I've been reading about the non-controversy where a few right wing journalists have gone after John Edwards' new bloggers. But can we be serious for a moment? The reason he is taking fire right now is because the Edwards campaign is seriously underperforming. There's a head that should roll, and it isn't on the internet side. Bill Donohue is the bigot here, he hates everyone who lives within 150 miles of water, or a book about Darwinian evolution. This is an anti-science, anti-humanist zealot, who no more speaks for the broad mainstream of American catholicism than Lyndon Larouche speaks for anyone but Lyndon Larouchites.

Let's talk political strategy for a moment. The race right now has a first tier - Obama because of excitement, Clinton because of establishment, and Edwards because of ground operation. There are other candidates, but all of them need one of the top tier to stumble - and behind them stands Albert Gore, who is a non-candidate, but could enter in if both Obama and Edwards fade.

The playoff bracket works like this - it is a home and home for Edwards and Obama. Iowa is Obama's home game, he has the ability to reach into eastern Iowa, where as Edwards must now focus on the more conservative Western Iowa, where he did well last election. South Carolina is Edwards' home game, with Obama's ability to move the African American, particularly the religious African American, vote being a key test of whether he can take the wind out of Edwards' anti-poverty sails.

The winner of that contest runs into Hillary Clinton - getting a bye - in New Hampshire. The rest will be confirmation of that match up.

This has meant that Edwards has had to try to find ways of weaving right- ish. And ish in politics is a bad bad syllable, because it is weak. Weak is bad. The campaign has chosen three things to do to make this right-ish weave possible - Iran, a weak Health Care plan and now the blogger fracas. In each case, the attempt to split the difference has been handled badly. The problem isn't loose finger tips by Shakespeare's sister, it is a poor handling of a tactical shift in message.

The problem with the Edwards campaign has not been smaller people, but farther towards the top, the basic blocking and tackling hasn't happened, and the message has been muddled and hence he has not been able to stay on message. The challenge of media politics is to answer every question with message. Whether on Iran, Health Care or communications, the answer from Edwards should always be how there are two Americas, and the elite America has let the rest of us down by taking too much and doing too little.

After having made significant gains by speaking courageously over the summer and fall - abandoning the Iraq position, taking the Two Americas theme to every small gathering - Edwards is tripping up on the "over the radar" "through the filter" media work which Hillary is so practiced at. He has looked weak. He had to back track on Iran. There needs to be a new message guru in the Edwards campaign, someone who understands that John Edwards is at his best when he is laying the case before the American public like a jury, not negotiating in the back for a settlement. After all, if he can be intimidated then foreign and domestic enemies will know that Edwards can't go the distance.

Many people have already written, better than I could, about what this means for the net roots - this has cost Edwards significant goodwill, but he can get it back by firing off that he is not going to bow down to corporate America game of swiftboating Democrats.

This is no more than the mercenaries comment fracas about Markos Moulitas, a tempest about nothing which ended up making Markos more, not less, important, because he didn't crack. Courage is a commodity.

And so is loyalty, Edwards needs loyalty, and to get it, he has to prove that he gives as well. Otherwise, he can look at the current occupant of the White House, alone, entrenched in his moat, surrounded by nothing but true believing Kool-aid drinkers - hoping to order the tide of catastrophe not to roll in.

Senator Edwards, this blogging burst is a symptom of message drift, and a failure to formulate clear positions in clear words that are directed at creating a clear consensus among Democrats that you should be the nominee. The choice here is to defend the bloggers, or find a way to make this a "Sistah Souljah" moment. The time for doing either is rapidly passing. It isn't hiring the bloggers that has gotten you into trouble, it is the deer in the headlights quality to the response.

The cold bottom line here is that this didn't happen, it was made to happen, because there was perceived weakness in the campaign, back pedalling and slow reponse. Rapid response is an essential for every campaign. Better to learn it early.

They are trying to take Edwards out of the campaign with this fracas, and if he goes down, it will be the campaign management's fault.