Weigel

The Winner of Anono-Geddon, Round One: BuzzFeed

On Friday, I asked readers to vote on three anonymous quotes, and tell me which one was the most ridiculous example of un-earned source secrecy. Rather boringly, we came out with a tie between BuzzFeed’s “Team Romney Readies For ‘Saturday Obama Surprise,’” with its mysterious Romney adviser, and Roll Call’s “Florida Candidates Aim to Stand Out in Ad Crush,” with a mysterious “plugged-in GOP strategist.”

As the moderator, I give the win to… BuzzFeed! In that story, the anonymous adviser is basically looking for a fresh, phony way to get media attention for in-country Romney surrogates. His strategy: Float the idea that “the other campaign is planning a surprise,” and hope that the reporter doesn’t remember or care when the “surprise” never happens.