February 07, 2007

Blogger Spotlight: Iowa Progress

As MyDD's Chris Bowers points out yesterday, the best opportunity for blog growth is on the local level and one of the best ways to ensure enough content for a successful blog is to share the load with a group. Today's spotlighted blog, IowaProgress does both.

What are your full names?

IowaProgress is maintained by the Grinnell College Campus Democrats, so there are too many people who have had a hand in things to list all of the names here. Our most active bloggers are Chase Martyn, Ben Weyl, Hannah Garden-Monheit, Freeda Brook, and Alec Schierenbeck. Frequently, friends and guest posters will write posts under the pseudonym Geraldine, but we do not actually have any writer by that name. (As our "About" page indicates, sometimes posters choose to remain anonymous for various reasons.)

What are your ages?

We are all students or recent graduates of Grinnell College, so our ages range from 18 to 24.

Where are you from?

Some of us are from Iowa, but the vast majority of us came to Iowa for college from other parts of the country, mostly from the East Coast.

Where do you live now?

We live in the rural town of Grinnell, IA, about 45 minutes east of Des Moines.

What are your educational backgrounds?

Most of us are undergraduates pursuing liberal arts degrees. We study a variety of subjects, including political science, English, history, and philosophy, among others.

What are your job histories?

Most of us are students, but many of us have done (paid) work for the Iowa Democratic Party (and various Democratic campaigns), the college newspaper, and national and local media. Combined, we have several years of internship experience at NGOs, nonprofits, and 527s. And all of us, of course, have spent hundreds of hours volunteering for causes and campaigns that interest us.

When did you first get involved in politics and why?

The majority of us have been interested in politics for a long time, but living in Iowa has made politics infinitely more interesting. We've heard complaints from around the country about retail politics in Iowa, but for young people living here, it can be inspiring. When we get to meet presidential candidates and ask questions in small groups, or when we volunteer for a campaign in which two votes per precinct can swing a statewide election, it really feels like we're making a difference. So we always had an interest in politics, but living in Iowa has made things a lot more exciting.

When did you start blogging and why?

To be honest, IowaProgress was started about a year ago (in February of 2006) because there wasn't a whole lot for our Campus Democrats group to do at that point, and we thought we might be able to exercise some influence (and kill time before the campaign season started again) by blogging. It has turned into a much bigger project than we initially planned, as we have learned that blogging can be somewhat addictive.

How are blogs changing politics in your state?

On a certain level, it is hard to know how much blogs are really changing politics. At times, we get the impression that the only people reading our blog are either employees of the political campaigns that we're writing about or other progressive bloggers. So perhaps blogs in Iowa aren't meant to disseminate information to the general population of our state.

We do notice it when campaigns read us, though. During our gubernatorial primary here last year, we broke the story that one of the Democratic candidates was giving noncommittal answers when asked if he might pursue a third-party candidacy if he lost the Democratic primary. A few other bloggers and commenters started talking about it, and within hours, the candidate in question issued a press release pledging not to run as a third-party candidate if he lost. That happened early on in the campaign, but it was probably the first time we realized "Hey! They are actually taking what we write seriously!"

It will be a while before everyone in Iowa is reading political blogs on a regular basis, but we think we can still make an impact on campaigns.

Tomorrow we'll be moving to the right to talk to Iowa Voice.

Posted by Conn Carroll at February 7, 2007 12:52 PM