Blogger Spotlight: Calitics

Calitics Brian Leubitz kicks off our tour through Golden State blogs. Tomorrow we stay on the left with D-Day's David Dayen.

What is your full name?

Brian Leubitz

What is your age?

28

What's your hometown?

I grew up in Dallas.

Where do you live now?

San Francisco

What is your educational background?

Well, probably too much. I have a B.S. in electrical engineering and a law degree from the University of Texas (Hook 'em Horns!). I'm also wrapping up a public policy degree from Berkeley right now.

What is your occupation?

Student, although Calitics takes up at least as much time as school.

When did you first get involved in politics and why?

I've been interested in politics for as long as I can remember. I was a precinct chair in Dallas, but that didn't really prepare me for the bizarre world that is California politics. I moved to California during the recall debacle and became very, very frustrated with the process in place. So, I began attending grassroots meetings here in San Francisco. And now, I can't get out.

When did you start blogging and why?

At first, like many bloggers, I started out on community blog sites around the Internet, Daily Kos, MyDD, etc, during the 2004 campaign. After the election, I started my own poorly-trafficked Blogger blog. It was mostly political, but drifted into my personal life every now and again. It was basically just random musings in my spare time (read: not much) time when I was practicing law.

I had been growing more and more interested in California state politics for a while, and when I decided that I wasn't happy practicing law, I decided to start focusing more on California politics. In many ways, I was accustomed to losing fights in state politics (in TX), and California was at once a relief and a great source of frustration for me. On one hand, Democrats had at least nominal control of pretty much every aspect of the state government. But because of super-majority requirements and funding constraints, a truly progressive agenda was still out of reach. So, I really wanted to improve progressive action and enthusiasm at the state level.

Fortuitously, the SoapBlox software system was just beginning at that point, and they were marketing the platform to progressive state blogs. The timing was perfect, and Calitics was launched around Labor Day of 2005. We have had excellent growth since that time, and Calitics has become a gathering point for grassroots and netroots activists throughout the state.

How will blogs impact WH '08?

I'll answer that with respect to California. Before the whole moving the primary up thing, I would have said that we would have just been the feather in the victor's cap. I'm not totally comfortable with the February 5 primary date, but at this point it is a done deal. And as such, California blogs will become more important. While the Internet is important, we are trying to do things at Calitics which encourage people to go out and do some of that not-so-sexy grassroots work that wins elections. If you like a candidate, go out and knock on doors, talk to friends, and build up excitement.

What's your favorite most unsung specific example of a blogger affecting a political figure, organization, philosophy, or movement?

A blog in California's Eleventh District, Say No To Pombo, did more to affect the primary and general election than I think anybody could have ever imagined. SNTP was critical in Jerry McNerney's victory over then-Congressman, now-lobbyist Richard Pombo. In fact, at one point former Rep. Pombo had his own website totally redesigned when he learned that Say No To Pombo was getting more traffic than his own website. I think it's a great blueprint on marrying online and offline political activism to facilitate real results in elections.