Introduction

Thank you to skippy for posting in the wider blogosphere about the proposed alliance between BlogPAC and two of the larger Ohio blogs. Jerid at Buckeye State Blog wrote, in part:

Turning Blogpac’s offer down because of a poor relationship we’ve held in the past with big boxes could be detrimental to the concept of this project, and could be a disservice to our democratic candidates. But then again, accepting could give the impression that we’re lumped in with all the shenanigans that happen outside of our ’sphere. What’s worse…it could give the impression that we’ve lost our independence.

I was thinking that we need to create something that people can get hooked into, that will allow them to be part of a wider network, but still keep their independence. Also, I have long been disappointed that, for a large number of candidates and elected officials, posting (or having a staff member post) one one widely read Democratic political blog is what constitutes their outreach to the netroots. And I’ve wanted to find a way to start encouraging them to crosspost beyond that one blog–but then, where do we ask them to post? And if they pick one group blog over another, will that lead to additional hard feelings?

But if there were a central place, that was not “owned” by any one blogger or group, maybe that would take one obstacle out of the way.

Anyway, I’m not big on organizing. And, rather than talking a lot about the idea, it’s easier for me to try to show what I mean, and go from there. So, this is what I’ve got so far. I tossed together the header myself just to have something to show. But, if there really is a wider interest in this sort of thing, I can ask my husband Demetrius, who has done some grassroots graphics in the past, to put together a logo/banner.

And, obviously, I would add a lot more links to the blogroll, and add new bloggers as you express the interest. But, in a nutshell, I’m imagining that this could be a place that bloggers could crosspost the stories they would like to share with a wider audience. I think it would end up addressing a really broad range of topics, but the use of tags/categories should help keep it from getting too unwieldy. It would most certainly not be a place for bashing other blog, but the opportunity to be part of a larger interconnected *community* of individuals commited to helping bring about positive change in this country.