June 02, 2009 11:54 PM UTC

Sock Puppet Errata Starring Cleve Tidwell

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• by: Colorado Pols

For the uninitiated, Wikipedia defines:

Sockpuppet (Internet)

A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception within an online community. In its earliest usage, a sockpuppet was a false identity through which a member of an Internet community speaks with or about himself or herself, pretending to be a different person, like a ventriloquist manipulating a hand puppet.

Illustratively, the Denver Post reports:

A conservative blog this week accused Republican U.S. Senate candidate Cleve Tidwell of anonymously posting flattering comments about himself.

Tidwell said he had nothing to do with the posts, adding “as important as I’m sure these blogs are I don’t get involved with them. I don’t even read them.”

The retired Denver businessman said today that when he questioned his campaign about the posts, an “enthusiastic” volunteer with access to his e-mail addresses admitted she “might have stepped over the line.”

He declined to identify the volunteer, but said she has since quit the campaign.

…Tidwell’s private e-mail address is the same address used by a “Craig Platon,” who gushed about Tidwell earlier this year on Rocky Mountain Right.

“I’m so glad to see someone with real business experience and a warm individual stepping up to help our state,” wrote the person who claimed to be Platon.

“This is a little narcissistic even for a would-be politician,” Surace wrote in his blog.

We suppose it’s possible that Cleve “Who?” Tidwell has a campaign staff. We can’t verify that, of course, just like we can’t verify if anything else Tidwell said is true. It’s certainly possible that unknown Senate candidate Tidwell had an equally unknown “staffer” who posted flattering items about Tidwell and just happens to “have access” to his private email address. And, ah, occasionally signs her messages “Cleve.” We kind of, you know, doubt it, but anything’s possible.

But don’t worry, Colorado Pols community sock puppets–unlike these right-wing blogs obsessively trying to out every one of their commenters, or doing whatever they can to clear the field of primary challengers so it doesn’t look like Dick Wadhams doing it again, your secrets are safe with us.