Way back in 2008, a barely known blog by the name of Mudflats made a big splash in wwwLand because John McCain chose a barely known governor by the name of Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Over the next few months, the pseudonymous blogger wowed readers with some high-quality inside dope on Governor Palin, doing such a fine job that the powers-that-be decided she had to be outed. As Jeanne Devon, Mudflats ultimately caught a local award for being a top-notch "muckraker," a word Teddy Roosevelt applied pejoratively a century ago to investigative reporters, who have taken the label as a badge of honor ever since. Mudflats calls its mission "Tiptoeing Through the Muck of Alaska Politics." And while Sarah Palin no longer plagues Alaskans as their chief executive officer, she’s not out of the picture on the blogs or in the world of six-figure speaking fees. Mudflats makes mention of her recently, in fact:
The Alaska GOP’s favorite pollster Dave Dittman has come out with some new numbers about our ex-almost-one-term governor. How many of them would like to see her run for President of the United States? What percentage of Alaskans think that the woman who couldn’t even survive one term as the governor of half a million people should run the country?
It would appear that it’s 17%. That would leave 83% of Alaskans who think that’s a bad bad idea. BUT, I would submit to you that I know many progressive Alaskans who would love Palin to run for president. Their little eyes get all twinkly, and they look like someone has just asked them if they want a piece of cake. A Palin candidacy, they tell me, assures another four years of a Democratic White House.
So, take that 17% with a grain of salt.
This being another election year, progressive state and regional blogs will be following Democratic campaigns and employing their own rakes to good effect against right-wingers as well as a few politicians who pretend to be Democrats but who are out of sync with item after item in the party’s political platform.
These state blogs investigate, report, raise money for candidates, give us information that we’d never see if we depended solely on the traditional media. Some focus almost exclusively on the electoral end of local and state politics, others look at the bigger picture, in their own state as well as national politics.
Some are one-person operations. Most are group blogs. A few boast better writing than you’ll see in media where professionals get paid to do that. Some break stories that the traditional media steal without attribution. They all make the tough job of being a political junky much easier, proving Thomas "Tip" O'Neill's adage that "all politics is local" by showing us that progressives face many of the same obstacles and opportunities in towns, cities, and states throughout the country.
Follow the jump to see what I think are a few of the best of these blogs, ones worth paying attention to. You’ll notice I’ve chosen more than one blog for a few states. As you click some of these links, you may also notice familiar names, bloggers who post not only on their own sites, but here at Daily Kos as well, folks that may be famous this time next year.
• The Albany Project: New York.
• Calitics: A progressive open source news organization for California politics.
• Blue Mass Group: Reality Based Commentary on Politics and Policy in Massachusetts and Around the Nation.
• Blogging Blue: Blogging Liberally in the Badger State.
• Uppity Wisconsin: Making Wisconsin Progressive Again.
• ColoradoPols: Politics, News and Inside Information.
• Squarestate.net: The Progressive Political Blog for Colorado.
• Blue Hampshire: A Progressive Online Community for the Granite State.
• Blue Arkansas: A Blog for Progressive Arkansas Democrats.
• Fired Up Missouri: News and Views Since 2005.
• Green Mountain Daily: Reality-Based Commentary – People-Powered Politics for the Green Mountain State.
• Burnt Orange Report: Our Eyes Are Upon Texas Politics.
• Left in Alabama: The Progressive blog for a New Direction in Alabama Politics
• Democracy for New Mexico: An information clearinghouse for the grassroots: Progressive : Active : Inclusive.
• NM FBIHOP: New Mexico politics, New Mexico voices.
• Blue Oregon: Progressive Politics, News and Commentary for Oregon.
• Left in the West: Views from Dry Land Democrats. (Montana)
• 4&20 Blackbirds: A Journal of Montana Politics and Culture.
• 43rd State Blues: Democracy for Idaho – Blue-shifting the Gem State, one blog entry at a time.
• HorsesAss: Politics as Unusual. (Washington state).
• Ridenbaugh Press/Northwest: political and social change, analysis and commentary (for Idaho, Oregon and Washington).
• Desert Beacon: Progressive blog for those interested in Nevada and national politics.
As I said. This is just a few. Which brings us to the whole point of my diary. Finding out which you think are the best state or regional progressive blogs.