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Showing posts from August, 2006

Seven Questions for Aldon Hynes

Aldon Hynes is a guru of local blogging. Hynes, who blogs at Orient Lodge and can also be found, among other places, as aldon on dailyKos.com, is a mainstay of the Connecticut local blogging world. Whether it's the legacy of Aldon's work on Deanspace or his relentless support of local blogs in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Aldon's insights and technical savvy are relevant to bloggers and activists nationwide. I recently had the following Q and A with Aldon as a result of his participation in Bloggers United . I converted the email exchange into an interview format and am sharing it here on k/o with Aldon's permission. I hope you find the insights useful. Seven Questions for Aldon Hynes : k/o : I am very interested in what you have to say about XML and bloglines. Aldon Hynes : I like using Bloglines . It provides a nice list of all the blogs I'm interested in, sorted into groups, and showing how many unread messages I have for each blog as well as for each g

local blogs make an impact: Virginia

Get ready to read more op/eds like this one this fall. The "Macaca brouhaha" swirling around Senator George Allen has shown how local blogs make what used to be invisible and behind the scenes.... visible and searchable on the internet. That doesn't just affect the reporting of stories; it will affect how campaigns are run, and even garner some praise from the traditional press: Judging by their traffic and their traction, Virginia's blogs are only going to grow in influence, a trend more than a few lament as they point out the blogosphere's penchant for fierce partisanship and fact-free opinionizing. But judging the blogosphere by its worst members is like judging The New York Times by Jayson Blair, a foolish oversimplification. Over time, blogs will be judged by readers. Those who keep their facts straight and their analysis honest will thrive, while others will wither into obscurity. In the meantime, the more voices that are part of Virginia's debates, t

local blog goodness: up early and open late

Here's the latest servings at the k/o local blog diner: representing AZ, NV-Sen, NV-03, MN, IN-02, NH-02, VA, WA-05. Blog for Arizona, where primary season is still on, writes a really interesting article about Single Shot District Candidates . (This is a great article for those who like the nitty gritty of local strategy.) The Las Vegas Gleaner attends a Unity Day Event in Nevada and finds not enough of that "unity stuff." This is the strength of local blogs; they cover events...they provide constructive criticism from the netroots in real time...not in some bar two days after the election crying in a pitcher of beer. Here's a quote: Democrats don't need to have a silver-bullet solution -- or even agree among themselves -- to hammer the Republicans on Iraq. Democrats might start by giving the public something completely new with regard to Iraq policy, the truth... MN Publius, shows local blog power by breaking news on how two local Republican State legislator

the k/o list

Below you'll find a blog entry version of the k/o list. This list, as I've explained before , is a work in progress and a tool for you to use to read about some of the close races in this country where Democrats are taking GOP seats back from Republicans: the k/o list : Wednesday Sept. 6th, 2006 edition Key: candidate name = Democrat running for office CA-11 = dkos Tag local blog name or L = local blog G = google blog search T = technorati search R = regional blog C = Campaign website $ = ActBlue page The West Harry Mitchell AZ-05 the Lofty Donkey G R $ Primary AZ-08 R Jerry McNerney CA-11 SayNotoPombo G R $ Phil Angelides CA-Gov GovernorPhil R Ed Perlmutter CO-07 SquareState G R $ Monica Lindeen MT-AL L R $ Patricia Madrid NM-01 NM-FBIHOP G R $ Tessa Hafen NV-03 LV Gleaner R $ Peter Goldmark WA-05 R $ Darcy Burner WA-08 Evergreen Politics R G $ The Midwest Tammy Duckworth IL-06 WurfWhile G R $ Joe Donnelly IN-02 CCINDems G

Jerry McNerney on firedoglake

Howie Klein's Blue America series on firedoglake showed bloggers everywhere how a candidate Q&A should be done today, this time featuring Democratic candidate in CA-11, Jerry McNerney. (If you missed my hat tip to campaign volunteers, written after volunteering for Jerry's campaign yesterday, click here .)

