Saturday, July 21, 2007

Welcome to Sovern Nation

My name is Doug, and I am a political junkie. Have been since I was seven years old. Forget the 12 steps - how about 12 presidential elections? 2008 makes it an even dozen in my lifetime, although, yes, I've only been politically aware for 11 of them. Forty years after my political baptism (as a juvenile guerrilla volunteer in a Wisconsin congressional campaign), we find ourselves in the midst of a fascinating, and potentially history-making, presidential election. Americans may choose a woman as president for the first time. Or the first African-American. Or the first Latino. They may elevate a mayor to the White House for the first time. We may have our second Catholic president, or only our second divorced one, or the first Vietnam vet, or the first Mormon. The 2008 field is among the largest in history, and it's the most wide-open race since 1928. And you can follow it all at Sovern Nation, part of the KCBS Radio Campaign Watch.

I am covering the presidential race for KCBS (740 AM, San Francisco on your radio dial or listen live at www.kcbs.com). You can find exclusive interviews and all sorts of unique content at the Sovern Nation section of kcbs.com. We plan to interview every Democratic and Republican candidate; so far, I've sat down with five of them. Every time one of them visits the Bay Area and gives a speech or holds a campaign event, we'll post the audio. I and my colleagues at KCBS are doing all sorts of feature stories about the campaign and the candidates, and you can hear those at the site. We've also got weekly trivia, a Follow the Money link, a Poll of the Week with the latest survey results, a Power Rankings feature, and much more. I've written biographies of each candidate, and there are links to their campaign websites. I'm working on an Issues Chart, to help you see where each one stands on the critical issues facing our country. And there are many more features in the works!

We want to make Sovern Nation nothing less than your one-stop, go-to website for the 2008 presidential race, to help all of us make up our minds as we elect America's 44th president. Informative, illuminating but also fun - stuff you won't find anywhere else - along with the latest campaign video and audio from CBS News. Okay, maybe it's ambitious, but as I said, I'm a political junkie, so it will be a labor of love.

I welcome your feedback and comments. I'll blog in this space as the campaign goes along, about whatever happens along the way, from close encounters with Hillary Clinton to how Mitt Romney did in the latest debate. Thanks for reading, and listening, and make sure you register to vote in 2008! Simply click on the Sovern Nation weblink to the right to check out the site.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations on "Sovern Nation." Like many others in the Bay Area, I have long appreciated your journalistic integrity and political savvy. I look forward to your coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign and wish you all the best.

Unknown said...

I'm viewing this blog from outside your listening audience (Texas) and was wondering why all the candidates campaign so actively in the Bay Area.

How has the Bay Area voted in past elections? I would think it typically votes for the Democratic Party candidate and Republican Party candidates wouldn't campaign as strongly in San Fransisco. Is it a strong fundraising area for both parites?

Thanks for the response and blog.

Doug Sovern said...

Dear Craig:

Yes, the Bay Area is largely Democratic, with Republican pockets in outlying areas and parts of Silicon Valley. But candidates from both parties have been coming here for years to make withdrawals from the Bay Area Campaign Cash ATM. President Bush routinely fundraises in Santa Clara, for example, though he has not set foot in San Francisco since late 1999. This year, the Republican candidates are actually campaigning here, too, and not just raising money, because a change in California's Republican primary rules will award delegates based on their showing in each Congressional district, instead of on a winner-take-all, statewide basis. So if Rudy Giuliani wins over all the Republicans in San Francisco, he'll win some delegates. Not as many as he'd win in Orange County, but every delegate counts!

ballofthunder said...

Hi Doug,

I, too, have appreciated you as a journalism for years...

I look forward to checking in on your blog for the latest in election coverage.

Bob

p.s. Where's the clock...