Do not let your campaign manager assault* a blogger.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21GicLuaBdU&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Richard Mourdock (R) will be apologizing for this event (more details about the incident here) which took place after Right-blogger rebelpundit came up to the Indiana Senate candidate and started asking him some fairly direct questions about Mourdock’s willingness/reluctance to identify with the Tea Party. The actual triggering moment was when rebelpundit asked a Fair Tax question, apparently; it was then that campaign manager Jim Holdren took a slap at the camera and called the blogger a tracker.

OK, this is important. Let us say that rebelpundit was in fact a tracker – which is to say, that he was a guy with a camera whose job it was to make someone from the Other Side look bad by getting some embarrassing video footage. Guess what? If that had been true, then Mission Freaking Accomplished: and directly because of Holdren’s actions. If you are an activist and you see a tracker, feel free to crack wise at them. Feel free to ask them who they are, over and over again. Feel free to get one of those pointing signs saying ‘FAKE’ and assign someone to follow him around. But do not threaten and do not touch. That it happened here demonstrates a lack of training that is in some ways more worrisome than the assault itself.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*It was assault when Alan Grayson did it. It was assault when a David Price supporter did it. It was assault when Bob Etheridge did it. It was assault when a CNA union goon did it. It was assault when a John Kitzhaber supporter did it. It was assault when a Charlie Rangel supporter did it. It was assault when a Joe Sestak supporter did it. It was assault when an union goon did it. It was assault when a Moveon.org supporter did it. Guess what? It doesn’t suddenly not become assault when everybody involved is a Republican.