John McCain,  President 2008

John McCain Watch: The Soren Dayton Twitter Flap

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72B3tUAqpo4[/youtube]

Senator Barack Obama and his pastor, the reverend Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity Unity Church of Christ in Chicago.

Do Wright’s statements, which Obama regularly brought his family to witness for over two decades, reflect Obama’s opinion of America and caucasians? Do his wife’s statements shed more light on Barack’s true beliefs?

The above video which Flap linked from Hugh Hewitt’s blog first appeared here on Monday, March 17, 2007. As with all of Flap’s blog posts the title and a Tiny Url are posted in Flap’s Twitter account.

Soren Dayton, a blog colleague and campaign staffer for Senator John McCain’s Presidential campaign twittered the following today:

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Soren Dayton’s twitter page (since deleted)

So, what is the FLAP?

This afternoon Jonathan Martin’s blog of the Politico broke the story that Soren Dayton had been suspended as a John McCain staffer as a result of his Tweet.

An aide to John McCain was suspended from the campaign today for blasting out an inflammatory video that raises questions about Barack Obama’s patriotism.

Soren Dayton, who works in McCain’s political department, sent out the YouTube link of “Is Obama Wright?” on twitter at 12:31 today with the tag, “Good video on Obama and Wright.” It has since been taken down.

Twitter is an online device that allows users to send out short messages and links en masse through computers or PDAs.

McCain and his campaign have repeatedly said that they would stay away from personal attacks on Obama, but the temptation has increased as Wright’s words have dominated the race in recent days.

Last week, they included an op-ed that hammered Wright and Obama in their morning clip package emailed to reporters. The same day, a campaign aide they regretted doing so.

Informed that Dayton was circulating the video, McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said he had been suspended and “reprimanded by campaign leadership.”

“We have been very clear on the type of campaign we intend to run and this staffer acted in violation of our policy,” she said.

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Soren Dayton

And, how did this Twitter Tweet draw any attention?

Dayton’s tweet was seized upon by a keen-eyed political operative who forwarded a link to what turned out to be a dead page to Greg Sargent, a reporter for liberal blog network TPM Media. Informed that Dayton’s Twitter page had already been taken down, the source then sent Sargent a screen-grab, reproduced above.

A left wing blogger narc’d or tattle-taled on Dayton and the McCain Campaign suspended him indefinitely.

This entire Flap is a “TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.” The video was already viral in the blogosphere and because it was produced by a Salem Radio producer means what?

Rather. the incendiary video — which also includes footage of Malcolm X, the U.S. Olympians who raised their hand in the black power salute and the song “Fight the Power” — is in part the amateur work of Lee Habeeb.

A former producer of “The Laura Ingraham Show,” Habeeb is the director of strategic content at Salem Radio Network, the conservative talk radio powerhouse that airs programs hosted by figures such as Bill Bennett and Hugh Hewitt.

The McCain Campaign has OVERREACTED and Dayton should be reinstated immediately. Did he show some indiscretion and violate Team McCain policy?

Yes, he did. But, in a very minor way.

Team McCain needs to be “LESS SENSITIVE” to Barack Obama’s feelings and play HARDBALL – at least once in a while.

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Soren Dayton’s blog – Eyeon08.com