There was something inspiring in the response to
this diary about local blogs like
SayNotoPombo and the races they cover last night.
People responded. In fact, some folks actually went out and created new blogs of their own. Other folks started the process of collaboration to do so.
That's just so exciting and cool. That's exactly where the netroots should be in August of 2006. We should be building the infrastructure for winning this fall and moving forward strong to 2008. We should be empowering voices that will take the political battle to the front lines in our communities, district by district, meeting by meeting, neighbor to neighbor, block by block.
In that light, I have a further challenge today, and this time it's not just for the netroots but also for the bloggers and front pagers who represent us and set the tone for how we are perceived...
Markos has written, effectively, "
It's not about me."
And, you know what, it isn't. The netroots movement is not about any one of us. Now, it's not that the netroots is leaderless, per se; it's more that what is important, what is essential about the netroots is that any one of us might be the voice of the moment, any one of us might speak the truth and get recognition for that.
When the focus is on a candidate or issue that one of us writes about,
then the focus of everyone is on one of us. That is what makes the blogs so goldarned cool. There's a democracy of input and output; local voices can come to the fore.
Someone like Matt, aka
emetbloom, can set out to create a blog focused on defeating Richard Pombo, and, ten months later, be at the forefront of a whole movment of talented people with that same goal, collaborating to bring Pombo down. Blog communities like
Bluemassgroup and
Pacific NW Portal and
Bluejersey.net, to name just three, are leading a movement of regional blogs that have the potential to change the political fabric of this nation.
That's the upside.
However, let's get real.
Bloggers like Duncan and kos and Matt Stoller and DavidNYC and Jane and Steve and Maryscott and Booman do have to realize that this fall, especially in the wake of the Lamont win in Connecticut, the media narrative will try to make it about "them." The press will try to make the story about the nominative leaders of the blogs as stand-ins for the netroots...about the one or two hot races instead of the forty less well covered races nation-wide...ie the races we need to win in order to win back power in DC.
Now, this is normal and to be expected. It's how the media works. (Hell, the GOP has literally made Markos a "poster boy".)
Let's face it, this obsession with what's hot and controversial is also how most of our blog communities work. We're all a part of this trend. We are obsessed with the outrage of the day. Our diaries tend to revolve around the one or two big stories of the moment. Sometimes we on the blogs are like a bunch of scraggly puppies watching balloons, and it shows.
My challenge revolves around that reality.
None of us are immune from the media frenzy that governs politics and blogging. It affects us all. We can combat that by putting the focus on local blogs.
That's my challenge to bloggers and the front pagers who represent our communities. This fall, when the media tries to make it about you and the one or two hot races or controversies that everyone is obsessing about, combat that by doing something you've already done...use your blogs and your front pages to talk about the local blogs that are out there fighting for our candidates in every district and every state. Take the netroots to the grassroots by going local.
In my view, the national blogs should make local and regional blogs the central part of the story for this fall. Further, every one of us can do this by linking to and by writing stories about local and regional blogs as a central part of our coverage of the 2006 election from now till election day.
Now, I'm not telling anyone specifically what to write. There will always be hot stories and races. The blogosphere should not become some kind of agitprop machine. But the Lamont example, in my opinion, is one situation where bloggers got pulled too far into the hot and away from our strength: the blogs as vehicles for local, authentic voices from the netroots.
August 2006 should not look like August 2004, if you get my drift. There's no time to lose with distractions and "riding our perceived wave" to an "anticipated" victory.
To counter that, imo, we need to take our focus a step further; we need to put the focus on the local, on the grassroots.
In this media environment, it's not enough for bloggers to write about local blogs, we need to advocate for local and regional blogs. In fact, the "big blogs" need to become, even more than they already are, incubators for a network of local blogs where everyday citizens write about local politics and, critically, get recognition for it.
At the end of the day, for the netroots to really seize this moment in politics, blogs like dKos and MyDD and the NextHurrah and MyLeftWing should literally help teach people how to blog and empower them to build local blogs of their own. Hell, with the diaries and the community here we already do that...just...not...all...the...way.
Think about it, diarists here learn how to write effectively, how to make hotlinks, how to edit rudimentary html, and how to Google for new stories. Those are pretty much all the basic skills one needs in order to create and produce a local blog.
However, most of us tend come back to our national mega communities and those one or two daily obsessions. Some folks never leave the nest.
Simply put, in my view, a dkos diarist should also be proud to be a local blogger as well. The two roles complement one another. It breaks down like this: at the end of the day, the netroots needs to meet the grassroots, and the place that happens is on local blogs.
Hell, in my view, it will only make the large community blogs stronger to be at the forefront of a movement of local grassroots blogs that they nurture and support.
In that light, I'd like to share with everyone the results of last night's diary. Below you'll find the list of under-covered races that I advanced last night. And you'll also find listed every local blog that was mentioned in the comments section of that diary.
In my opinion, that's what the rest of 2006 is about, right there.
These two lists are the best argument I can make for focusing on local blogs and bloggers. I invite you to pick one of these races, if you haven't already, and make it "yours" to cover and write about. At the very least, put some local blogs near you in your favorites bar and comment once in awhile. I must confess, as well, that I reprint this list in hopes that a few more people will get inspired to "go do their own thing" and start a local blog, like so many have already. (I am also hoping to expand and strengthen that list of local blogs, so mention new ones in the comments.)
It's August 2006. It's election time; there's so much work to do. Let's dig in.
