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Yes, the Hardball host started a fundraising phenomenon in the 6th congressional district in Minnesota with his Oct. 17 MSNBC interview with incumbent Michele Bachmann. She called for a media investigation into members of congress to see which of them might be anti-American.

But, Chris, come on. Be a little generous to the internet effect. You implied on Monday night's show that it was entirely the power of your show that drove outraged viewers to contribute hundreds of thousands to Bachmann's opponent.

You did good, but what you did was to start a viral effect. Check out the blogs that helped spread the influence of your interview in the first few days. Factor in the rabid use among politics junkies of microblogging tools like Twitter that have replaced our RSS readers to pass around these blog and video links, and there you go.

A single interview in isolation would not have caused the Democratic National Committee to take notice of Elwyn Tinklenberg's campaign. Thank you for getting the snowball rolling, but individual contributions flooded in from the combined influence of your interview and the net effect. The DNC recognized the resultant phenomenon. There was a team at work here, and as quarterback it would be gracious of you to acknowledge the whole squad.

Also, Chris, I have to say, I like way you have handled election coverage this year, and I defend the occasional slips that my liberal brothers and sisters have fried you for. However, I watch a lot, and I've picked up a certain tone you emit when you mention the online world. I detect what seems to be almost a sneer – invisible quotes you put around the word "blogs," and it's a turnoff.

By contrast, I'm starting to like Rick Sanchez on CNN, though I never cared for him much until he started getting the power of Twitter. When he says social media users are smart he may be pandering to his new base, but it's no less effusive than your James Lipton-like praise of Hardball guests when you thank them at the end of interviews, and Sanchez is giving an overdue nod to high-information voters. It causes us to warm to him, and we're the people who make things like your interview go viral.

When I was in the PR agency business we always included a subsection on influencers in the target audiences section. It's smart to acknowledge enthusiasts; it's dumb to disrespect them, or even to give the appearance of discounting them.