local blog-o-rama: NV-03, MO-Sen, CT-Sen, CO-06

Cuz' local blogs never sleep: The Las Vegas Gleaner reports that ads praising Congressman Jon Porter's pro-medicare Drug Plan votes were paid for by... the pharmaceutical industry. Hmmm. Blue Girl in a Red State's "spidey sense" is tingling. Check our her blog to see what all the fuss is about. Branford Boy at MyLeftNutmeg narrowly averts blowing a gasket over Joe Lieberman's latest hypocrisy Here's a nice little local political cartoon courtesy of Tancredo Watch . (Tipton is the GOP challenger running against Salazar.)

Arnold Schwarzenegger: still wrong for California's working families

In case California Democrats needed reminding...and from what I've heard about town the last three days, we really do ...medleysoul has a great post at MyDD entitled: "Arnold's Pension Plans and Heartless Vetoes." Medley documents how Arnold's fundamental start point is anti-corporate reform. (Translation: screw the little guy.) Think Arnold has changed his spots? Think again . This guy is in so deep with corporate interests and Grover Norquist it's not even funny. Despite that, some California Democrats seem to have taken their eye off the ball. These folks think that they have nothing to lose by "dissappearing" from the CA gubernatorial battle. The problem with that mindset is that Arnold is just as bad for working Californians in 2006 as he ever was. That fact is not going to change between now and election day. That fact won't change in the four years following election day, either. Any calcluating and conniving CA Democrat doing the

Lamont on Lieberman, Katrina and Michael Brown

There's a great piece up on MyLeftNutmeg about Ned Lamont's critique of Senator Joe Lieberman's performance regarding Hurricane Katrina, FEMA and the nomination of Michael Brown. It's a must read. (h/t joe, joe, joe.)

From the 'Roots: CO-04, IN-02, NH-02, FL-22

Here's a quick tour: Blogger MusgraveMustGo notes this Richard Pombo / Marilyn Musgrave synergy (CO-04). As if you didn't dislike either of them enough alone. My advice to House watchers: pay attention to Indiana. Incumbent rubber stamp Republican Chris Chocola (IN-02) has an attack ad up. Ultrageek has a state-wide rundown . The GOP is far more vulnerable in Indiana than the current netroots attention would imply. Every post on the Yankee Doodler (NH-02) is worth reading today. Immigration, fear-mongering and a NH rundown. Markos has rightly paid attention to FL-22 , when will a local blogger emerge to take on Clay Shaw? Even Floridians aren't commenting much .

building a netroots wave

I have a piece up at MyDD called building a netroots wave . It's my attempt to merge my thoughts on local blogs and netroots waves...with Lynn Allen of Evergreen Politics excellent essay on transformational candidates .

CT: Courtney, Farrell and Murphy

For Democrats following the Senate race in Connecticut, the suprising story may well be that it comes down to three names not often mentioned in this regard: Joe Courtney , Diane Farrell , and Chris Murphy . Those are the Democratic candidates in districts CT-02 (Courtney), CT-04 (Farrell), and CT-05 (Murphy). These are the candidates most directly affected by Joe Lieberman running an independent bid for the U.S. Senate after losing the Connecticut Democratic primary to Ned Lamont. The GOP candidates running against these Democrats (Rob Simmons, Christopher Shays and Nancy Johnson) are happy to use Joe Lieberman to hide and blur their rubber stamp voting records . And so far, it seems, Joe is happy to help... It breaks down like this. The voters Joe Lieberman needs to turn out to defeat Ned Lamont are the Republican and Independent voters least likely to vote for Joe Courtney, Diane Farrell and Chris Murphy. According to the poll cited in that link, Joe's got the support of

