Bronze-level articleErick Erickson

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Erick Erickson is the managing editor of the conservative blogging platform RedState. A leader in grassroots conservatism thanks to his frank rhetoric and willingness to fundraise, he has become an important figure in the Republican Party during the Obama Presidency, rising to prominence in 2009 and 2010.[1]

Contents

[edit] In real life

Erickson was a city councilman in Macon, Georgia, which made him more directly involved in politics than most bloggers. It also gave observers a chance to gauge his opinions in a real world setting, as in September 2009 when around 130 Macon policeman attempted to unionize.[2] In his response, Erik son of Erik speculated about the possibility of dissolving the police department entirely in retribution, contracting with the local sheriff for law enforcement.[3]

Unfortunately, Erickson also missed almost half of the full council meetings in 2010, as well as numerous committee meetings. In January 2011, Erickson announced his intention to resign his position before the end of his first term.[4] So much for Puritan work ethic.

[edit] On the Internet

Through Red State, Erickson has initiated several campaigns of note.

[edit] Operation Leper

Erickson's first project was a joint operation with Michelle Malkin. The Operation was aimed at "tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others...It is our expressed intention to make these few people political lepers."[5] The "Operation" promptly went nowhere and was more or less forgotten by the time his next project rolled around.

[edit] Strike Force

By 2009, Erickson had realized that real change would require him to harness the full power of his web community. With that in mind, he created the Red State Wolverines Strike Force.[6] Members of the Force would periodically receive assignment from Erickson himself. The first "mission" was a simple request to vote for Red State as Best Conservative Blog in the 2008 Weblog Awards[7], a mission carried out with great skill by the members.[8]

Most subsequent missions involved the Force members buying and sending random tchotchkes to politicians, including Silly Putty eggs, rubber balls and bags of rock salt. Left unmentioned by Erickson is that all the purchase links go through his Amazon page, meaning he profited from his "missions."[9]

[edit] Tragic: The Gathering[10]

Seeing the success of large scale meet-ups like YearlyKos/Netroots Nation, Erickson attempted to organize his own meeting, dubbed the Red State Army Gathering[11] The event was moderately successful...in that it attracted about 1/6th as many attendees as the first YearlyKos.[12]

[edit] On CNN

That's right. Erickson spent almost three years as a commentator on CNN,[13] eventually departing to join more like-minded individuals at Fox News.[14] He admitted that "before I went to CNN I was oblivious to the fact that there are ways to say things, without sacrificing or compromising my view or principle, that come off as more respectable and honest without invective than how I might have otherwise said them... CNN made me mindful of that."[15]

We're betting that someone at CNN probably got fired for this.

[edit] Influence in the 2012 presidential election

Regarding the nomination process, Mr. Erickson says, "Conservative in the primary, Republican in the general," which means he and his readers spew lunacy about their preferred candidate, then fall in line once their social betters have picked the most palatable candidate.

Erick Erickson hates Mitt Romney, and until the bitter end, endorsed fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich for the 2012 Republican nomination.[16] No doubt this caused some friction in his household, as Mrs. Erickson has a personal friendship with Newt's first wife.

When Mitt Romney began using Erickson's "47 percent of Americans don't pay taxes" canard, it only made people like Romney less. It would seem that Erick Erickson and his ideas are smart only inside his echo chamber.[17]

In the wake of the 2012 Vice-Presidential Debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, Erickson made various whiny remarks about moderator Martha Raddatz. Fellow CNN talking-head Soledad O'Brien told him, "You have lost your mind."[18]

Although Mitt Romney lost, some of Erickson's favored Tea Party candidates won, such as Ted Cruz, a Texan Congressman turned Senator.[19]

[edit] Oh, and if you were waiting for the quotes

When dealing with an intellect of the caliber of Mr. Erickson, it's often best to let his own words speak for themselves. The following is a greatest hits collection of Erickson's wit and wisdom. (For more, just read the titles of his blog posts.)

  • "In fact, exit polling by and large shows that John Edwards, by staying in the race, is taking votes that would otherwise typically go to Barack Obama. Is this a racist ploy? Is John Edwards in league with the Clintons to make sure white voters, who don't want to vote for Clinton, have a white alternative to go to, lest Barack Obama get more traction?"[22]
  • "As the Clintons and their supporters continue their destruction of the Democratic Party, we see the latest salvo fired from the thighs of ugly nags. From the nether regions that see no men, New York's National Association of Gals is out bashing Teddy Kennedy for endorsing Barack Obama instead of Hillary Clinton."[27]
  • (In reference to new laundry detergent regulations) "At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator’s house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?"
  • "What gives the Commerce Department the right to ask me how often I flush my toilet? Or about going to work? I'm not filling out this form. I dare them to try and come throw me in jail. I dare them to. Pull out my wife's shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door. They're not going on my property."[28]
  • "The nation loses the only goat fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court in David Souter's retirement."[29]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links inks

[edit] Footnotes

  1. The Washington Independent: Erick Erickson January 1, 2010
  2. More than 100 Macon police officers express interest in forming union
  3. I May Need To Draft Legislation, Peach Pundit, September 29 2009
  4. Erickson to quit Macon City Council for Atlanta gig, Macon.com, January 6 2011
  5. Operation Leper
  6. Lest you think we're kidding about the name, here's the actual logo.
  7. Balloon Juice: My first mission as part of the Red State Strike Force
  8. 7th in a field of 14!
  9. TBOGG: RedState Strike Force. They’re our men. If they can’t do it. Well, actually, nobody will be too surprised. January 14, 2009 - Of course, given the cheap goods he ordered his men to purchase, it's unlikely that Erickson saw too much cash.
  10. Name first used here
  11. Still not kidding
  12. RedState: The RedState Gathering Happens This Weekend
  13. Erickson joins the Best Political Team
  14. "Erick Erickson Leaving CNN for Fox", Politico.
  15. "Moving On", RedState.
  16. Rick Perry's Final Act: King-Maker
  17. Conservative Bloggers are Losing this Election
  18. Soledad slams Red State editor’s moderator critique: ‘You have lost your mind’
  19. We need Ted Cruz - April 16, 2012
  20. Here's the killer, if you want to see for yourself.
  21. Blood for Blood. Ashes for Ashes, RedState.com
  22. Democrats: The Party of the Klan?, RedState.com
  23. Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize: He’s Becoming Jimmy Carter Faster Than Jimmy Carter Did, RedState.com
  24. This guy
  25. Common Decency Suggests We Should Not Have to Deal With This, But We Must Now Confront A White House Supportive of NAMBLA, RedState.com
  26. The Elite Become Fringe. We Will Remember Come November, Redstate.com
  27. Betrayal of the Female Reproductive Organ, RedState.com
  28. Erick Erickson Threatens To 'Pull Out Shotgun' At Census Worker, The Huffington Post, April 5 2010
  29. His Twitter page!
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