I guess I should start off any post about the Democratic nominees for president by saying where I stand. I am leaning Obama at this time but also like Richardson and Edwards a lot. I am not, however, one of those Democrats who says “anyone but Hillary,” nor would I be unhappy about voting for her if she became our nominee.

That being said, I wanted to weigh in on the “electability” issue, and argue that while she does have certain vulnerabilities, she also has a lot of strengths that the columnists and pundits have thus far discounted or downplayed. This post is designed to focus on the strategic merits of Clinton as our nominee, and her chances of winning if she became our nominee, not her views on Iraq (which I disagree with) or any other ideological litmus test.

Like most politicos, I gripe from time to time about how unfair it is that people in New Hampshire and Iowa get so much attention from presidential candidates. I rail that those states are not particularly diverse, and I complain that they get to talk to candidates in fairly intimate settings such as town hall meetings for free while the rest of us have to pay hundreds of dollars for such a privilege. So initially, I was excited when I heard that California was considering moving its primaries up to February. After all, California is a much more diverse state than Iowa or New Hampshire, and it would give a lot more people a say in picking their party’s presidential nominee. But I thought about it some more, and I realized that putting the California primary in February would do a disservice to the Democratic Party, and in some ways it wouldn’t be so good for democracy either.

Welcome to my new blog, Purple State Pundit. The name relates to my recent move from DC to Virginia, which one commentator called a “purple state” after the 2006 elections. I will post some commentary about Virginia politics, but Raising Kaine already does such a good job of that that another Virginia politics blog seems redundant. So despite the name, I am mostly going to focus on national politics from a semi-insider perspective. Most of the focus of this blog will be political strategy and analysis, with my thoughts about where Democrats can make gains and where we need to protect the flank, both in 2008 and in future years. I will also post commentary about various political issues and share details of events I get to go to with elected officials (doesn’t happen too often, but it’s exciting when I do get to go to those things, so I’ll post as much as I can).

About Me: I’m a political research and data analyst at a Washington-based labor organization trying to finish college on the side and struggling with the dilemma between the part of me that disdains “Washington Insiders” and the part of me that wants to be one of them. I’m obviously a Democrat, and I consider myself one of a handful of people who actually feels represented by the Democratic Party (albeit by the more liberal wing of the party) and doesn’t just view them as the lesser of two evils. I’m proud to be a Democrat, and I’m writing this blog to share my opinions about how we can continue to kick some serious ass!