Bloggers United

I've made this call out before, but now that it's election season, I'd like to ramp it up: you are welcome to join the DFA-link group I moderate called Bloggers United. There's about 70 of us right now from all over the country, with new people joining pretty much every day. DFA-link is an "organizing tool" in progress...but it's cool because it has social networking and organizing components. I like it because it's also a very open and trustworthy platform to welcome people from. Democracy for America is a known quantity. If you are a local blogger interested in joining up, just send me an email with this information: An email that you're okay with receiving group emails at. Your blog, or where you blog at. The name you want to go by. (ie. Your own or a handle) Your state. And I'll send you an invite to join DFA-link and Bloggers United. If you just have questions, that's cool too. You can reach me at kidoaklandactivism"at"c

BlogMorning! NC-11, PA-07, MN-01, OH-01, CO-07

It's Tuesday August 22nd, that much closer to Labor Day....when the whole tenor of this "election thing" will change immensely: Every local blogger fighting a GOP incumbent should take a look at this piece from NC Blue . It's a rundown of the political significance of Congressional mailers and how franking works. NC Blue covers NC-11, a race where Jonathan Singer at MyDD writes " incumbent GOP Rep. Charles Taylor's attepts to paint Democratic challenger Heath Shuler as a "San Francisco liberal" allied with Nancy Pelosi have fallen on deaf ears." Meanwhile, PA-7 Watch notes a fine WaPo article that spells out that Democrat Joe Sestak : "...has a message that resonates with voters dissatified and disenfranchised by Bush and the Republican controlled Congress. Sestak now has enough financial resources to reach the voters in the 7th district with his message." Pesky blogger Evil Bobby follows up on the Gil Gutknecht wikipedia brouha

Angelides, Bowen, McNerney and the grassroots angels

Occasionally, in the process of blogging and writing about local politics, something arrives in your email inbox that just hits you over the head and spanks your ass. I'd like to use this essay to share just that email experience with you. I hope you'll find it powerful. If you're anything like me, it will give you a real kick in the pants. By way of providing background for this email, I'd first like to address the political situation here, on the ground, in my home state of California... :: Let's face it, the races in California are tough this year. There's no getting around that fact. Even my own personal top three are tough: Democrat Debra Bowen is locked in a tight race with GOP incumbent Bruce McPherson for Secretary of State. Phil Angelides is taking it to a resurgent Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat and environmentalist Jerry McNerney is trying to topple, against all odds, entrenched GOP incumbent Richard Pombo in CA-11. These are difficult

Jerry McNerney on Huffpost: 'the Squeeze'

Check out the Squeeze . Oh...and for all of us Bay Area folks who've been inspired by local blogs like SayNotoPombo and Pombo Watch thinking in the back of our minds about eventually getting involved in the McNerney campaign either by volunteering or donating...well, the time for action is now: ( You can volunteer with Left on 580, or donate here.) The race in CA-11 is one that we will win only with grassroots effort. Pombo won't go down just because the wind is blowing against him. This will be a tough, tough fight, and Jerry needs all the help we can give him. Let's help Jerry put the Squeeze on Richard Pombo.

Whirl-a-blog: NJ-07, VA-Sen, CA-04, OH-15

This week, 78 days to election day, starts off with hot posts all over: Dump Mike features a cogent letter to the editor . That New Jersey 07 citizen nails it. Todd Smyth at Raising Kaine takes readers on the ground in the Virginia Senate race. Dump Doolittle in CA-04 features a local iteration of Jonathan Alter's Stem Cell Pledge idea. Ohio06win has another great post breaking down the distinction between what Deborah Pryce (GOP, OH-15) says to voters come election time and how she actually votes . Kudos. Nice post. That's how it's done.

the netroots wave

I have an essay up at dailykos called the netroots wave where I run down how local bloggers are interacting with netroots candidates and creating downticket energy in different states. Check it out for the comments as well.

