The Best Of The Drifts - Constablegate: The Final Note

Originally published August 10, 2009

A Final Note On ConstableGate

The first piece I wrote about Kyle Constable/John Oxendine was pretty much straight up news. The second piece was more my first person journalism style. This final note will be pure opinion.

Having spoken both on and off the record to the Oxendine campaign and to Kyle, here is my bottom line take on the situation: The campaign acted very stupidly by engaging with a minor, but unlike some have recently said, I believe their intentions were innocent.

The reason I tied my piece to the ethics of blogging was not to pick on a 15 year old who may or may not have the knowledge and experience to understand the consequences of his actions. However, his actions are another episode in the never ending fight about how journalists, campaigns and bloggers interact and how closely do bloggers follow traditional reporting rules and that's a subject I feel compelled to note.

There are some out there who talk both ways about what on the record means and what verification means and they are not minors (at least one of these adults I believe had an influence on Kyle and his subsequent actions). However, since they were only tangentially related to this story, I felt the focus had to be Kyle and his actions.

But take it from someone who recognizes that these types of murky ethics will lead to another cycle of recriminations from traditional media, we know who you are, so does the public and it doesn't matter how many page views or hits you rack up, your reputation is in your hands.

And in this business that's all that really matters.

The Best Of The Drifts - Constablegate: The Analysis

Originally published August 10, 2009

Dealing With The Devil

Jon Flack once said, "I'm not sure how to deal with these journalistic bloggers". Two years later, the struggle to define this murky relationship has moved to the campaign trail.

"We need to ask questions to bloggers to determine if they are writing as an activist or whether they are acting as a journalist so we can deal with them accordingly. We want to treat journalistic bloggers the exact same way we treat reporters" stated Republican candidate for Governor John Oxendine's Campaign Manager Tim Echols.

Echols was responding to last week's incident where teenage Lee County blogger Kyle Constable accused Oxendine campaign staff of "bullying" him.

On Friday, Constable published on his blog the details of a private conversation involving Oxendine consultants Gabe Winslow and Jeff Breedlove. Although he admits the conversation was off the record, Constable says the staffers were "rude" and "disrespectful" and he felt justified in breaking the veil of off the record because "it was something that needed to be published and knew that the people of Georgia were going to know the truth about what the Oxendine campaign does."

What followed was a blog storm which raged from the mountains to the coastal plains.

The easy story was a major gubenatorial campaign picking on a kid. The deeper rumbling was an onion peel of ethics in blogging and campaigning.

Blogs in the state of Georgia range from the openly partisan activists at Blog For Democracy to the more opaque Peach Pundit to fiercely non-partisan Drifting Through The Grift. Throw in professional journalist blogs like Fresh Loaf and Political Insider and you have a mish mash of purposes and standards possibly leaving readers confused about purposes and truths.

Constable found himself waste deep in the muck. He admits he was a "grassroots volunteer" for Oxendine but also expressed a desire to pursue journalism in the future. The conflict between these two very different trades erupted when he felt compelled to comment on his perception that a campaign tactic used by Oxendine was nothing more than a bait and switch effort to acquire email addresses. It was this posting which led to the now infamous conversation with Breedlove and Winslow.

Although the details of that conversation are lost to time and as is usually the case, both sides claim wildly differing perspectives, the result is not in dispute. Constable detailed the conversation and the Oxendine campaign found itself suddenly having to respond to stories that it was bullying teenagers. Not an activity any campaign desires.

Reporting an off the record conversation is the nuclear option for any journalist or any aspiring journalist. Every story is a deal with the devil. The journalist or the journalistic blogger is trying to get a story and every campaign is trying to get their story out. Both sides are being used, but both sides understand they are being used. There are rules to this game and as long as both sides stick to those rules, everyone's goals can be accomplished with fairness and at least a degree of honesty readers find acceptable.

Off the record conversations are critical tools in the deal and have the most defined rule set. Their primary purpose is to give a writer context around an event. Simply put, they are the check on whether a story is true or not. Although a campaign staffer will provide a gin-upped pablum of platitudes on the record, it is off the record where they will tell you if you're even on the right trail. Many a reporter has been saved by someone saying "I can't tell you officially, but you're getting this one wrong".

