By The Hays Daily News

Bloggers from western Kansas will be joining the fray at the Democratic National Convention in August.

EverydayCitizen.com, based in Hays and published by Pam Pohly, is among the 55 blog sites credentialed for the Denver convention and the only member of the blogger corps from Kansas.

"This is a great honor for all of our authors and journalists at EverydayCitizen.com," Pohly said. "We look forward to attending the convention, representing Kansas, and providing interesting coverage for all of our Kansan readers."

More than 400 blogs from across the nation applied for convention credentials, and the participants were announced this week by Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

"The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office," Dean said.¬ "The Dem Convention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue -- in all 50 of our states and our territories too -- as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."

Pohly organized EverydayCitizen.com in 2007 and expects 10 contributors to attend the convention, although organizers have yet to finalize the number of press passes to be distributed to the blog corps.

"These are such important times. Everyday people want to examine the important issues and conditions facing our nation and our world," she said. "The people who write for EverydayCitizen.com all care deeply about the social, economic, environmental and human conditions we are facing in our nation and our world. Our blog offers opportunity for authors and readers to engage, motivate or stimulate interaction of ideas and thoughts across gender, generational and ethnic lines."

Pohly, who said she has been building Web sites for more than 15 years, said the blog site was born when she was working with the campaign of John Doll, a Democratic candidate who ran against 1st District Rep. Jerry Moran in 2006.

"A lot of people wanted to interact, and that turned to blogging," she said.

When Doll's candidacy ended, "I really missed (blogging)."

In Feburary 2007, EverydayCitizen.com started with a handful of local writers who then each were asked to invite others, including out-of-state writers.