The Analyst debuts

Posted at 6:23 AM on March 9, 2006 by Bob Collins

Just when you think some of the political blogs may never live up to the hype, along comes word of one today that is now on my must-reading list for intelligent political discourse.

In The Analyst, Why Suburbs Matter

Now, the immediate reaction of many folks living outside the metropolitan area is: what makes that 40% any more special than the 46% of the population living in greater Minnesota? Well, from a political point of view, there are three key reasons to focus on the burbs:

(1) Money. I won't get into the economic statistics here (maybe that could be fodder for another post), but the folks living in the suburbs have more money available to give to campaigns and interest groups seeking to affect the electoral process.

(2) Proximity. Since all of the folks in the suburbs live relatively close to one another and pay attention to the same media outlets, it makes it easier to get a message out and to organize -- much easier than in greater Minnesota.

(3) Competitiveness. For years, suburban voters in Minnesota have been closely divided between the two parties. This had been most true in the inner suburbs like Roseville and Richfield, but it is now becoming increasingly true across the board.

On goes The Analyst to the RSS favorites list. And off comes....well... we'll just see. But let's look forward to more frequent posting and analysis.

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