Although the professional standards may vary slightly, the rule regarding off the record conversations is simple - you don't report them. Most don't even hint about them. They are proximity bombs and the closer you get, the more likely they are to go off in your face. Professional journalists understand playing fast and loose in this arena can cost a career. For the non-professional bloggers, doors pried open a mere crack may slam shut relegating a voice to a lonely island of despair surrounded by an ocean of distrust.

Though his actions might be excused due to youth and inexperience, Constable is already tasting the consequences. Following a strong public rebuke from the Georgia Teen Republicans (Constable is Treasurer of the organization), today, he shut his blog down and although he will not admit to being pressured into this action, he does state, "I know that by shutting down my blog not only can I continue to make a difference to the people around me where I'm planted, I may be able to re-unify the [Georgia Teen Republican] Executive Board so that we, as a whole, can really start to make a difference in the state."

Time will tell, if this episode will linger around the Oxendine campaign or their young former supporter, but all should note the eternal lesson - if you yank on the devil's tail too hard, you will get burned.

Political Hardball

During a time when the public is in an uproar about the shenanigans at the Capitol, Karen Handel says the culture at the Gold Dome is full of "sex, lies and lobbyists".

That's good politics.

During a fiscal crisis where everyone in the state is taking furloughs, Rep. Ben Harbin slyly slips in a comment about how Handel has not taken any furlough days.

That's also good politics.

Erick "Glass Jaw" Erickson vehemently defends Handel and also slurs Harbin.

Might be good politics. Might be petulance parading as politics. In the media age of Erick's heroes (Rush, Sean, etc.), it becoming difficult to tell the difference.

Predictions Surely To Be Wrong

My batting average is usually more Ted Simmons than Ted Williams, but I have been on a bit of a hot streak lately.

Predictions Surely To Be Wrong:

Larry O'Neal will be the next Speaker of the House - Despite the chirping of the bloggeratti, the status quo usually wins and O'Neal is as status quo as status quo can get.

Nathan Deal will drop out of the Governor race - Let's see, what happens when you combine no name recognition with anemic fundraising and a brewing ethics complaint? Oh yeah. You duck and cover as fast as you can. What this means for Tom Graves campaign in the 9th, no one knows.

And John Oxendine won't be far behind - Numbers stalled. And now this. He'll bow up and fight for a while but eventually all these ethics body blows will take the wind out of him.

Eric Johnson will survive for now - He always survives and he'll slip through the current crap storm relatively stain free. However, when the rubber hits the road or rather the grease hits the palm, Johnson won't have enough of the green Crisco to fry the bacon. Which leaves...

Karen Handel will be the Republican nominee - It's a good time to be a constitutional officer not named Oxendine. Handel isn't even in the same neighborhood as the current Republican mess. Welcome to the Democrat's worst nightmare. Because although they won't admit it in public, they all know their history. And history shows that all Madame Secretary has ever done is win.

#1 On My Top Ten Blog Stories Of The Year won't be hard to guess - Number 1 was pretty clear until about three weeks ago. Look for the list to start dribbling out of my brain over the next week.

A Possible Solution

A quick thought.

John Oxendine's loopy idea to re-ignite the intown Interstate fight awakened a long dormant idea.

What we need are two limited access highways, one connecting Forsyth (the town not the county) to Cartersville on the west side and to Commerce on the east side. These arteries would divert shipping traffic from both the ports of Savannah and Brunswick.

It's simple. We need to get the tractor-trailers off the perimeter.

The Candidate And The Kid

Only those who work deep in the trenches of the hideous world of politics likely care, but there was a small flareup today when 15 year old Lee County blogger Kyle Constable claimed he was "bullied" by officials from the John Oxendine campaign after writing a piece questioning the legitimacy of the Oxendine ancillary website youcanstopObama.com.

Constable fueled the fire further by publishing details from what he admits was an "off the record" conversation with the campaign.

Prior to today's events Constable was a supporter of Oxendine and used his website to praise the candidate.

John Oxendine Campaign Manager Tim Echols believes this episode resulted from a misunderstanding between Constable and his staff and stated to Drifting Through The Grift, "We value the involvement of teenagers in this campaign. It is important that we work with them and their parents to determine the best role for them to play."

