why they resigned
Amanda Marcotte writes at Salon about her resignation from the Edwards campaign:
That two young feminist women were the targets of such a strenuous harassment campaign from bloggers and the Catholic League hints of more being at stake than scalp-collecting for conservatives. The posts that sent Donohue into a well-financed swoon were on topics such as the right to abortion, the right to contraception and gay rights. Donohue and the long list of culture warriors on the league's board of advisors are dedicated to stomping out those very rights McEwan and I were defending. It's unlikely they took issue with just the coarse, comedic vernacular that we used to defend those rights. [emphasis added]
Melissa McEwan discusses her life as a right-wing target at the Guardian:
If you're trying to legislate a behavior that would have no affect on you, and your only justification is "God said so," I'm going to have an opinion about that - which is both my right and obligation as an active participant in the political process, and should be expected by those who endeavor to politicize their religious beliefs.
She adds another comment here:
What those who believe I (or Amanda) 'caved' don't seem to understand is that from Day One, this situation just kept escalating. When Donohue went after me, I didn't quit. When Malkin went after me, I didn't quit. When the rightwing blogosphere went after me, I didn't quit. When the mainstream media went after me, I didn't quit. When someone from another Democratic campaign went after me, I didn't quit. When Bill O'Reilly went after me, I didn't quit. And after all that hadn't made me quit, the threats poured in.
I was disappointed that Edwards accepted their resignations; if he buckles this easily to wingnut whining, what would he be like in the Oval Office?