Lawmaker's video dust-up produces bloggy uproar

Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.) clearly was in no mood to be caught on camera last week when a pair of self-identified college students caught up with him on Capitol Hill to quiz him about his support for PresidentObama's agenda. Etheridge's response? To knock a camera out of one questioner's hand and physically tussle with the other.

You can watch the encounter here (video courtesy of ABC News).

The video was posted Monday on the conservative site Big Government, and went viral on the Drudge Report, Huffington Post and scores of other political blogs. According to Yahoo! data, during the span of an hour on Monday morning, online lookups for the congressman surged 500% and searches for "bob etheridge assault" more than doubled. 

Etheridge was forced to issue an apology.

"I have seen the video posted on several blogs. I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved," Etheridge said in a statement. "Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina, I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response.  I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse."

['P-o-t-a-t-o-e' and other big political gaffes]

Big Government correspondent Mike Flynn, who introduced the video Monday morning, offered this summary: "Let's recap what we saw on this video. A sitting congressman — a presumed living extension of James Madison and other Founding Fathers — was asked on a public street whether he supported the president's agenda. His response was to hit away a video camera and assault a student. The age of Pericles this ain't."

Democrats are attempting to shift some of the blame by questioning whether Etheridge was set up by conservatives, Politico's Ben Smith reports. "One minute this guy is interviewing a member of Congress on camera and the next a video is released with his face blurred out? If that doesn't tell you this is a Republican Party hatchet job, nothing will," Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse told Politico. (After Etheridge gave an afternoon news conference on the incident, mystery still swirls around who conducted the interview and what they were intending to achieve.)

The identity of the interviewer or the full circumstances surrounding the video have yet to be made public.

Few political observers were even watching Etheridge's re-election race this year, which was expected to be an easy win. The congressman's 15 minutes of blog infamy may change that.

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