This week Matt Gunterman of Ditch Mitch took issue with Markos and MyDD's Jonathan Singer promoting Crit Luallen over other potential KY Democrats considering a run against McConnell.  

Unfortunately, many of those big-name bloggers took the good news and managed to alienate needlessly a significant portion of the grassroots in Kentucky with it. Of particular note are Kos of DailyKos and Jonathan Singer of MyDD who ended their posts on the matter with nearly identical lines. To quote Singer, "If you want to help turn up the heat on McConnell, head over to DraftCrit.com -- which is seeking to get Democratic state Auditor Crit Luallen to run for the Senate -- to get involved."

Now, everybody here knows that Crit Luallen (D) isn't the only Democrat considering a run against Mitch McConnell. Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) and Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (D) are actively doing so, as well. Everybody knows that; it's been talked about for months now.

And since everybody knows that, that's what makes the singular focus of Kos and Singer on the draft Luallen movement (which is by no means a bottom-up, grassroots effort; it's entirely driven by the Kentucky Democratic establishment) a blatant dissing of Stumbo, Horne, and their respective supporters.

This is the most recent example of tension between national and state bloggers, but it wasn't the first and won't be the last.  Back in August Chris Bowers wrote a post about his own experiences with that tension.  He'd received a lot of pushback from local bloggers over Blue Majority's pre-primary endorsement of Al Franken and the Bush Dogs campaign.  Chris took the position that you don't have to live in a state or congressional district to justify your interest and involvement in a race.  

As a state blogger I can understand where the pushback comes from.  State and local bloggers eat, sleep, and breathe local politics.  In covering the political process in our states we do gain a knowledge and insight into races that national bloggers just aren't likely to have.  Most local bloggers have probably had the experience of reading a well meaning post on a national blog where the author missed crucial points, or misunderstood what was going on at the ground level entirely.  It's frustrating, and figuring out how to respond isn't easy.  There's always the risk that rather than extinguishing a fire you'll cause it to spread.  

I'm interested in this tension because I'm certain we'll see more examples of it next year.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Bloggers, no matter what aspect of the political process we cover, are passionate about our areas of expertise.  Once in awhile those passions are going to collide and disagreements will surface.  How we handle those differences within the netroots community is more important than any isolated disagreements we may have.    

There's more...

Aftertig of Blue Mass Group wants to organize a group of MA bloggers to become delegates at the Democratic National Convention next year.  

From Afterig's Diary:

When I think of all the MA netroots have done in the past few years, I'm amazed. Blue Mass Group, sco, TER, Left in Lowell, LeftAhead, Dick Howe, beyond495, and so many others have been a vital part of the political conversation here in Massachusetts. Together, we were a force in getting Governor Patrick elected; we've done fantastic analysis that you cannot get in the mainstream media; we've paid attention to races that have gone unnoticed; we've had strong and vigorous debates on almost every public policy issue; and we've liveblogged everything from committee hearings to rallies to canvasses. The Editors of BMG and the creators of other blogs have made spaces where ordinary citizens can have their voices heard. Even more important than that (I think) is that everybody who posts and comments -- the regulars and the new comers--make up a real community. We maintain our spaces and thrive.

This proposal is ambitious but that's what I like about it.  Community Blogs are a perfect opportunity for progressives to organize and have an impact on politics from their local precinct all the way up to the DNC.  Ever since YearlyKos I've made the effort to read local blogs from other states more often.  I see the amount of organizing and mobilizing that goes on and I can understand why Republicans are so afraid of us, and so keen to marginalize State and local sites.  

How are bloggers organizing in your state?  And what's the next step?

Lately I've been thinking about information and it's relationship to political activism on the Internet.  Fifteen years after first logging on I am still amazed by how much information is available to me on the the Internet and how well organized most of it is.  But what really blows my mind are how many ways I have to share information with others and organize around it.  Usenet, blogs, YouTube, Wiki, podcasts, listserv; there are so many tools available to users and the potential within each one seems endless.

The vast array of tools can also present a problem for political activists.  Try as we might no one can utilize everything.  At the same time everyone has their own preferred way of receiving information.  I often run into this hurdle when I want to get the word out about an issue or campaign locally.  My first instinct is of course to blog, but not everyone I know reads the blogs.  Some people will read a link if you email it to them, others will want text.  And I have a few people who rarely check their email but will happily read anything printed out and passed around at a meeting.  While I recognize the importance of getting the word out to as many people as possible after awhile the effort can become tiresome.

There's more...

Thanks to Chris Bowers for giving me this opportunity and to the MyDD community for being so welcoming. Some of you may know me as CGG which was my old name here for commenting.

Yesterday was one of the craziest days I've experienced in Connecticut Politics, and believe me with last year's Senate race I've witnessed some serious political craziness.  First, Lou DeLuca The Republican State Senate minority leader, was arrested, and charged with conspiracy to commit threatening.  The arrest was the result of a longtime investigation into mob influence on the State's trash hauling industry.  Then, late last night, after two years of essentially doing nothing about energy, the CT House overwhelmingly passed an energy bill compromise that probably won't do anything to lower our sky high electric rates.

As I'm following both of these stories, my new gig here at MyDD is always on my mind.  What should my first post be about? How do I balence work at both blogs, especially when so much is going on here at home?

There's more...

Eric Massa, who was recently discovered to be the most commonly written about House candidate on MyDD, is in for a rematch against Randy Kuhl:

Eric Massa, a Corning Democrat who lost to incumbent Rep. John R. Kuhl Jr., R-Hammondsport, by 6,000 votes in 2006, will seek the 29th Congressional District seat again next year.

Massa said Friday that he is establishing an exploratory committee to prepare for another race.

"I'm literally starting from ground zero," said Massa, a retired Naval officer and former Corning Inc. employee. "I was going to be very happy to stay in retirement, but the issues of today underline the need for an honest debate of the issues."

Massa said some of those issues include the recent closing of a mental health unit at the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Hospital, and Kuhl's votes on the Employee Free Choice Act and the war in Iraq.

"He has rubber-stamped George Bush's failed foreign policy agenda," Massa said.

Massa trailed Kuhl, 63, by about 6,000 votes out of nearly 200,000 cast in the sprawling, eight-county district last year.

One tactic that looks as though it will be very effective against Kuhl this time around will simply be to follow him around with a video camera. When Rochester Turning was filming Kuhl giving an interview to a local TV station after a town hall meeting that was open to the public, it pissed Kuhl off so much that he confronted the guy doing the filming, ended the interview with the local TV station, and then stormed out of the townhall:



At least he didn't call the Indian-American blogger filming the interview "macaca," but he did refuse to answer any more questions about Iraq. The interviewer from the local TV station seemed none too happy about that.

In a presidential year, areas like Rochester, which are not in "swing states," will be the focus for House elections. Further, blogs like Rochester Turning, which helped to draft Massa back into the race, are going to make a much bigger impact in 2008 than they made even in 2006. I hope that campaigns such as Massa's are able to reach out to this new infrastructure, and use it to its fullest possible advantage.