Western Region:
Heather Wilson (GOP Incumbent, NM-01, opposed by Democrat Patricia Madrid)
David Reichert (GOP Incumbent, WA-08, opposed by Democrat Darcy Burner)
Jon Porter (GOP Incumbent in NV-03)
Jack Carter (Dem, US Senate, NV)
JD Hayworth (GOP Incumbent, AZ-05)
Ed Perlmutter (Democratic Candidate CO-07 Open Seat)
Elton Gallegly (GOP Incumbent, CA-24)
Debra Bowen (Democratic Candidate for California Secretary of State)
Ted Kulongoski (vulnerable Democratic Governor of Oregon)
Gabrielle Giffords, Patty Weiss and Jeff Latas (Democrats running for the open seat in AZ-08)
Dennis Rehberg (GOP incumbent Montana At Large)
David Dreier (GOP, CA-26, lean GOP district, tough one)
Jim Ryun (GOP, KS-01) or, the longer shot effort by Dem John Doll in KS-02 (h/t Scout Finch).
Midwestern Region:
Mark Kirk (GOP Incumbent in IL-10)
Deborah Pryce (GOP Incumbent in OH-15)
Pat Tiberi (GOP Incumbent OH-12)
Joseph Knollenberg (GOP incumbent MI-09)
Claire McCaskill (Democratic Candidate for US Senate, MO)
Tom Latham (GOP, IA-04)
Amy Klobuchar (Democratic Candidate, US Senate, MN)
Gil Gutknecht (vulnerable GOP incumbent, MN-01)
Chris Chocola (vulnerable GOP incumbent IN-02)
Bruce Braley (running for the open seat in IA-01)
Paul Ryan (GOP, WI-01, tough one)
Thaddeus McCotter (GOP, MI-11, another tough one)
Steve Chabot (GOP Incumbent in OH-01)
Eastern Region
Curt Weldon (a vulnerable GOP incumbent in PA-07, opposed by Joe Sestak)
Jim Walsh (below-the-radar incumbent in NY-25)
Frank LoBiondo (an incumbent in NJ-02 who's got to be feeling the heat now)
Jim Saxton (GOP, NJ-03)
Paul Hodes (running against GOP incumbent Charlie Bass, NH-02, h/t Miss Laura)
Tim Murphy (GOP, PA-18)
John McHugh (GOP, NY-23)Charles Dent (vulnerable incumbent, Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District)
Deval Patrick (Dem Candidate, Governor MA, h/t dnta)
Nancy Johnson (vulnerable CT incumbent GOP Congresswoman, CT-05)
John Bonifaz (Dem voting rights champion for MA Secretary of State)
Jeb Bradley (NH-01, another vulnerable notheastern GOP incumbent)
Phil English (under-looked at GOP incumbent in PA-03)
Melissa Hart, (GOP incumbent in PA-04)
Shelley Moore-Capito (the GOP West Virginian Congressperson, deserves our attention)
Southern Region
CW Bill Young (GOP incumbent in Florida-10)
Clay Shaw (GOP, getting a run for his money in FL-22)
Robin Hayes (GOP incumbent, NC-08 v Dem Larry Kissell)
Jim Webb v. GOP George Allen for US Senate in VA (h/t Delicate Monster)
MZM encrusted Virgil Goode in VA-05
Charles Taylor (GOP incumbent in NC-11, hot race)
Mike Rogers (little known in Alabama-03)
Thelma Drake (a GOP incumbent in VA-02 who I really hope gets some attention)
And three longer shots....Erik Fleming, Candidate for US Senate in Mississippi
Steve Sinton (Democratic Candidate for Congress, Georgia)
Anne Northup (the incumbent GOP Rep from KY-03, more Conservative than district by a mile)
Some local blogs that fight back:
asmokefilledroom (PA)
northcoastblues (OH)
bluejersey.net (NJ)
Calitics (CA)
Yankee Doodler (Northeast)
Blue Granite (NH)
NH-02 Progressive (NH-02)
Louisiana Fourth(New tonight! LA-04)
states roots project.org (USA)
truthandprogress (USA)
bluemassgroup (MA)
Juanita's (TX)
the word from AZ's fifth (AZ-05)
NotGeorgeAllen (VA)
rochester turning (NY)
art of the possible (NY)
the rural partriot (NY)
the walsh watch (NY-25)
SoapBloxChicago (IL)
ryan's take (MA)
Ellen's Tenth (IL-10)
Charlie Brown For Congress (CA-04)
SquareState.net (CO, but you knew that)
NYCO's blog (NY)
Green Mountain Daily (VT)
My Left Nutmeg (CT)
Democracy for New Mexico (NM)
Pacific NW Portal (WA, OR)
Fireside 14 (IL-14)
Blogolodeon (CA-04)
Take 19 (NY-19)
Take41 (NY, State 41, Brian Keeler)
SkiptheLifeFantastic (MN)
OH 2nd (OH-02)
Blue Stem Prairie (MN-01)
NJ-05 (NJ)
Long Beach Politics.org (CA)
DeminSouth (SC)
LeftyBlogsVA (VA)
GovernorPhil (CA)
Horse's Ass (WA)
Washblog (WA)
blatherWatch (WA)
Evergreen Politics (WA)
EWpolitics (WA)
Liberal Girl Next Door (WA)
McCranium (NW)
On the Road to 2008 (WA)
Orcinus (NW)
Pacific Views (NW)
Peace Tree Farm (WA)
Pike Place Politics (WA)
Upper Left (NW)
Mass Revolution Now (MA)
Plunderbund (OH-12)
Nmfbihip (NM)
New Mexico Matters (NM)