5 Awesome Blogging Tools Over the past year, I’ve tried a lot of software and tools to make blogging easier. Some have choked my PC (Windows Live Writer), and some just don’t interest me (Qumana). But some have become essential parts my routine and made my life in the blog lane a lot easier … My cell phone … Far and away, my cell phone is my favorite piece of...

5 Reasons Blogs Are Effective Political Tools I was recently contacted by an MSU student who is studying the impact of blogs. One of his questions was “Why are blogs useful political tools?” As I thought about this, it occurred to me that, although blogs are highly valued, they might not be fully understood. So here is my answer to him, and my attempt to better explain why ...

5 Birthday Presents For Dick DeVos Yesterday was Amway Dick’s birthday, and I’ve been a-rackin’ my brain on what to get him. What do you get a guy like DeVos? Since I can’t afford to get him anything he might want, I decided to focus on the things he needs. A day in the life — My first gift to DeVos would be a day in the life of this guy, who sits at the...

5 Ways To Lose An Election (If You’re A Democrat) Ignore the rural areas – Democrats haven’t won Shiawassee County since we stopped going door to door in the rural areas. (Yes, we have some non-rural areas out here) Buying media and door knocking in the cities is not enough for a Democrat to win. It’s enough for a Republican, because Republicans have two gre...

As I was writing this article, I found that I was able to list about 20 ideas without doing any research. There was enough substance in that list to write a few follow-ups to this post. As such, I’d like to thank Problogger.net and here, and hang with your fellow libs at ...

A short & semi-sweet post that I hope you all find helpful … 5 Steps To Oppose Your Opposition Acknowledge that you have opposition, and acknowledge their arguments. It’s an inescapable fact: everything in politics has support and opposition. As an activist or candidate, you cannot be effective unless you acknowledge that this opposition exists. You cannot defeat so...

So we’re watching The Closer the other night, and Kyra Sedgwick gets us thinking about Kevin Bacon, and we start playing the game. Then things got a little wacky, and as a result, this week’s 5 is 5 “Degrees of Dick DeVos”. Notice, that’s 5 “Degrees of Dick DeVos”, and not “5 Degrees” of Dick Devos. You see the difference. Links are ma...

5 Rights of Campaign Volunteers This week we take a look at your rights as a political campaign volunteer. You have many more rights than just those mentioned here, but these are the basics that you should always remember: 1. You have the right to meet the candidate, and you should make sure you meet him if possible. Your volunteer work is an endorsement of the candidate, and a...

5 Roles of Liberal Bloggers 1. Research, present, and analyze the facts. The first role is actually three rolled into one. A progressive investigative blogger faces many challenges in her efforts to get to the truth. Getting the results of a FOIA request can be costly, and research can take a lot of time out of the day. Interviews can be hard to come by, as bloggers are often not given ...

5 Myths That Serve The GOP 1. Democrats have no ideas. One of the most prevalent slogans of the GOP today is that Democrats have “no ideas”. This is GOP discipline at its best … its like a mantra they all recite when they are in trouble. In truth, the Democrats have proposed many new ideas, but they have been squashed by the red majority and ignored by a frightened me...

5 Reasons I Like Nancy Skinner There are good candidates and there are good congressmen, but there aren’t too many people who are both. To kick off my new “5” series, I am profiling one kick ass candidate who will also make a great representative: Nancy Skinner. Nancy is the Democratic candidate who faces incumbent Joe Knollenberg, and she has one hell of a chance to wi...