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Sunday, Aug. 22, 2004 8:33 a.m. EDT

Kerry Campaign Won't Fire MoveOn Staffer

The Kerry campaign is gloating this weekend over the resignation of Bush-Cheney volunteer, former Vietnam War POW Ken Cordier, who's featured in the latest Swift Boat ad - saying it proves illegal coordination between the Swiftvets' 527 group and the official Bush campaign.

But Kerry has no plans to fire Zach Exley, a key campaign staffer who served as the organizing director for MoveOn.org throughout the presidential primaries.

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What's more, MoveOn, whose sole mission is to defeat President Bush in November, maintains that Exley is allowed to "communicate" with the 527 group even as he works for the Democratic nominee.

"Col. Cordier did not inform the campaign of his involvement in the advertisement," the Bush campaign said in a statement late Saturday. "Because of his involvement [in the ad] Col. Cordier will no longer participate as a volunteer for Bush-Cheney '04."

But there's no doubt that Kerry knew all about Exley's background when he hired him.

In April the Kerry for President Web site proudly announced: "Zach Exley joins the [Kerry] Internet team as Director of Online Communications and Online Organizing. He was previously the director of special projects for the MoveOn.org."

Exley claims he won't communicate with MoveOn until after the election, but when he teamed up with Kerry, MoveOn's executive director, Eli Pariser, acknowledged that Exley will be able to make use of "what he's got in his head."

And a statement issued by MoveOn when Exley signed on with team Kerry insisted that "federal election rules permit some forms of communication" between Exley and the liberal 527.

As for the ideas that Exley has "got in his head" and will now be sharing with the Kerry campaign, his past credits include a political parody site that portrayed Bush as a crack user.