By Dawne Leiker, FHSU
Blogger Pam Pohly of Hays is working to make connections with political activists at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week.

“I hope to meet others who are dedicating their energies and talents to activism...who are concerned about health care reform, improving the economy for middle class people and uplifting people from poverty,” Pohly said.

She has been preparing for the Democratic National Convention since last December. Her blogsite, Everydaycitizen.com was accepted by the Democratic National Committee as one of only 55 blogs to be embedded with state delegations at the convention.

Being accepted by the DNC as a credentialed blogger involved many steps, Pohly said. She had to submit an essay providing examples of her personal activism, information concerning her blog’s longevity and her blog’s “traffic reports,” which are the number of people who have accessed the site.

The DNC wanted blogger credentials to go to “grassroots people,” Pohly said.

She added the convention has been an exciting time for her so far. She has met many individuals who share her social concerns. Pohly said, “The excitement is contagious. Everyone seems to think we’ll turn a page in history. I personally feel we’ve been headed in the wrong direction for the last eight years. Coming to the convention has made me think we’ve turned the page.”

Many bloggers in Denver have been given access to the “Big Tent.” Hosted by the Alliance Center, DAILY KOS and Progress Now, the “Big Tent” provides meals, massages, beer, wireless Internet access and an impressive array of speakers.

“We love this Big Tent,” she said. “Food, smoothies and massages...They’ve made it very economical for bloggers to work here.”

Pohly’s group of bloggers in Denver include 11 people. Overall contributors to her site stand at 65 members from all over the country.

Communication with constituencies through blogging is being taken seriously by political parties in the 2008 election, she believes. It has become an accepted way for individuals with no access to a means of publishing to get their word out to the public, she said.

To Pohly, blogging is a throw-back to the 1700’s and the political philosophy of Thomas Paine. Paine’s publications, including “Common Sense,” helped to sway public opinion in favor of the Revolutionary War. He expressed the views of the common man, in much the same way Pohly feels that bloggers express those views today.

Paine, according to Pohly meant for poor people to have a voice. Regardless of your financial condition, said Pohly, “you should always be able to speak out.”