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Edwards backs bloggers after 'anti-Catholic' complaints

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Sen. John Edwards on Thursday stood by two bloggers after a conservative Catholic group demanded they be fired for posting what it called "anti-Catholic" blog entries before joining his presidential campaign.

Catholic League President William Donohue issued a statement this week calling the two bloggers -- Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen -- "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash talking bigots."

In response to the criticism, the North Carolina Democrat said that "the tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwen's posts personally offended me."

"It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people," Edwards said in a statement.

"But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word."

In statements also released by the Edwards campaign, Marcotte and McEwen said they did not mean to offend anyone's personal beliefs.

In his complaints, Donohue pointed to a Marcotte blog on her Pandagon site regarding the church's opposition to birth control, which she said forces women "to bear more tithing Catholics." Donohue also objected to another entry titled "Pope and Fascists." (Watch the Catholic League president explain why he finds the posts offensive )

Donohue also criticized a post by McEwen that refers to President Bush's "wingnut Christofacist base" on the Shakespeare's Sister blog.

The Catholic League president called the language "incendiary" and "inflammatory." "It's scurrilous and has no place being part of someone's resume who's going to work for a potential presidential contender," he said.

Another blog entry by Marcotte drew attention in which she sarcastically chided media coverage of the Duke Lacrosse players who were accused of sexual assault. She asked, "Can't a few white boys sexually assault a black woman anymore without people getting all wound up about it? So unfair."

In a statement from the Catholic League, Donohue laid the blame at the bloggers' feet. "John Edwards is a decent man who has had his campaign tarnished by two anti-Catholic vulgar, trash-talking bigots," he said. "He has no choice but to fire them immediately."

The call to fire the bloggers touched off a debate in cyberspace.

"You have conservative bloggers saying it's about time the Edwards campaign woke up," said Beltway Blogroll author Daniel Glover. "And you have the liberal bloggers saying the Edwards' campaign needs to wake up to the fact that they need to stick with these bloggers; they made a decision to hire them and they need to defend them and not fall victim to complaining and screaming from the right."

According to The Associated Press, Edwards hired the bloggers last week as part of his outreach to liberal voters and activists on the Internet. The two bloggers join a number of others who have recently taken jobs with political campaigns.

With bloggers leaving behind a cyber trail of provocative writings and presidential campaigns relying on them more than ever, political observers said it can be a double-edged sword.

"They're passionate," Glover said. "That's what they're known for and that's why the campaigns are hiring them. They want people who will defend the candidate and be the voice for them and to have a strong message and a strong voice."

CNN's Mary Snow contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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