The Boston Globe profiles the bloggers who helped to inflict Gov. Patrick upon us.
Four years ago, two eminent local singers, tenor Charles Blandy and baritone David Kravitz, organized "National Anthem," a concert to benefit John Kerry's presidential campaign. "I've always shown up on Election Day, but I've never been terribly involved in politics," Kravitz said at the time. "This time I've been just frantic to do something."Kerry lost, of course, but the concert became the catalyst for a new venture. Instead of letting their political energies dissipate into gloom, the pair hooked up with Bob Neer, another Kerry volunteer, and started Blue Mass Group, a liberal blog focusing on state politics and policy issues (www.bluemassgroup.com).
The second edition of "National Anthem" happens next Friday, this time to benefit the Obama campaign. A lot has changed since 2004, not least the dimensions of the concert itself. The first was at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge and was composed almost entirely of vocal music. This year's show, by contrast, will take place on the much larger stage of Jordan Hall and feature a vastly expanded musical program comprising orchestral, vocal, and chamber music, as well as opera excerpts. A larger roster of musicians will participate - among them, a 50-piece orchestra and five conductors. Four years ago, the organizers raised $22,000; this time they're shooting for $50,000.
Blue Mass Group has changed, too - from an outlet for a few frustrated liberals to a major gathering point for the progressive wing of state Democrats. The site averages around 2,750 unique visitors a day. The three bloggers post on most issues of statewide concern and some pertinent national questions; a dedicated cadre of registered participants offers commentary that often blossoms into substantive, full-on debates. Elected officials not only read BMG but sometimes come to do guest posts to reach out to their constituents. It's a trend that mirrors the explosive growth experienced over the last four years by blogs in general and political blogs in particular.
"I've been pleasantly surprised, over and over, at what you would call the success of the site," says Kravitz over coffee in Arlington. "The number of readers that we get is far more at this point than any of us thought we would have a hope of achieving."
"We didn't know what the blog was going to be when we started," adds Blandy. "It was better than doing nothing, than accepting the fate of politics and what was going to happen to the country."
Their timing turned out to be fortuitous, launching the blog just in time for the run-up to the 2006 gubernatorial election. "We ended up becoming the online gathering space for people who were excited about the governor's race generally, but Deval Patrick's campaign specifically," Kravitz says. "He was consciously setting a campaign [that was] very grassroots, very bottom-up, no particular connections to the establishment. He was looking for us when we were looking for him, although neither of us knew it at the time."
SECOND UPDATE: More from the Herald.
