The Convention-al World of Blogs: Keeping the Political Pulse

OK, so we didn't get blogger press credentials to the Democratic National Convention (July 26-29), but rest assured, BlogPulse will be there in spirit. BlogPulse's daily scan of more than 1.5 million blogs means that the political opinions, the spin, the personalities, celebrities, the issues, the press leaks, the speeches, the gaffes -- they'll all surface in one form or another on BlogPulse, so please use it regularly for blog-related insights to convention activities. (Like voting, you know? Blog early...blog often).

You best bet will be BlogPulse's search tool, which will help you zero in on particular personalities, issues or themes and what's being written about them in blogland. For example, what are people saying about Democratic nominee-to-be John Kerry? What about his runing mate, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards? Find similar blog material about Former President Bill Clinton, the 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore, or Hillary Rodham Clinton? What about convention speakers Ron Reagan Jr., former U.S. Sen. and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland, former President Jimmy Carter, and Sen. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth Edwards? Let BlogPulse help with the search.

Secondly, use BlogPulse trend graphs to keep track of Bush vs. Kerry in the blogosphere. Do the same by keeping track of blog buzz on the major political parties. Or simply click on the "key people" link on the BlogPulse home page each day to see who's hot and who's not, who's moving up or down the leader list and the bursty list based on mentions in blogs. From the home page, use "key phrases" to find out which issues are being blogged about most and "key links" to find out which other blogs or web sites are being linked to with the most frequency in blogs.

Meanwhile, check out the entries of some of the 20 bloggers who received official press credentials to the convention. Among them:
Eric Schnure, official DNC blogger.
Dave Winer of Scripting News.
NYU Journalist Jay Rosen's Pressthink.
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga's Daily Kos.
Teagan Goddard's PoliticalWire.
Ana Marie Cox's Wonkette.
Patrick Belton's Oxblog.
The Burnt Orange Report, from "deep in the heart of Texas."
Pandagon, the blog of Jesse Taylor and Ezra Klein.
Jeralyn Merritt's Talk Left.

And for sheer political satire, don't miss the animated "This Land" spoof created by brothers Greg and Evan Spiridellis. It's at their JibJab Web site.

See you (via the blogosphere) at the convention!