I'll be the first to admit it: I'm positively smitten with the idea of local blogging. Head-over-heels. Love. It.
Why? Well it turns out that our good friend Markos may have said it best a while ago:
These are people-powered sites fueling the people-powered movement. It's the future, and I can't wait to see it evolve in the coming years. With top-tier races in Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Michigan, Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota, Kentucky, California, and Texas, we're gearing up for a hot 2008 cycle. And odds are more states will be added to that list as the ongoing Republican collapse opens up new opportunities (not to mention the presidential stuff).
So here's the next, most obvious question: Where does your local community blog?
I want to use this thread as a call out of sorts to Daily Kos readers, in order to share our favorite local blogs. Whether it is a state-level blog like Raising Kaine or Prairie State Blue, or a blog with even more local interest, such as the Proviso Probe...it doesn't matter. This is the future, and we all get to be a part of it.
And to a large degree, it all started here, so I don't think there is a more appropriate place to have these types of threads from time to time. As Chris Bowers notes:
When the progressive, political blogosphere began, it was structured in pretty much the same fashion as the conservative political blogosphere. Almost every single major progressive blog was founded and operated by a single individual. However, starting in late 2003 with the introduction of a scoop platform to Dailykos, a process began where highly trafficked, highly linked progressive blogs continued to innovate far beyond the structure of a single blogger sole, mainly punditry oriented, content provider.
We are all directly responsible for the rise of local blogs, and I think we could all benefit from sharing our favorites with others, as it is a great way to give credit to these hardworking, less noted bloggers.
So let's hear it...where does your community blog?
P.S. -- As a sidenote, everyone should go visit our friends over at BlogPAC to see what you can do to help one the leading organizations that is seeking to help foster and grow the local-blogging movement.