blogswarms and blogvacuums

One thing that compiling the k/o list (see blogroll ) has taught me is that there are locales where the local blogs are thriving...and other places where there are vacuums: New Hampshire is rocking right now, with NH-02 Progressive , the Yankee Doodler and Blue Granite cooking up a storm of progressive blog goodness. MN's blogswarm features blogs like MN Publius , Minvolved , and MN GOP watch ...as well as local blogs that I mentioned yesterday covering MN-01, and the not to be missed Blanked Out . Here in the West, check out Arizona where Blog for AZ , Maneegee and the the Lofty Donkey are shaking up business as GOP usual. However... where's the local blog dedicated to electing Tammy Duckworth in IL-06? ( Jeff at SoapBloxChicago has some answers.) And who's keeping an eye on Clay Shaw in FL-22? It's not that there aren't bloggers covering these races....but I'm not finding the local blogs dedicated to these races. There is plenty of potential for bl

meet Ollie Ox: why local blogs matter

Anyone who's been reading my stuff on dailykos and MyDD or here on k/o , knows that I've  dedicated the home stretch of the 2006 election cycle to local blogs and to local races. It's not that I don't want to write the kind of pieces that I usually write online, it's that I can't : not with Congress on the line, not with so much work to do and so much great work being done under-the-radar by grassroots local activists. I have to admit that I've been searching for the words to persuade and energize folks to see how important and vital local blogs and races are right now. What an idiot I've been. Local bloggers make the case better than I ever could... :: Meet Ollie Ox.  Olllie Ox runs an excellent blog called A Bluestem Prairie . She covers the race in MN-01 between Democrat Tim Walz and GOP incumbent Congressman Gil Gutknecht. That's her focus. Today, in a post titled Is Gil Gutknecht rattled? Ollie laid out the case not simply for the power and i

Who are you calling a Californian?

Lowell at the Raising Kaine blog has a great post pointing up this little bit of hypocrisy from the Virginia Senate race. George Allen, GOP Senator from Virginia, likes to talk about his Democratic challenger, Jim Webb's "California ties" and "Hollywood connections"...I guess that means something pretty bad, huhn? Let's see, after serving the United States as a decorated infantry officer in the Viet Nam war Jim Webb served as Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy in the administration of that "notorious" Californian and Hollywood employee, President Ronald Reagan In the context of the Virginia Senate race in 2006, California is now a bad word. Hardly a surprise. For Senator Allen, slurs and innuendo come easy, it seems. Now, given the above, you'd think that when the folks at Raising Kaine searched the FEC Database for Allen's contributions there would be nary a California dime, right? Wrong . Hey, there's not

tour de blog: MN-01, NH-02, OH-12, NJ-07, CA-11

Oh what a beautiful morning, to read some blogs... A Bluestem Praire reports on how the local press is tracking GOP Congressman Gil Gutknecht's Wikipedia troubles. Paul Hodes, Democrat running to unseat Charlie Bass in NH-02 has been getting good press lately...(I guess everyone's anonymous in the Granite State.) Bob Shamansky, Democratic candidate in OH-12, headlines a diary on dailykos, "They can buy their own damned lunch." Ohio06Win keeps track of Deborah Pryce's record on Social Security . Dump Mike , the blog dedicated to dumping GOP Congressman Mike Ferguson, NJ-07 notes that Democratic challenger Lisa Stender won't take false attack ads lightly. Have you Said No to Pombo lately? Babaloo always has a fresh post. Today there's an action item for us Californians.

two diaries

I've been busy. I wrote a diary last night on dailykos called: the Top Five Project . And I wrote a fresh diary this morning on MyDD called: Node races, rankings and Connector blogs . Both pieces explore maximizing netroots effectiveness for this fall's elections and invite reader participation and input. Check them out if you are interested; I'll be surveying the data we generated and using it to help create further entries for the k/o list.

