely strong advocate for the causes she believes in, was able to rise to the status of blogmaster of a prominent presidential campaign with the naivete that is displayed in this missive on her resignation. I say this in the context that I would likely share many of her viewpoints expressed in her explanation for her resignation and on her personal blog, particularly those dealing with the still male dominated world of political discourse in general, and the blogosphere in particular (which is after all, what she was hired to work in by the Edwards campaign). Additionally, and more importantly, it's too bad that Edwards, who touts himself as progressive and forward thinking, would allow himself to be shouted down and shoehorned into accepting the resignation of a staffer whose political views had presumably been properly vetted before her hiring. This giving in to the shout down is not the fault of the person who is doing the shouting, who afterall is simply strongly standing up for what he or she believes in. It is the fault of he or she who is shouted down and crawls in a corner without fighting back. I don't blame Ms. Marcotte for resigning. Many people have taken jobs that they thought they were prepared for and then found out maybe they weren't. It won't be the first time that has happened and it won't be the last. The more important question is why does a presidential candidate either (A) so cavalierly hire someone with so little research that he subsequently and quickly throws her under the bus for holding views that fairly significantly don't jive with his or (B) so weakly give in to the shouts of his opposition that he throws her under the bus with no defense whatsoever. To Ms. Marcotte I say, I'm sorry you had to go through this, but don't let it stop you from rocking on with your own thing. I suspect the short term pain will lead to long term rewards for you. To Mr. Edwards I say, either do a better job of putting a staff together, or grow a spine.
