McCain Campaign: Comment Trolls Wanted

[yurbud]

Source: Huffington Post

Wishing you could be a campaign surrogate, but don't have a national platform? Do you find blogging your own opinions tedious? Wish you could have someone tell you what to think during this political season? Well look no further than John McCain's new blog outreach!

That's right; the McCain camp wants to recruit online supporters and activists to serve as comment trolls. From their website:

Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain's policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign....

Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known. Once you've commented on a post, video or news story, report the details of your comment by clicking the button below.

Now, don't worry if you've never heard of a blog, or never written a comment, or heck, even used a computer. Because not only does the campaign tell you on which blogs to comment -- Redstate for right-wingers, Daily Kos for progressives (sorry HuffPo fans, we didn't make the list) -- it will even tell you what to say! Just click on the Blog Interaction page for "Today's Talking Points."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/20/mccain-campaign-comment-t_n_102696.html

---

We've had discussions here on DU about whether such a thing as a ''comment troll'' exists, and some people dismissed the idea as being too trivial to be worth a campaign's effort.

I guess McCain disagrees.

[islandmkl]

1. dear johnny:

all the sites i went to think you are an asshole...

not much you can do about that...it appears...

[Qutzupalotl]

2. This has a lot of "chaos" potential.

Take their talking points and twist them like Jonathan Swift. :evilgrin:

[0rganism]

11. nice idea, Mr. Q! could be a recipe for success

take 1 squad of sock puppets
throw in a cup of shallow rightwing talking points
add in a teaspoon of overused internet cliches and a pinch of bad grammar
season to taste with spontaneous ad hominem attacks and false syllogisms
cover and bake on troll for 26 weeks

[JNelson6563]

30. And a pinch of terrible spelling*

*To taste :-)

[Ian David]

16. AGREED!!!!!!!!!!!!! OPERATION: TROJAN HORSE! n/t

[Supersedeas]

33. hmmmmm.....the sound of crunching paper

[Count Dousiche]

3. This old crackernack needs all the help he can get!

The sort of "bloggers" that would help him are the sort who would also eat poo from a shoe.

[Richard Steele]

5. Hello, Count Dousiche.

Welcome to DU!:hi:

[Count Dousiche]

6. Many thanks!

It's a very interesting place, with lots of passion on display.

[depakid]

4. Given the absudity and unpopularity of McCain's positions

the more "comment trolls" the better.

The far right can never win a full and fair debate on the issues- which is why they and their supporters and sycophants in the corporate media always rig the game.

[Mountainman]

7. How is this supposed to work? A troll posts something positive about McCain on a liberal web site

and progressives will believe every word right?

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Well, yes. Let me give you an example I just happen to have handy

from my journal. I posted this patriotic, pro-Republican little piece & got it published in the local paper a couple of months ago.

America is Number One!

No matter how hard the liberal America-haters try to deny it, the United States is still No. 1. If you doubt it, just reflect for a moment on how many first-place positions we hold in world statistics:

-We are No. 1 in incarceration. We not only have more people per capita in prison or jail, we have more inmates in absolute numbers than countries such as China with four or five times our population.

-We have the highest infant mortality rate among modern industrialized nations.

-We not only devote more money to military expenditures than any other country, we spend more than the rest of the world combined.

-We have a larger portion of our citizenry without health insurance than any other nation.

-We not only have more billionaires than any other nation, we sustain the worlds largest gap in income between the rich and the poor - and furthermore, not content with our brilliant success in this arena, we continue to widen that gap at a rate greater than anywhere else in the world.

-We have the industrialized world's highest rate of unwed teen pregnancies.

In seven years of brilliant conservative leadership, we have soared to the No. 1 position as the most-hated and most-feared nation on earth, as measured in worldwide polls.

Sadly, my friends, if we were to elect Democratic leaders to the White House and Congress this fall, I fear that their proposed policy changes would threaten our proud position of supremacy in every one of these areas. Please do not let America fall into mediocrity. Vote Republican.

{Jackpine Radical}

[yurbud]

20. did anybody recognize it as satire?

[Jackpine Radical]

27. Oh, yes. I immediately got a hate call

inviting me to go to "Venezuelia."

[yurbud]

29. I would have said thanks and asked them to send over the ticket.

[Jackpine Radical]

31. I started to. Hwe hung up

before I could give him details on where to send it.

[yurbud]

38. people hate it when you say thank you to what they think is an insult

it's a great way to deflate them.

[donco]

21. Man I bet there is some of the wingers

with there nose pressed to the monitor saying …duh.;)

[damntexdem]

9. Iz ahl becuz weere soe branewashered.

;-)

[union_maid]

10. Sure, that'll work

Actually, on liberal boards they'll probably post a lot of negative stuff about our candidate. No one will be the wiser because people you find on the interwebs can't spot that kind of thing a mile away.

[PSPS]

12. They'll all resemble GD-P, complete with spittle!

But they'll be easy to spot, what with the HUGH and the !!!111!!1! and the illogic.

[yurbud]

19. yep. they couldn't be more obvious if they were required to put TROLL in their subject line.

[mcollier]

22. You know its bad when you have to openly enlist BullShit

carriers for your campaign... As if the mainstream media has not aided McCain enough.

[Jazzgirl]

13. I do believe we're getting them here.

n/t

[creeksneakers2]

14. They are running an open campaign to destroy Daily Kos

They'll probably turn on DU next.

[defendandprotect]

18. What are they doing at Daily Kos?????

[creeksneakers2]

35. The McCain website features Daily Kos as target

McCain's linked to Kos so he can send all the drooling dittoheads there. The McCain site is even giving instructions on what to post. If McCain succeeds, Kos will be overrun with McCain spam. And drooling dittoheads get a teenage vandalism rush when they disrupt and ruin. Put the two together and the obvious aim is to ruin Kos.

[LaurenG]

15. *

never mind

[alfredo]

17. Astroturf.

[Vinca]

23. So . . . who wants to sign up?

:evilgrin:

[yurbud]

24. Now THAT'S a good idea! Then do some backhanded insults

''John McCain is only pretending to embrace the man who, during the 2000 campaign, insulted his wife, his child, and his military service. Once he is elected president and no longer needs Bush's help, he'll give him the ass-kicking he so richly deserves.''


''Many people keep their mental faculties well into old age, and a relative minority lose it as badly as Reagan did. McCain may not have the brain of a 50 year old, but he aint as bad off as Reagan yet...Is he?''

[stillcool]

25. As if the republican party...

is not already staffed with propagandists spreading the 'message'. I wonder if they will make up lists of talking points for the day. And then rinse and repeat ad nauseam. What a concept.

[nxylas]

32. They already did

See the "Blog interaction page" with "today's talking points" handily laid out for easy ridicule and debunking.

[Blue_Tires]

26. the debate over the existence of comment trolls

was put to rest a long time ago by the Ron Paul cult....

[Doctor_J]

28. How much does it pay?

I could use some cash, and I'm not a moran.

[Barack_America]

34. I'd like to spread the word about McCain's plans and policies!

Where do I sign up?!?!

:evilgrin:

[KamaAina]

36. Get yer reich-wing talking points rat cheer!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3321640&mesg_id=3321640

[tabasco]

37. LOL!! Recruiting trolls!!

Fuckin' republicans are the biggest pieces of shit on the planet.