The action has caused what I would say is some of the first truly internal, rather than mischief-related, rumblings among the Obama netroots crowd. Not surprising perhaps given the scale of his support.
Here is a part of what I wrote about the incident on the official public blog:
This whole episode brought to my mind the concept of "esprit de corps."
Under one definition this term refers to those who have sort of a sense of belonging to a group, organization, movement, etc.
Another definition involves a belief in which the well-being of the whole is taken as more important than that of any of its members.
Some people see Anthony as selfish and greedy. After all he was volunteering his time just like the rest of us. Why should he expect to get paid any more than any of us? Why could he not see the wisdom of ceding to the official campaign for the sake of the overall effort?
Others see Anthony as someone who was wronged. Who had his creation forcibly taken from him, although apparently he was offered some compensation.
The rights of the individual come into play in this type of thinking. A dislike of top-down hierarchy.
Are there two different bodies here -- one of the movement, and another of the centralized official campaign?
Or is this there a head (official campaign) connected to a body (movement, grassroots support)?
Of course, I referring to the more committed Obama supporters and realize that a lot of people on this site are just checking things out.
On another front, Oprah endorsed Barack again this time on the Larry King Show. A Mother Jones article comments: "If Obama uses Oprah to chip away at Clinton's base amongst women, it's over. Obama should just start campaign for re-election."
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