Right now, I am at my younger brother's house in Rochester, NY. Despite its small size, a metropolitan area of just under 1.1 million people, of all cities in the nation, Rochester will actually be at the center of Democratic House pickup opportunities in 2008. In addition to Louise Slaughter's district, three key districts extend into the city: NY-25, NY-26, and NY-29. In 2006, Democrats lost these three seats, combined, by less than 10,000 votes. Fortunately, the city is well served by an excellent local blog, Rochester Turning, which has roughly the same amount of traffic as The Albany Project. The infrastructure, opportunities and, with Dan Maffei and Eric Massa both running again, candidates are in place to make Rochester a city to watch over the next two years. Also, from what I have heard, rumors of Louise Slaughter endorsing Eric Massa's millionaire primary challenger are simply not true.

One thing I have noticed during my time here relates more broadly to the "short head" and "long tail" phenomenon in the progressive political blogosphere. I have been up since about 8 a.m. trying to blog, but I have found it difficult to complete article of any length of depth of insight. The "problem," if I can ever forgive myself for calling him such, has been my ultra-cute and lovable three year old nephew Liam, who has an insatiable desire to play with me while I am around. As you can see in the picture on the right, in addition to the fact that I don't look very good in the morning, as I was trying to blog, he jumped up on the couch with me, urging me to play with, among other things, his Darth Vader Mr. Potatohead.

As a single guy with no roommates and no one to support, this was not something I am used to dealing with during my writing. However, it is precisely these sorts of barriers that have prevent many people from entering the "short head" elite of highly-trafficked, highly-linked progressive blogs. While I can dedicate myself to undisturbed writing with broadband internet access for up to twelve hours a days if necessary, people with families, other forms of employment, or limited internet access cannot. Well beyond issues over blogrolls, hyperlink patterns and search engine optimization, the ability to write full-time is the main advantage that the "short head," (or, if you prefer, the so-called "A-list") has over "long tail" blogs in terms of content production. If I had a family, if my job did provide me with regular internet access, or if I simply could not afford to live on the salary of a full-time blogger, it would be entirely impossible for me to meet the content production requirements necessary to stay in "the short head." I'll have a lot more on this in an academic-style article coming out in a few weeks, but having a room of one's own to blog is the main barrier to entry into the "short head," not hyperlink patterns.

This actually relates to a problem facing our House challengers in Rochester and Western New York as well. Last night, as the picture on the left shows, I spent more than two hours chatting with Dan Maffei at a coffee shop in Webster, New York (second picture). Simply that I spent more than two hours talking with someone who I had never previously met in person is stunning for a generally shy person like me, but we just couldn't stop talking. Dan, who lost in 2006 by less than 1,000 votes against a long-term incumbent who wasn't even challenged in 2004, is a truly brilliant candidate who I think the blogosphere would see eye to eye with on a wide range of strategic and ideological principles (more on that later). He also, as he says, has to live on a salary equivalent to a graduate student during the campaign because he is fairly young, not from a wealthy background, and has dedicated himself to service and activism all of his life. It is in this way that those trying to enter the upper echelons of public service face similar problems to those trying to enter the upper echelons of the progressive blogosphere. Most people are simply not in a position where they can spend years dedicating themselves to a project, whether running for office or blogging full-time, which consumes over sixty hours a week and delivers fairly low pay in return. This problem is perhaps particularly severe in a region like Western New York, which is suffering a slight, overall population loss and extensive brain-drain among the demographics that can often make up the core of progressive netroots and grassroots communities in any given region. In fact, in order to find the type of engaging, creative employment commensurate with his education level in the Rochester area, my younger brother has actually decided to run for Monroe County legislature, and on Friday received the Democratic Party endorsement for his seat. Other creative class types looking for ways to support a family might simply have left the area. It is perhaps remarkable that the area is still able to produce excellent, non-self funding candidates like Eric Massa and Dan Maffei, and organically grown, progressive blogs like Rochester Turning, at all.

The lack of "a room of one's own" from which to blog or to campaign is, I believe, the major barrier to entry to regular participation in the blogosphere, and perhaps to the higher levels of politics in general. It is also, I believe, the main cause for the perceived lack of diversity in the progressive blogosphere, and the increasing ossification of the "short head." I am surprised people don't talk about this more, considering how much spleen we vent on things like blogrolls, which don't have nearly as much impact on traffic, and considering how there seems to be widespread agreement on the need for public financing of federal campaigns that will allow less wealthy candidates and donors a more equitable political playing field. If someone can blog full-time, that person's blog will have a competitive advantage over other blogs that can't afford full-time writers.

Speaking of which, I have to run, and familial duties will keep me from blogging pretty much the day. Maybe it is good for me to learn how the other half of the blogosphere lives.