I'm going to make a suggestion that most of the readers of this post should take to heart, if you are interested in blogging. Unless you are a big-time blogger, get a job with a big-time blogger or major media outlet or have some kind of national-level expertise or connections, you shouldn't spend all your time blogging about national issues. Why not? Read on.
1. It's been done: If you don't fit into one of the above categories, then, in all likelihood, someone else is blogging on the same issues you are and they are probably doing it better than you can. Unless you area really good writer, then they are almost definitely doing it better than you can. The blogosphere is a crowded place and it is really crowded at the top, where there are a lot of blogs handling national issues. Sure, it is still possible to break through by blogging about national issues, but it is unlikely.
2. You're needed elsewhere: Your country needs you to blog about state and local issues. Why? In all likelihood, there are few people covering politics in your state in an in-depth manner. You can fill that void (see below for pointers on how to do it). National elections are won at the state and local level. State and local voters are more likely to vote for candidates they can meet and talk to and more likely to vote for candidates that address state and local issues. This is where you can have an impact. If you focus your effort at the lower levels, you have a shot of influencing policy and elections.
3. You'll have more success and fame elsewhere: I'm not sure that blogging is really the place for you if you are into success and fame, but if you are going to get these things out of blogging, then you need to do something that no one (or few others) are doing. This isn't in the realm of national politics. Maybe international, but not national. And definitely at the state and local level. There just isn't much being done in most states, there is no competition. There is a demand and a market, but little competition. How better to make a name for yourself.
So, how to do it? Most states have tons of bloggers, but relatively few of them blog about state and local issues. I took a quick look at the 113 blogs in Florida I've identified as progressive, liberal or moderate. Only 28 of them featured a top post that dealt with state or local politics and was written this year. Only 57 had any Florida politics-related posts on their front page.
Why not? I think the main reason is that people lack the knowledge and expertise. So what you have to do is learn. Go to your state government site and read up on how government works in your state. Go to your state's major newspapers and read articles about the state. Go to the blogs in your state -- be they progressive, moderate or conservative; be they independent, sponsored by an interest group or party or set up by a major media outlet. There are a number of sites that list blogs by state, but you can blogs just by typing the name of your state or city and the word "blog." You can't learn it all in one day or one week, but if you reed a bit here and a bit there, you'll eventually know more than nearly anyone else in your state. It really isn't that hard.
What to blog about? There's a lot:
1. State and local officials: Who are they, what do they believe, what have they done, what are they doing.
2. Republicans and conservatives: If you think the national Republicans and conservatives are nuts, you should see the state and local people.
3. Policy: What policies are being pursued in your state, what policies have recently passed, what policies need to be revisited?
4. Activism: Whose doing what in your state, how are they doing it, how can others help out?
5. Personal experience: What have you done that has impacted the state and politics and policy in your area?
6. National issues and politics: How do national issues and officials influence and affect your state and city?
7. Issues: What issues, policy-related or not, are important to you and others in your state?
8. What else?: There could be many other things that could be useful to blog about, what are they? (Leave them in comments)
I'm going to take up this challenge (I've already started at flaprogressives.org and my site as well as cross-posting to FLA Politics). Are you going to do it? We need you.