One of the chief campaign bloggers for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards quit Monday after conservative critics raised questions about her history of provocative online messages.
Amanda Marcotte posted on her personal blog, Pandagon, that the criticism “was creating a situation where I felt that every time I coughed, I was risking the Edwards campaign.”
Marcotte said she resigned from her position Monday, and that her resignation was accepted by the campaign.
Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, confirmed that Marcotte was “no longer working for the campaign.” She declined additional comment.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded last week that Edwards fire Marcotte and a second blogger, Melissa McEwan, for remarks he deemed anti-Catholic. Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, called the messages personally offensive, but decided to keep Marcotte and McEwan on staff.
“No matter what you think about the campaign, I signed on to be a supporter and a tireless employee for them, and if I can’t do the job I was hired to do because Bill Donohue doesn’t have anything better to do with his time than harass me, then I won’t do it,” Marcotte wrote Monday night.
Earlier Monday, Marcotte wrote on her personal Web site, “The Christian version of the virgin birth is generally interpreted as super-patriarchal, where ... women are nothing but vessels.”
Donohue called both Marcotte and McEwan “foul-mouthed bigots.” He did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday night.
McEwan remains on the Edwards campaign staff. She did not return messages left Monday.