Potential of the Blogosphere

Ok... so here is the deal..... I haven't posted in about 3 months but I am ready to get back in the game so let me outline a little bit of what is going on here at NoVA-9 as well as a couple of things to wrap up the successes and failure of the blogs in the last cycle and moving forward.

At NoVA-9 , I am getting ready to be involved in the 2006 elections getting out information about competetive Democrats in northern Virginia. It looks like a lot like people seem to be writing off the races in the Northern Virginia but after the first quarter filings it looks like there is a lot more potential for Democratic success in NoVA. Like 2005, I see a legitimate chance for Democrats to make gains where they weren't expected to.

Since we are on the topic of the 2005 election, I would like to take this chance to talk about the way the blogs worked out and how I would like to see the blogs (specifically progressive ones) move forward as the 2006 cycle heats up.

Let's take a look first at where the blogs were absolutely successful in '05, which i like to call the building blocks. 2005 was the first chance for local blogs to make a splash. It was the local blogs that brought up news stories that other people wouldn't touch, like the Craddock scandals and the attack sites. This was a chance for the blogs to act as a true 'citizen media' and help bring interesting news up. Local blogs were also successful as a place for local activists to sahre stories and talk about 'inside baseball' and other such rumors. This helped to whip up a frenzy and creae online momentum for candidates and campaigns.

The momentum is the spot where the blogs 'failed', and by 'failed' I mean that we didn't find a way to truly capitalize on the excitement and turnout new volulnteers and donors to the process. The purpose of this site in particualr was to increase Democratic participation in competetive races that weren't being paid as much attention as I would have prefered. It was an effort that I intend to build upon for 2006. This is a chance for the online community to use the tools that we have at our disposal to leave the keyboard and get out in the communuty.

2006 will be an important election year for Democrats and we have a chance to make a difference.