One of the benefits of our vote-by-mail system in Oregon is that you can sit at your desk at 10 o'clock Election Day morning and exhale. I wanted to take a moment to reflect as we prepare for the election returns that will become available in just a few short hours, starting at 3:00pm Pacific Time.
One thing that is so clear is the impact that bloggers have had on the 2006 election. In every district I've visited, in a dozen states in the last month, there was evidence of bloggers generating national attention for otherwise obscure local candidates and providing critical local networks to help energize and sustain campaigns.
Another critical contribution was providing hard news about these political campaigns. Bloggers didn't just fill in the gaps that we've come to expect from mainstream media, but they uncovered key stories and then kept them alive. If Democrats end up controlling one or both of the Houses of Congress (an improbable prediction even six months ago, but one that many pundits are actually forecasting), it will not have been possible without the contribution of the blogosphere.
On a personal level, blogging has proven to be a useful tool to report my experiences on the campaign trail and also stay informed and in touch with many of my friends and supporters. In a few hours, I will begin a commentary on my blog (http://www.earlblumenauer.com/) about the election results and other implications based on what I know about those individual races--I hope you will join me.
More important now is where we go from here. Whether or not we gain control, politics have again been substantially altered as a result of the contributions from bloggers around the country. I look forward to exploring ways that we can work together to capitalize on the momentum and fully utilize this critical communication technique, not just as a powerful political tool, but to help make Congress perform better at doing its job between elections. Thank you all for having helped create this condition. I look forward to working with you to capitalize on it, starting tomorrow.