How many of my blogging brethren go to the townhalls and try to interact with their duly elected officials?  If not, you should!  That is how you can get up close and personal with the guys that are acting in your behalf, well, at least pretend to act in you name……and then the bloggers need to go and write a post about what they learned or did not learn from their time with the possers, we call politicians…..

If that is what you are going top do or would like to do then there are a few questions I know you have…..like what do I look for when in the presence of these guys and gals…….Howard Fineman wrote in the HufPo about the tips he got from a journalism student, Tyler Kingkade….some great points…..

• Attend the small political gatherings at the local restaurants in your town. In Iowa, he said, they tend to be at a chain called Pizza Ranch. Your own town or state has its own equivalent. “In a small groups, people are willing to say more,” Tyler said. “You learn more about what people are thinking and what they care about. There is no filter, and that is good.”
• Get out of the big city. “In Iowa everybody thinks the action is in Des Moines, but that isn’t true,” said Kingkade — who is from Des Moines. “In the Iowa caucuses, what happens in small towns and counties really matters a lot, and the national press corps tends not to know them or visit them.”
• Talk to local groups — real local groups. “There are national groups that come in to try to influence things,” he said, “but in Iowa the local grassroots groups that are from the state have a lot of credibility and influence.” On the conservative side in Iowa, he said, one of them is a group called Everyday America, founded by Iowa state legislators. On the other side politically is Citizens for Community Involvement — a group that will become important next year, when, in the general election, Iowa will once again be a swing state.
• Keep track of the TV ads: who’s advertising what, and on what shows, and listen to local talk radio. Again, it’s not the national blowtorch of Rush Limbaugh who matters, but the local stations the national reporters don’t hear or care about.
• Look for things the “pack” doesn’t notice: things that only a local, and an amateur, would see and appreciate. That could be a conversation in the neighborhood, a flier or email, a meeting that draws more voters — or far fewer — than expected.

Some really great tips if you truly want to approach your political blogging in a professional way…..As I have said in the past….I trust serious bloggers more than the MSM….even the ones that I do not agree with on much……bloggers are NOT held accountable by some multi-national corporation and told to toe a particular line of thought or writing……an observation by Politicususa…..

Bloggers, journalists, economists, and average Americans warned of Republican malfeasance to no avail and now a credit rating agency has confirmed the fears of millions and started the ball rolling that ends America. The blame lies with Republicans, teabaggers, and the stupid American people who elected them because they did not want universal health care or a Black president. They have embarrassed and humiliated America again and it proves America is not exceptional. It is like S&P said; America is a dysfunctional nation with little hope of recovering from the stupid Republican agenda that has damaged the economy for the second time in 5 years. America will never recover a third time and Mitch McConnell promised Republicans will repeat last week’s performance again next year; they want to assure there is further downgrading. There is little left to downgrade though, and that suits Republicans who caused this disaster. They must still be congratulating each other while the rest of the country despairs and grieves the demise of this tragically pitiful country.

Yes, we bloggers were not the paranoid little toads living in our mother’s basement eating Cheetohs….we knew what was happening and refused to go blind like the MSM……but will they ever listen to us?

I try to encourage all political bloggers to go out and get the news and the views from the politicians…..get the talking points and these tips, a fact checking app and hit the trail…..you will be surprised how really easy it becomes…..good luck, my friends.