Laurie Dobson wants to land a spot on the ballot to run as an independent candidate in Maine's U.S. Senate race, but she won't be able to rally support from Netroots activists at TurnMaineBlue .

Gerald Weinand, the site's administrator and prolific contributor, banned Dobson from contributing to the liberal blog because she accused Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, of being corrupt without offering any specific evidence.

Please see Gerald's post below. I've deleted one word Gerald used to describe Dobson's accusation and I've edited some of his spelling errors. I cleaned up the text, too, correcting some typos and such.

ME-Sen: Why I banned a senate candidate
by: Gerald
Tue Apr 08, 2008 at 01:24:39 AM EDT
First, I want you to know that I understand what Turn Maine Blue is: on a good day, we might see 400 unique visitors here, with 50 return visits. 45,000 Democrats participated in the caucus in February, and that should be our base, and yet we see about one percent of them coming here for news and information.

In the grand scheme of Maine politics, Turn Maine Blue don't mean [anything].

I have been working to entice more readers to visit, and more folks to contribute, albeit with mixed results. That said, folks that have been running for Congress, and even some running for the state legislature, have been kind enough to post here - it is appreciated.

I write this so that you know that I don't hold an exaggerated sense of importance about TMB, or of myself. But I want the candidates running for elected office to know that my actions of tonight, small as they are, were not taken lightly.

I have banned Laurie Dobson from this site. She has filed the required petitions, and is a recognized candidate for the office of Senator of the State of Maine. This is an important position, held by just 100 individuals, and so I take her candidacy seriously, as I do my actions regarding her access to Turn Maine Blue.

But as I warned, I will not tolerate unfounded and broad accusations of "corruption" as she made against Tom Allen. I am an Allen supporter, that is clear; but I encouraged Ms. Dobson to bring forth specific charges or challenges against Mr. Allen by a said time, and she has failed to do so.

Nothing would please me more than to see these pages used as a vehicle for the debate and discourse of progressive and liberal ideas, and to galvanize plans in which to bring them forth to action.

But the accusations of Ms. Dobson did not contribute to such a dialog, and in fact were detrimental to it. The willingness displayed by her to attack her opponent ought to reflect on how she might comport herself in the Senate if elected, and her supporters should consider it.

So tonight, Laurie Dobson, candidate for Senate, is banned from this site, and all of her previous posts have been removed.

Gerald Weinand
Rockland, Maine
Discuss :: (4 Comments)

E-mail this entry to a friend