Do State Blogs Tilt Left?

posted by Christopher Swope

I've been doing a lot of hunting for blogs lately. I'm looking for blogs that are both tightly focused on state government news, politics or gossip and also seem worth a few minutes of my time. If you haven't noticed the slowly-growing list of Statehouse Blogs on the left side of this screen, check it out. Coming up with a comprehensive 50-state list is a near-impossible task, but with your help, we'll see what we can do.

I've got two observations from the wi-fi wilderness.

The first is that a growing number of newspapers are getting into the blog business. If blogging began as something of a repudiation of the mainstream media ("MSM," as bloggers like to say), then the press is doing a fair job of co-opting the medium. Arguably the best state-focused blogs I found in California, Florida and Illinois are all offshoots of companies that kill trees to report the news.

My other observation is about ideology. I'm finding more state-focused blogs that come from the political left than from the right. Why is that?

One possibility is that Democrats feel besieged by national politics. Shut out of power in Washington, they're turning their attention to what's going on in their statehouses. That's what I concluded when I looked at Texas blogs in Governing last summer. At the time, the Austin blogging corps was dominated by voices from the left. I wrote:

That’s probably to be expected — not because bloggers tend to be Democrats but because those first drawn to blogging tend to be dissenters. Nationally, conservatives first took up blogging because they believed a liberal media ignored their views. In Texas politics, the reverse has happened.

David Benzion, one of the few conservative bloggers in Texas, agrees with this theory. Benzion is managing editor of the “Lone Star Times,” a blog that he and Houston talk-radio host Dan Patrick started in January. “If you’re a 'progressive' in Texas, you feel like you’re under siege,” Benzion says. “You’re living in George W. Bush’s conservative Texas. Some people on the liberal side picked up blogging in state politics as a way to vent. There are probably some on the conservative side who would be blogging about state politics, but don’t feel the need to because they’re basically content.”

I'll admit that it's possible that I'm not looking for right-leaning blogs in the correct places. Left-leaning state blogs recently conglomerated into a website called leftyblogs.com. That's a handy starting point for any exploration of state blogs. I haven't found anything comparable on the right, although Louisiana Conservative does offer a many-state sampling.

I'm also using tools like Technorati and Google's Blog Search to mine for state blogs. Most of what I'm finding on the right, however, is focused on federal issues: Judge Alito, NSA wiretaps, etc.

What am I missing?

Comments

[Doug]

I have one about Hawaii. Please, check it out and see if it's worthy of your blogroll.

[VanillaMan]

Your observations are very perceptive and all I can do is add another to it.

I'll try to be brief - as a rule, conservatives reinforce traditional values often using traditional language and arguments that may have persuasive in 1925, but not in 2006. Liberals speak like it is 1974, so have an advantage in today's media. What conservatives have to do is reinforce their views using today's language and viewpoints.

As a result, conservative blogs are often filled with what appears to be vindictive, close-minded, and obsolete points of view. Online, this kind of stuff is useless. Why would someone read something that sounds like it could be written by their grandparents, even if it was true?

For example, last night on Larry King were two respectable religious leaders with two gay men, one an actor, the other a former mayor to debate gay marriage. No matter how terrific the presentations and the arguments made by the conservative side, their reasoning appeared close minded, vindictive and unfashionable. Immediately the conservative side had to prove that it was not monstrous for being against gay marriage. They were forced to spend the hour defending their humanity and intellect, instead of being listened to.

It was two completely different languages, reasonings and views, one 19th Century, the other 20th. Viewers, bloggers, educators, readers, and most contemporary audiences will be able to better understand the more modern interpretations, as in this case, the callers' comments revealed.

So, while I agree with your logic that liberal bloggers feel left out, I would like to also suggest that most conservative bloggers require readers to think, and the kind of reading done on these blogs curtail their success.

[Gordy Hulten]

In Illinois, IlliniPundit is a conservative/Republican blog that covers some state politics, but focuses mostly on local stuff.

Peoria Pundit is also locally focused, but more libertarian.

There are a bunch of good lefty blogs in Illinois, though: ArchPundit, Eric Zorn, and Austin Mayor are among the best known.

[Tom DeLay vs World]

It's an interesting question. I largely agree with Benzion, but I think my own experience may also provide some insight.

I've had relatively little success getting links to my blogs (I also have Rick Perry vs the World) from the right. In fact, most of my traffic comes from the left.

The big names in the lefty blogosphere -- Kos in particular -- are scouring the country looking for races they can win. The big names in the righty blogosphere isn't nearly as interested in local/state focus, unless it's a big race like Daschle v Thune.

So, I think it's harder to get enough traffic if you're a righty to make blogging worth doing. I've come close to quitting blogging a few times, because sometimes I'm not sure it's worth the time I put into it.

[Norman Leahy]

Virginia has a large and well-developed political blogging community. In part, that's probably due to the fact that we just came off of a statewide election. But it seems that a hardly a day goes by when there isn't a new, state-focused blog online. And the overall quality is quite good.

Even a few elected officials are turning to blogs. So far, it's largely through the comments. But a couple, Commonwealth Conservative (already on your list, I see) and the Virginia Cost Cutting Caucus Blog are either entirely or partial run by officeholders.

As for a left-right split, conservative blogs hold there own quite nicely here. Heck, we've even got an alliance. Check it out some time.

[Jack]

In Illinois, there's five blogs I always check out:

CapitolFax - www.thecapitolfaxblog.com
Openline - www.openlineblog.com
OneMan - htsblog.blogspot.com
Rick Klau - www.rklau.com/tins
JoinCross - www.joincrossblog.com

[Wes F in Hapeville]

Up here in the Bay State, there's a blog run by Democratic staffers on Beacon Hill (it just launched a couple of days ago):

Under the Golden Dome - http://underthegoldendome.blogspot.com

I don't know if the GOP staffers have something similar.

WF

[G]

In Delaware, there's a great website with insider and political news written by Celia Cohen, an ex-newspaper reporter who still has the best sources and access in the state. It doesn't lean left or right, just reports things that don't get reported anywhere else. Find it at www.delawaregrapevine.com.

[Fred Thompson]

Oregon has a conservative blog at:
http://www.oregoncatalyst.com/
But it provides links to sites on state government representing every political perspective, plus all the official sites.

[Ted]

Kentucky Progress is the conservative blog in Kentucky.

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[No1]

Thought you might want to add a few from the ShowMe (Missouri) state to your StateHouse Blogs list.

http://www.missouripulse.com/production/
http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/politics/
http://www.mogop.org/wp/
http://www.democrats.org/a/local/midwest/missouri/
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS03
http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/category/news-politicalfix/
http://www.pubdef.net/
http://www.showmedaily.org/
http://freesoiler.blogspot.com/
http://www.firedupmissouri.com/
http://thesource.typepad.com/
http://arenaofideas.org/
http://www.24thstate.com/

It looks as though those you have listed are blogs about the state governments, as are the sites I have passed along above, but something I would find interesting is a list of blogs hosted on state government (www.stateabbreviationhere.gov) sites.

Below are a few MO State Gov't Affiliated:

Missouri Attorney General's Office Consumer Blog
http://www.ago.mo.gov/cgi-bin/ConsumerCorner/blog/consumer-blog.cgi

Missouri Lottery Blog (on a .com, but still a state site)
http://www.molotteryblog.com/

Agri Missouri Showcase
http://www.agrimissourishowcase.com/ (once again a .com, but a membership-based marketing program in the MO Dept of Agriculture)

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