Bill Winter on Square State

Bill Winter the Democratic candidate for CO-06 has a fine post up at Square State right now. Former Governor Mark Warner of Virginia paid a visit to Colorado...and the event got Coloradans energized to work on turning Colorado's Congressional delegation blue. Now, Winter's opponent anti-immigrant , GOP Congressman Tom Tancredo deserves all the opposition local Democrats can give him, but what I take from this post is the cohesiveness of the Colorado netroots community. The post is worth reading for the window it gives on the Colorado netroots Democratic community...on how local candidates can blog in a local context...and on Mark Warner's continued netroots outreach.

maximizing your effectiveness with XML

Matt Lockshin is a good friend and member of the CA-11 blog SayNotoPombo . Over the last year, Matt and I have discussed how to maximize the power of local blogs, often over a beer or two. Matt's a big fan of XML...or the use of RSS feeds. He's written an essay for a workship on blogging he did called: "Fun with XML: 10 things you can do with XML to make your political life easier." It's a must read. And, since I've wanted to run a series of essays about blogging here on k/o...courtesy of Matt, I'm launching that effort by sharing the whole thing here with you. :: 1) If you consistently read a blog, then put it’s XML feed into your feed reader . It’s much more efficient to read blogs through a feed reader because you can, at a glance, know whether there are any new posts, what their titles are, and when they were posted. Thus, you won’t go to the site when there’s nothing new for you to read. Alternatively, when there is new content on the site, yo

tour de blog: NV-Sen, MN-01, PA-04, NC-08

While work on the k/o list continues, here's some fresh local blog posts to tide you over: Democratic Senate Candidate, Jack Carter (NV) just won his Democratic primary. Reno and its Discontents has an interview with the candidate. Turn Tahoe Blue gives Harry Reid some hell for his lack of support in this race. Local blogger Vox Verax, who covers Democrat Tim Walz's effort in MN-01, asks, Just Whose Dairy Farms Does Gil Gutknecht Represent? ...while fellow local MN blogger Evil Bobby gets personal and writes Gil a letter. 2 Political Junkies speculates on when we'll get to see vulnerable GOP incumbent Melissa Hart (PA-04) debate her Democratic challenger Jason Altmire on health care. "Any time" doesn't look like " any time soon ." If you've been following the 2006 netroots blog buzz, you've seen the name Larry Kissell come up. Howie Klein's Blue America has locked onto this NC race. Kissell is up against GOP Robin Hayes in NC-08

Local blogs: OH-01, PA-07, MO-Sen

Try some of this morning goodness with your cup of coffee: Ohios First (the race against Steve Chabot in OH-01) covers GOP fundraising. PA-7 Watch is using looking at minumum wage story in Joe Sestak's run to defeat GOP incumbent Curt Weldon in PA-07. RBH at Swing State Project had a nice piece the other day analyzing the demographic breakdown in Missouri, where Claire McCaskill's run for Senate is one of the races to watch this year.

the k/o list

The k/o list is a work in progress. You can find it in the sidebar to your right when you are viewing my home page. (The k/o list is only visible on the home page of k/o ...if you came to this piece through a direct link, you can see the k/o list now by clicking above or, for your convenience, I'll provide the home page link again at the end of this piece.) The idea is simple. I'm going to break down the critical races in this country where Democrats are fighting vulnerable GOP incumbents and for each race I will: identify one local blog that covers that race relentlessly provide links to google and technorati searches for that race provide a link to the dailykos TAG for that race provide links to the Campaign website and an ACTBlue page when possible. Now, the Blogspot sidebar is notoriously picky. If this proves impossible to pull off or slows the site to a trickle, I'll have to change tactics. However, between now and election day, I'm dedicating this blog to loc

this is kid oakland blog

(or, as you can see above.... k/o ...for short.) Welcome to kid oakland blog. I'm Paul and I live and work and write in Oakland, California. I've been writing online as kid oakland since the first days of scoop at dailykos.com (2003) and you may know me from there, or from my participation at blog communities like booman tribune or MyDD . However it may be that you've found your way here...welcome! This blog is a place to find articles on politics and culture from a progressive point of view. I try to keep the content here fresh and the links reflective of the best writing and voices available on the net. Topics of interest include: progressive politics, local and regional blogging, electoral politics, national and international news stories mixed with essays and links on music and culture. If you liked my writing on dailykos, you'll find news stories and links to other writers who work in a similar way and covering similar territory. Your comments and tips are alw

