Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson (born June 3, 1975) is a politically conservative American blogger and editor-in-chief of the blog site RedState.com.^[1] From 2010–2013, he was a political contributor for CNN.

Biography

Erickson was born in Jackson in East Feliciana Parish, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates when he was five, and returned to Jackson when he was fifteen.^[2][3][4][5] Erickson attended the American School of Dubai, previously known as the Jumeirah American School.^[6] His father worked for Conoco Oil^[7] as an oil company production foreman.^[8] Erickson received a bachelor’s degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and a law degree from Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law and is an inactive member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia.^[9]

Erickson was elected November 6, 2007 to a four-year term as a Republican member of the Macon, Georgia city council.^[10] He resigned his office on February 16, 2011, partway through his first term to pursue a job with WSB radio in Atlanta;^[11] The Macon Telegraph noted his poor attendance as a council member before his resignation.^[12] While he was in office, Macon police officers considered forming a union. To counter the formation of the labor union, Erickson urged that the police department be dissolved.^[13]

Erickson's "Morning Briefing" e-mails grew from 498 subscribers when they began in February 2009 to nearly 70,000 by January 2010. The analysis from one of Erickson's "Morning Briefing" emails, just after the November 2009 election, was posted on the website of Human Events, referred to on the website of The American Spectator, and by Rush Limbaugh, and "fueled discussion later that morning at two influential weekly meetings of [Washington,] D.C. conservatives", according to an article in the Washington Post. The Post added, "The ability of a single e-mail to shape a message illustrates the power of the conservative network." The article described Erickson as one of the American conservative movement's "key national players".^[14]

The Daily Telegraph of London put Erickson on its "List of Most Influential US Conservatives", giving him a rank of 69th most influential in 2007 and 65th in 2010.^[15] According to the 2007 newspaper article: "Erickson epitomises the new power of the internet. A small-government fiscal and social conservative based in the south, he taps into and influences the Republican 'base' that the GOP’s 2008 candidates are courting."^[16]

Erickson was noted for having written on Twitter about Supreme Court Justice David Souter: "The nation loses the only goat fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court in David Souter's retirement", a tweet that Erickson later admitted was the dumbest thing he ever did.^{[17][18][19][20]} In an appearance on the Colbert Report, Erickson said the Twitter statement was "not my finest hour".^[15] Erickson stated on his blog: "A while back, Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a 'racist.' Given all the terrorists, thugs, and racists Barack Obama has chosen as close personal friends (see e.g. Rev. Wright), it's not a stretch to say it."^[21]

Erickson has tweeted controversial remarks regarding feminists, including (in response to a 2010 Super Bowl ad) the following: "That's what the feminazis were enraged over? Seriously?!? Wow. That's what being too ugly to get a date does to your brain" ^[22] and "Turned on twitter today and there was a barrage of angry feminists upset with me telling them to get in the kitchen and learn to cook"; "Good thing I didn't suggest the feminists ... you know ... shave. They'd be at my house trying a post-birth abortion on me"; "Feminists have no sense of humor, but clearly God did in creating feminists.";^[23]

CNN contributor

On March 16, 2010, CNN announced the hiring of Erickson as a political contributor to John King, USA. CNN Political Director Sam Feist called Erickson "a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach.”^[24] On his blog, Erickson stated, "CNN made an offer I couldn’t refuse," and added, "This is the path God put me on and it was totally unexpected, but I go where the good Lord leads."^[25]

On January 29, 2013, Erickson left CNN and joined FOX News as a contributor.^[26]

Nikki Haley gubernatorial bid

In May 2010, Erickson wrote in the RedState blog that he would be releasing evidence that Will Folks, a South Carolina GOP political operative, had made false allegations that he had an affair with gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley and that the allegations were "initiated by a rival political campaign.".^[27] Later that day, Erickson wrote, "I have no clue if anyone is behind Will Folks doing this. [...] With apologies to RedState readers, [...] I’ve had no hesitation in stringing the media along like Folks has done."^[28][29] Byron York, a conservative journalist, criticized Erickson: "[S]acrificing your own credibility in an effort to undermine someone else’s is not a good idea, and what Erickson has done has surely hurt both his own reputation and that of his website."^[29]

George Allen 2012 Senate bid

In 2011 Democrat Jim Webb, the senior United States Senator from Virginia, announced that he would not seek re-election in 2012. Republican George Allen announced that he would try to win back the seat that he lost to Webb in 2006, but Erickson declined to endorse the "establishment" Allen, complaining of Allen's voting record. Erickson stated that he had "decided to support (Tea Party organizer) Jamie Radtke for the Senate."^[30] In August, however, Erickson approvingly quoted anonymous commentators who alleged that when Radtke spoke at a RedState gathering she was a "drunk rambling idiot."^[31] According to an email sent earlier by Erickson to the Radtke campaign and forwarded to Ben Smith, Erickson admitted having revised his public opinion about Radtke because "my bosses are huge Allen friends."^[32] Smith had previously raised questions about Erickson's independence from the financial interests of his employer by noting that an official with RedState.com's publisher had sent out an email that appeared to be selling Erickson's endorsement.^[33]

Radio show

On January 10, 2011, Erickson began hosting a local radio show on WSB Radio 750/95.5. He replaced Michael Savage, eventually moving to the slot vacated by Herman Cain when he announced his 2012 presidential bid.

Other works

Erickson also writes the "Confessions of a Political Junkie" blog and is former editor-in-chief of the "Peach Pundit" blog. His first book, Red State Uprising: How to Take Back America (co-authored with Lew Uhler), was published by Regnery Press in September 2010.^[34][35]

He helped to start the "We are the 53 percent" blog on Tumblr.^[36]

In 2014, Erickson was a guest-host of the national broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show on the following dates: April 22, June 4, September 4, December 26, and December 30. In 2015, Erickson was the guest-host on January 2, January 29 and March 13.

Notes

External links

• Erickson joins the "Best Political Team", CNN Political Ticker, March 16, 2010
• "Confessions of a Political Junkie" blog
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• RedState blog
• "Peach Pundit" blog
• Erick Erickson's website "About me".