What is BlueOregon?

The BlueOregon Idea: BlueOregon will be the water cooler around which Oregon progressives will gather. A place for news and original commentary. (And sometimes gossip.)

It'll be progressive; it'll be smart; it'll be funny; it'll be compelling; it'll be provocative; it'll be unpredictable. It'll be political, but not narrowly so. It'll be a free-ranging social and cultural critique. It'll be by Oregonians and for Oregonians, but not always about Oregon. Above all else, BlueOregon will not be boring.

Who will participate? Some of our contributors will be well-known; while others will make their fame (but not likely fortune) at BlueOregon. Some will be elected officials, others prominent activists, others totally unknown; some are already writers and bloggers, while others will be new to online commentary.

Beyond that, we seek to create a wide range of voices - from urban sophisticates to gun-truck-and-dog Democrats; from radical vegetarian leftists to cranky government skeptics. (Not that these are all mutually exclusive.) We'll be working to reflect the full diversity of Oregon progressivism - socio-economically, geographically, ideologically, ethnically, and beyond.

Our goal? To be the single best place for progressive Oregonians to catch the zeitgeist of our world; to motivate, educate, and elucidate; to help keep Oregon Blue.

Q&A

Who's behind BlueOregon? The site is the creation of Kari Chisholm, Jeff Alworth, and Jesse Cornett. Jesse is a political activist and staffer to elected officials. Jeff is a freelance writer and the author of two nationally known (but now-defunct) blogs - Notes On the Atrocities and the Oregon Blog. Kari is a political consultant and internet strategist with Mandate Media. Of course, BlueOregon is really all about its contributors.

What else will BlueOregon do? Probably nothing. We're just a place for progressive Oregonians to gather 'round the water cooler. We expect our contributors to individually motivate our readers to action - but BlueOregon itself won't collectively endorse candidates, stage protests, or even go out for donuts. [UPDATED, April 2013: OK, we're going out for donuts now. Also, online activism stuff. Learn more here.]

What's a blog? Short for "web log", a blog is a new form of journalism - usually in the form of a personal diary or opinion journal. At BlueOregon, we're trying a "group blog" with many progressive contributors.

What do mean, "progressive"? Well, ideology is always in the eye of the beholder. Contributors to BlueOregon will likely disagree with each other a lot. That said, we generally believe in the power of people to organize themselves for the improvement of society, through government and other institutions.

What's so "blue" about Oregon? In recent years, it's become fashionable in political circles to refer to a "Blue America" that votes Democratic and a "Red America" that votes Republican. While that political analysis is overly simplistic - America is really just shades of purple, right? - we think "Blue Oregon" reflects our collective vision of the Oregon we want to live in. It's a place where Oregonians believe in each other and work together through shared sacrifice to make Oregon a better place.

Anything else? Here's some legal disclaimer stuff that some people will find interesting.