Paid Bloggers Stoke Senate Battle in Va.

But it is Feld's Virginia site, at http://www.raisingkaine.com , that has been at the center of blogging influence and of controversy.

A former federal employee with degrees in psychology and Middle East studies, Feld helped blog Kaine into office last year (thus the site's name) and runs a state political action committee that he said has been largely dormant since the end of the governor's race.

This year, Feld was one of several bloggers who launched online petitions to help persuade Webb to get into the race against Allen. Feld blogged furiously on behalf of Webb during his primary fight against Fairfax Democrat and lobbyist Harris Miller.

Shortly after Webb won the primary in June, Feld announced that he had been hired as Webb's "netroots coordinator." The campaign pays him $2,500 a month to help the Democrat interact with the online community. Feld's partner, Josh Chernila, is the campaign's grass-roots coordinator.

Both offer disclaimers that their opinions are their own, but they have continued to blog on Raising Kaine, using the site to launch sometimes blistering critiques of Allen and often going further than Webb's spokeswoman.

In recent posts, Feld has referred to Republicans as "rightwing crazies" and has changed the name of Allen's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, to a locker room epithet.

Recently, Feld wrote about a picture that shows Allen standing next to a group of white men who allegedly belonged to a white supremacist group.

"Finally! I mean, seriously, how long does it take the supposedly 'mainstream media' to pick up on evidence that a man who wants to be President is a racist?" Feld wrote.

Asked whether she believes Allen is racist, Webb spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd said: "I don't know. You'll have to ask George Allen." Told about Feld's post, she added, "Well, you know, Lowell doesn't speak for the campaign."

Feld's online statements -- and the Webb campaign's attempts to distance itself -- have outraged conservatives who accuse Webb of illegally using the Raising Kaine site and its bloggers as a vehicle for election-year messages without officially reporting it as a 2006 campaign expense.

Dotson accused Feld and other liberal bloggers of making "huge misrepresentations" on their sites and said the Webb campaign should be held accountable.

"His campaign has been so inept that if he didn't have left-wing bloggers screaming at the top of their lungs, he wouldn't have a campaign," Dotson said.