The announcement of the demise of RK has caught many of us here by surprise. We are all profoundly proud and grateful to Lowell and Eric for their years of outstanding service, and wish them all the best in the years ahead.
Many of us here feel that our work is not done and that this community must survive and thrive. For the good of progressive politics, for the good the Democratic party, and for the good of the Commonwealth, "The Voice of Progressive Virginia" must endure.
Without a dedicated captain like Lowell at the helm, however, there's no way for this community to continue in its current form with any hope of remaining effective. Lowell dedicated countless, unpaid hours to RK, not only writing outstanding content, but also organizing bloggers (no small task), commenting, and patrolling the community as a whole. The likelihood that another blogger with comparable dedication, talent, and resources will appear in the next 30 days is approximately nil.
So, the choice to continue requires a new vision for the blog. It requires that each of us contribute to the full extent that we are able. In essence, either a dozen or so effective bloggers step up to claim stewardship of this community or it will fail.
Code and I are developing a new home for this community at BlueCommonwealth.com. We will organize the front-page bloggers and with your help launch a new community. If we can identify and incorporate the work of a dedicated crew under a new organizational structure and with a determined set of editorial guidelines (described below the fold), we can expect to continue the powerful work begun here at RK.
Across four Novembers, we have championed the causes of Virginia School Board Candidates, Local Supervisors and Mayors, Delegates and State Senators, US Congressmen and Senators, a Governor and a President-Elect. Our work is not done, but to continue we need a new organization, a new vision and a new commitment from our talented community. In short, we need a "New Voice for Progressive Virginia", and we are calling upon you to join us that our work will endure.
If you are interested in participating in the new community, please fill out this survey so that we can include you as we build the team. This is a watershed moment for Virginia Democrats and Progressives, and we're calling "all hands on deck" at BlueCommonwealth.com.
Blog Structure - If you review the historical posting stats Lowell shared in a recent diary here. It was about a 33%, 33%, 33% split between Lowell, the next 30 contributors combined, and the remaining 5,745 contributors. I can commit to 2 hours posting each morning and that's it. I can't be the overall leader like Lowell, but I can be the first of many to make a lasting commitment to make the thing function.
In order to keep things running at anything like the level of RK, we're going to have to pull together a much more engaged leadership team than RK, and we're going to have to manage message a lot more rigorously. The key to making setting a sustainable community on the road to success will be to engage those middle 30 to step up their contributions and recruit a new set from the tail end to become more involved.
Blog Management - The new organization will form with an executive board, and every front page blogger will have the option to serve as a board member. The board will meet regularly, either in person, or via conference call, and minutes will be distributed.
Money - The new community will form under the auspices of a Virginia PAC. RK functioned under the Raising Kaine PAC, and contributions from community members and executives. If we can pull together pledges to keep the new blog afloat, we should be fine. Meanwhile, there are opportunities to seek other sources of funding and to the extent they don't conflict with our core mission, we should pursue them.
Editorial - Each year the new organization will need to establish annual goals to address the elections and legislative challenges in the year ahead. For 2009, we'll need people to concentrate on 6 core areas:
1. 2009 Governor's Primary and General
2. 2009 House Races - Primary and General
3. Obama transition, administration, early accomplishments, impact and long-term implications
4. 2009 Lt Gov and AG races
5. Progressive Politics and the Fall of Conservative Hegemony
6. General editorial
An All-Virginia Blog - Since its inception, RK has worked to include voices from across the commonwealth. The new blog will give priority to bloggers who are located in all of the "Four Virginias", from every Congressional District, and especially those who are willing to commit to lasting coverage of local issues, especially VA House Races for 2009.
Name and Brand - Through our four years as "RK", this blog has emerged as a powerful brand in Virginia Politics, and in Progressive Politics nationwide. Lowell and Eric own that brand and they will determine what is to become of it. This is a massive loss to the progressive community, but it is not insurmountable. For our work to continue, we must have a home and it is our actions which will build the power of whatever future brand we as a community decide upon. This community is essentially homeless, but with the power to build a new home. That effort begins with the launch of a new site called
BlueCommonwealth.com.
Next Steps - The Voice of Progressive Virginia is Dead! Long live The Voice of Progressive Virginia! All of the above is predicated upon the willingness and ability of this community to commit to lasting involvement and areas of stewardship for areas of coverage and for the general support of the blog and PAC. If you believe you can make a lasting contribution to the new blog, please click here and let us know how you believe you'd
like to become a part of the new organization.
There are challenges, but we have a record of success and can envision a plan for the future. We can create a sustainable organization built
around the core principles of responsibility, empathy, and aspiration. We can build a diverse, committed editorial board, with areas of responsibility ranging from local races, to particular candidates, to critical issues. We now issue an open invitation to apply for front page status, again please apply using this form.
There will be tough primaries for the big three constitutional offices (Gov, LG, AG), and the new RK can be on the front lines for all of those fights. There is also a real shot for Dems to take the House this year and we know for a fact that RK's bullhorn has been successful in local races. Indeed, we may be the only forum in which
voters can become consistently informed and remain persistently involved in the local campaigns.
Perhaps most enticing, there's a particular brand of pragmatic, civic, progressivism which will take hold under Obama as the core American value of a generation. By winning early battles he will build a generational governing coalition and with victories and a solid majority behind him, will be able to pass extremely powerful progressive legislation after his landslide 2nd term win. 2009 in Virginia will be the first electoral referendum on Obama's success.
Again, we invite you to join this debate. Help us found a new community to provide an enduring voice for Virginia progress. The success of this venture will be determined by what you do in the next 30 days.
So just a thought. Developing content could be a "staffed" in such a way that all the creative content & management responsibilities Lowell & company executed would be distributed.
My experience in volunteer type organizations suggest the best contributors are those who are financially independent (meaning they have time) and / or retired folks.
Still talent is talent and the flavor or vibe of RK is attributed it's principal authors. I think Josh's idea of BlueCommonwealth could happen .... but it need organizing / bonding types of events (meetings) which would galvanize the producers (authors).
I hope you'll join the new community. We've got a lot to do.
I hope people can step up. With a really diverse group of bloggers we could conceivably create something even stronger than what we had here, but it's going to take a hell of a lot of work from really tip-top crew.
Wish us luck, but more, do your part.
The way that Virginia looks visually is as a triangle pointing to the left (from a viewers perspective), so when it's on the far left of a page it points off the browser. Shifting the graphic to the right of the words "Blue Commonwealth" would lead the viewer's eyes towards the words "Blue Commonwealth".
It's a little easier to read the text too against a white background (e.g. as opposed to light blue). Some usability ideas to take or leave.
Otherwise a great start -- nice looking blog.
I will help with both writing and dollars (as other commitments allow me, of course).
A few quick thoughts:
- I'd recommend adding a caveat that people's names will be kept confidential. That'll make more people willing to sign up.
- While it's a noble goal to maintain this at the level of RK, it would be perfectly reasonable if the new blog had only, say, 2-3 posts per day. Lowell treated this as a full time job (unpaid, of course), and if no one else is willing and able to take on that responsibility (I sure can't), we should set goals at a level that is both achievable and respectable.