On to Romney's Statement About Confederate Yankee

It took a little while, but the Edwards team got this one right.

EDWARDS STATEMENT ON CAMPAIGN BLOGGERS AMANDA MARCOTTE AND MELISSA McEWEN

Senator John Edwards:

“The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte’s and Melissa McEwen’s posts personally offended me. It’s not how I talk to people, and it’s not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it’s intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I’ve talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word. We’re beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can’t let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.”

It's absurd that he even had to do this, but I'm glad he did. The notion that a candidate ought to be responsible for something a hireling wrote before (s)he was hired doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it's a question of judgment, but maybe it's a recognition that on a personal blog, the language is not going to be all sanitized for your protection. And certainly, there is a meta message of standing up to the right wing noise machine and not having them dictate your personnel choices. It's about time somebody told William Donohue and Michelle Malkin to shove it.