Get to know Ed Perlmutter (CO-07)

Colorado's 7th District is an open seat where, like so many districts in 2006, the future of the House of Representatives will be decided by local citizens deciding which candidate best represents their interests. On August 9th, the same day Ned Lamont won the much ballyhooed Connecticut Democratic Senatorial Primary, Ed Perlmutter defeated Peggy Lamm in the race to determine who would represent the Democrats in Colorado's 7th. Let's call it... a quiet storm. It's worth taking this chance to get to know Ed Perlmutter. And the best way to do that...you guessed it...is to visit some local blogs. Jeralyn Merrit, blogging for 5280.com's Elevated Voices blog is pretty damn incisive. (k/o sez read it!) Go visit veteran blogger Amygdala's account of the race, and, please, someone leave a comment on that blog! It's official k/o policy to show love to the local blogs. Meanwhile TakebacktheHouse at Square State.net covers a Democratic Unity event following th

Stem Cells, Chevron and Saudi Arabia

You can express most everything essential about the contrast between the Democratic Party and the GOP with three concrete examples understandable by Americans in every district in the nation: Stem Cells, Chevron and Saudi Arabia . A). Stem Cells Stem Cells represent one of the most promising scientific breakthroughs of our times. Research into embryonic stem cell therapy offers hope to millions of Americans faced with chronic and debilitating diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and Diabetes. Like so many breakthrough moments in our nation's history, from Dr. Salk and the Polio Vaccine to Thomas Edison and the Light Bulb, innovative science has offered American citizens the promise of a new day. Science and innovation reside at the heart of what has made our nation great. Unfortunately, President Bush and the GOP Congress have stalled the funding for research into embryonic stem cells. Science and hope have taken a back seat to Republican special interests and pressure g

Samm Simpson vs. C.W. Young in FL-10

Local blogger, Andy Ostroy of the the Ostroy Report echoes Dan Walter at Joe Trippi.com , Samm Simpson is turning heads and raising eyebrows in her race to unseat 18 term Congressman C.W. "Bill" Young in Florida's 10th Congressional District. First-time candidate and grandmother Samm Simpson is, for someone so unorthodox, impressive. Per Dan Walters: Simpson, with the help of volunteers, qualified to be on the ballot by obtaining in five weeks more than 4,000 signatures of people in the district, which Al Gore barely won in 2000 and President Bush barely won in 2004. Four thousand signatures in five weeks. That’s pretty impressive. Or take Simpson's response in this interview with Andy Ostroy: Ostroy Report: Why run for Congress and take on an 18-term incumbent in a solid Bush country? Simpson: Anybody who is concerned about their individual freedoms needs to sound an alarm. I've been watching our Constitution crumble since 2000, and in January of 2006, after

Netroots Resource list of Vulnerable GOP Incumbents

For those of you interested in picking a local race and writing about it from now till election day, I've created a list of races where your input can make a difference. Despite the title, the list includes some Democrats who are running for open seats or in races where they are the main focus. As it stands, however, this list is long on opposing vulnerable GOP incumbents because that's where we start to take Congress back. This list is broken down by region and focused on races where we are within striking distance but are not anywhere near the "sure thing" mark. Your help can make a difference. The links are to google blog searches of the names of the candidate or incumbent. Google blog search is a potent tool that complements Technorati . (If you are a local blogger you should ping both of these great tools.) You can use the following links for more information and to hook up with local blogs that are taking the fight to the GOP. You can also track how much i