The Albany Project: New York's Biggest Liberal Blog Catches Attention

The Albany Project was started a few years ago during the Internet and blogging boom. Spurred by the interactive and online encouragement from Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, more blogs, and user-posting content Web sites have formed in an effort to increase liberalism across the country and get more people involved and talking about politics.

The Albany Project focuses specifically on the state of NY through a Democratic Party perspective. The website name was chosen because of the New York State capital in Albany. The Albany Project is similar to the Daily Kos Democrat blog, except that it is much smaller and targets NY Democrats instead of Democrats across the country. In fact, it was through the Daily Kos website that a fellow user told me about the Albany Project website.

The Albany Project, which can be viewed at: http://thealbanyproject.com allows people to simply view the content posted on the website, or you can also post your own content in the form of a diary entry. Additionally, you can post comments to fellow user diary entries and say what you think about a particular article. The Albany Project website is still expanding and articles that are not controversial or headline grabbing receive few comments from users. User comments is really the only way to determine approximately how many people read your diary entry. Getting account is easy and free and you can get an account by providing your name and an email address to which they can send your password and user ID.

A great feature which I like about the Albany Project is that on the side bars of the page, it lists other Democratic blogs for NY users as well. On the homepage, the diary entries by the website creators and administrators is posted, along with the most current and most read articles of the day.

Unlike the Daily Kos, I have yet to come across politicians who have blogged or typed diary entries on the Albany Project. The websites fame is yet to reach a high enough level for politicians to care that much about the website. However, I have seen the leadership of the NY Democratic Party post news bulletins, events and fundraising activities on the website. If you are publicizing a democratic program in NY, Albany Project is definitely a good resource to use.

Content posted on the Albany Project Web site primarily focuses on New York State Senate races and the U.S. Congressional races. There is also a good amount of John McCain bashing or making fun of him in some capacity.