NY-26: The Real Jon Powers Really Bothers His Supporters
by Matt at Jul 27th, 2008
I first found out about the Jon Powers spoof website (put out by Jack Davis’s campaign) from this blog post at liberal blog community called the Daily Gotham. While Powers is the favored candidate of the nutroots for NY-26, Jack Davis is the most despised (probably because he’s a wealthy, successful businessman) so, the existence of the Powers spoof site was, to say the least, not well received, and Davis was excoriated for daring to criticize the anointed one, Jon Powers.
The blogger accused Davis of copyright infringement (sounds familiar doesn’t it?) and calls him a scumbag for mimicking Powers’ website… it’s no surprise that there is no rebuttal to the accusations made against Powers, and they even chose not to link to the spoof site, or reveal its address. I, on the other hand, think the folks of NY-26 should see it and make up their own minds.
Another blogger at the Daily Gotham picked up on the story, claiming, “the scam web site spreads disinformation and innuendo about Powers.” Apparently this confidence was all for show, since the blogger offered no rebuttals to the information on the spoof site, and refused to link to it, or give out the address.
Considering how certain they are about the so-called copyright infringement, one would think they’d be quick to expose the site to as many people as possible. Instead they swept it under the rug hoping no one would see what it says… but would be aware that it existed.
UPDATE: Buffalo Pundit weighs in,
First off, it’s not a parody site because it’s not funny. Seconly [sic], it’s not protected by the fair use doctrine because it’s not using mere excerpts of Powers’ work product, but has completely mimicked his site in an effort to confuse and trick the reader. Everything right down to the logo, the font, the layout, and even the portrait, originally shot by Clarence photographer Chuck Eckert.
Again, the legaility of the website is a red herring — and is something the Powers campaign can pursue if they choose to. If I were a blogger supporting Powers, I’d be more focused on debunking the anti-Powers material on the site, than building up a campaign to shame Jack Davis into taking the site down. Buffalo Pundit also chose not to link to the site or specifically address its content.
Meanwhile, I’ve now been accused of being a surrogate for the Davis campaign by The Albany Project.
Not only has Jack Davis paid for a site that quite overtly breaks the law, he’s also bought himself a Google Ad campaign to pimp it. The site (which most certainly violates Google Ad’s TOS) is being advertised on some of the biggest liberal blogs in the land including Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, MyDD and Crooks and Liars. That’s right, crazy Jack Davis whose surrogates (such as they are, I guess) have been grumbling about his online fundraising and calling him the “nutroots” candidate, is advertising his sleazy attack site on the biggest A-list blogs in the land with ads that ask “Do You Know Jon Powers?” The site (which I refuse to link) even promises to reveal the “REAL War Kids Relief Story.” Talk about no good deed going unpunished…
I may not be a supporter of Jon Powers, but I’m not a supporter of Jack Davis either. I’ve attacked both on this site, and think neither of them would be a good representative of NY-26 in the U.S. Congress.
