I posted this as a comment to Chris' post 10 days ago, "A Quick Note on Diversity in the Blogosphere,"

http://mydd.com/story/2007/5/6/155916/36 80

but because that post generated so much comment, I thought I'd do a diary, too.

I have an interesting perspective on this. I spend about half my time blogging and doing netroots outreach on a professional basis. I worked last year for the Larry Grant for Congress campaign and am currently on part time with Larry LaRocco for Senate. The rest of my working hours, I spend researching and writing for the Study Circles Resource Center, an organization that helps all kinds of people - including communities of color - work for positive change around issues including racism, the achievement gap, growth and sprawl, etc. Typically, I  write stories for their website.

http://www.studycircles.org/

I originally penned this as a comment in Chris' forecast thread yesterday, but it's way too long and I have lots of interesting info to share on the ID-01, so I'm posting it as a diary instead. Full disclosure: I am the online campaign coordinator for Larry Grant, and you can get near-daily updates on our race at our campaign blog, Grassroots for Grant.

Chris, first of all, thanks to you and Matt and Jerome and everyone at MyDD, Kos, and SSP for adding Larry Grant to the Netroots Challengers list yesterday. People who are watching the dynamics of the ID-01 unfold are starting to understand how this could well be one of the top surprises on Nov. 7. If you haven't already, please read McJoan's excellent write-up from yesterday at Kos.

In the May 23 Idaho primary, Idaho Republicans nominated Bill Sali, a man widely considered to be the most divisive, least effective state legislator in Idaho history. Sali won the nod with 26% of the vote in a six-way race - hardly a mandate. The ID-01 is now a real pickup possibility in our quest to take back Congress, but we need the netroots' help in asking all Idahoans - past, present, and future - to take action so we can defeat extremism and elect Larry Grant.