In the dog days of August, political campaigns tend to stall and all those who travel that strange road will search for any rest stop to quench the thirst for political spirits. Merely the idea of a gubernatorial campaign fueding with a teenager stirred the Georgia political blogosphere into a frenzy. However, once the dust settles, the conversation of the role of bloggers in politics and the ethical dilemmas encountered will likely continue.

Look for an extensive follow up to this story on Drifting Through The Grift on Monday.

The Morning Line - Republicans

Until the primary is complete, The Morning Line will deal only with the primary races. All odds are based on the candidates ability to win their own party's nomination. And remember children - gambling is illegal and all information is for entertainment purposes only.

The Republicans are tight. Of course, these are the types of races where any good bookie rakes in the dough.

Republicans

John Oxendine (5-1):

Positives - High name recognition, consistently high vote totals in previous elections

Negatives - Prone to odd campaign decisions and gaffes

How do you not make John Oxendine the favorite? Everyone wants to discount his candidacy but he consistently polls at number 1. Despite a donation snafu that resulted in an AJC investigative piece, despite having to give that money back, despite Democrats crowing about how many cars he's crashed, despite weird Snopes quality emails, Oxendine keeps coming out on top in polls. Time will tell if the continuous storm of taint will eventually drag his numbers down.

Nathan Deal (6-1):

Positives - Access to a congressional level donation network

Negatives - Does anybody outside the mountains really know him?

If the odds had been released prior to the quarterly financial statements, Deal's numbers would have been much longer. But his astonishing total of over $1 million cash on hand moves him past horses played more prominently in the early tip sheets. It shows the power a sitting Congressman can wield in the money game. Now, Deal (who is a better campaigner than most people think) has to hit the road and introduce himself to the rest of Georgia.

Karen Handel (7-1):

Positives - High name recognition, Perdue's infrastructure

Negatives - Very polarizing for a Secretary of State

Early tip sheets had Handel as a favorite but her rather anemic fundraising in the 2nd quarter dampens the enthusiasm. Certainly, she was hampered in ways others weren't (i.e. unable to transfer money from other campaign war chests, didn't make a personal loan to the campaign) but the image problem remains. Handel has to move past any impression that she is not a serious player. But Madame Secretary has proved in the past that she does not mind baring the knuckles and it is doubtful anyone is underestimating her.

Eric Johnson (8-1):

Positives - Gobs of money

Negatives - Temperment may be better suited to the state house

Another horse moving up due to the just arrived fund raising numbers. That Johnson outraised Handel may be the surprise of the early campaign season. Part of this is explained by his transferring money over from his now defunct Lt. Governor race but the public will only see the big number. It will keep Johnson's name in the limelight of the front runners. But publicity is a two edged sword. Johnson can be prickly and it may only be a matter of time before he publicly snaps at someone.

Austin Scott (15-1):

Positives - Playing the populist card

Negatives - Already resorting to stunts

Florida had Walkin' Lawton and we have Amblin' Austin. Scott plans to walk a thousand miles through Georgia. It worked for Lawton in the prehistoric days before the internet but in 2010, it's about a half step above smoke stack sitting. Scott has a future in the state, but not this time.

Ray McBerry (100-1):

Positives - Can't do much harm

Negatives - Bobby Franklin, The Constitution Party and a boat load of crazy

Ray McBerry has more in common with the lunatic/theocratic Constitution Party than the Republican Party. Georgia may be backwards but we ain't that backwards. But we should get some good sideshows out of him.

Money In Interesting Places

It has been reported that the sour economy is reducing even political donations, but perhaps people are being more selective with their checks. Travis Fain reports that in the Republican Secretary of State race Sandy Spring councilman Doug MacGinnitie raised donations (plus a loan) in the same neighborhood as clear favorite Brian Kemp.

Kemp put up a good fundraising number, raising $267,170 in six months. And he's got a ton of endorsements. But Sandy Springs City Councilman Doug MacGinnitie raised $207,127. Throw in another $50,000 from a loan and he's got $223,674 in cash on hand to Kemp's $255,660.

That race may be more interesting than we initially thought.