All Politics Is Local, Even In the Blogosphere

The web has steadily gained in significance for political campaigns ever since Senator John McCain famously raised $1 million in a single day, primarily online, during the early 2000 primary season. The original online focus of fundraising remained key, but had also expanded to other areas by the time the next presidential cycle came, as exemplified by Governor Howard Dean's rise from relative obscurity to front runner by the time the Iowa caucuses rolled around.

Dean set online fundraising records, before his crash-and-burn, but before the money started flowing, he had also used the web as a tool to for outreach and massive volunteer organization. A couple of years later, political blogs (not necessarily candidate-affiliated) were making a huge splash in the 2006 mid-term elections.

Today, political junkies of all stripes are avid blog readers as the web augments, and sometimes scoops, traditional media in reporting the political news of the day. Daily Kos, Michelle Malkin, RealClearPolitics and the like are required reading. However, is something missing in these nationally-focused sites? If all politics is local, does that include the blogosphere?

Perhaps! The October issue of Campaigns & Elections magazine says, "local blogs are this cycle's must-read websites." They've even included a special pull-out section detailing several "must-reads" from each of the early primary/caucus states. For example, in New Hampshire, campaign operatives ought to keep up with GraniteGrok (on the right) and Blue Hampshire (on the left). Interesting stuff!

Local political blogs were becoming quite prolific back in my home state of Maryland. I look forward to checking out the blog offerings here in central Texas. Any suggestions? What are your favorite local political blogs?

Tags: blogging; politics