Paid Bloggers Stoke Senate Battle in Va.

On the Virginia Virtual Conservative blog, http://virtuconindustries.blogspot.com , Jim Riley penned an entry titled "Raising Kaine PAC in violation of Federal Election law."

Riley wrote: "The gang at Raising Kaine PAC better start looking around for a good Democrat federal election law attorney. Something tells me that they'll be needing one."

Feld said lawyers have told him neither he nor the campaign is doing anything wrong. "We're very confident. They've assured us time and again [that we] not only meet the letter of the law, but exceed it."

Federal election laws largely exempt blogging and other online activity from reporting requirements in much the same way that newspapers and television programs are free to comment without fear of government regulation.

In March, the Federal Election Commission issued rules that require campaigns to report when they buy banner ads on Web sites. But those same regulations appear to give bloggers such as Feld and Henke virtually unlimited freedom.

In documents accompanying the regulations, the FEC wrote, "The new rules exempt Internet activity by individuals acting both with and without the knowledge or consent of a candidate, authorized committee, or political party committee."

But Feld and Henke are testing the federal laws by claiming to be members of a campaign staff one moment and independent campaign bloggers the next.

What is clear, said political activists on the left and the right, is that campaigns such as the ones in Virginia are changing the way bloggers are perceived.

"Blogging is evolving," Feld said. "You are moving into the point where bloggers who before were making no money are starting to become more like professionals, like journalists and other campaign people."