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Happy 7th Birthday, SSP

by: DavidNYC

Tue Oct 19, 2010 at 12:06 AM EDT


Wow. That's like a zillion in blog years.
DavidNYC :: Happy 7th Birthday, SSP
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Happy 7th Birthday, SSP | 61 comments
Congrats to the team and the servers that have kept churning along!
Without you, well, I'd just have to find some other less excellent obsession.

This, however, is pretty excellent. Thank you for your hard work!

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

I Think I Was Here In The First Six Months.....
In the spring of 2004 when the primary focus was the Presidential election.  Seemed like the population grew significantly in those early months and stayed big into 2005 when the focus shifted to Congressional races.
Those comments...
they look so weird in that format.  And who are those people commenting??

Anyway, I think Sharron Angle is about to start an international incident.

Congrats!
I found SSP in 2008 looking for results for the TX-22 GOP primary.  As soon as I found not only the results but a whole thread for it I knew I was home.

21, male, CA-15 (home and voting there), LA-2 (college)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4SLSlSmW74

I was wondering
where Swing State Project got its name.
After reading that first post, now I know.
Congrats!! :)


For daily political commentary, visit me at http://polibeast.blogspot.com/ and http://twitter.com/polibeast
Congrats
I love this place, though I lurked a long time before posting.  I enjoy the 'horse race' aspect of politics and that's what makes this place so great.

43 - Male - GOP/Libertarian - FL 22
i think one of your first commenters
was john raese's wife.

18, Dem, CA-14 (home) CA-09 (college, next year). social libertarian, economic liberal, fiscal conservative.   Everybody should put age and CD here. :)
I
does anyone know if we can register to vote in a state that we might not actually be living in? can we use a friend's or relative's swing state address, and make our vote counte there?

I thought it was Dan Quayle, myself.

43 - Male - GOP/Libertarian - FL 22

[ Parent ]
also
is there a site where you can say where the 527 groups actually spent their money? i can't find it on opensecrets

18, Dem, CA-14 (home) CA-09 (college, next year). social libertarian, economic liberal, fiscal conservative.   Everybody should put age and CD here. :)
Wow! Congratulations!
:D That's very old

Ad hoc, ad loc and quid pro quo!
So little time, so much to know!
Congratulations!
I joined the site in early 2007 but have been reading it since late 2005 or so. It's been incredible to see how the site and the community has grown.

Even with the surge in interest in recent years (since when to you get over 100 comments on posts?), this has consistently remained one of the best destinations on the internet for thoughtful discussion. I attribute a lot of that to David, James, Crisitunity, and Jeff and their leadership.

I'm looking forward to another seven years, guys. Even when I'm fairly quiet, I'm so glad to be a part of this community.

Also
As long as we're in a celebratory mood... I don't suppose SSP Year 7 might include some upgrades to the site infrastructure, or new tools for diaries and comments?

Don't get me wrong, I like the stark utilitarian look + lime green masthead. But for a site that does so much with campaign ads, polling data, election results, redistricting data, etc., it seems like there've got to be ways to display information more effectively and probably make generating content a bit more straightforward.

I'm saying, if you're interested, my meager checkbook is more than open to chipping in $20, and I'd bet others would be, too. And if you wanted to crowdsource any specific tools, I'm always looking for a new PHP project.

This is such a good resource, I'd love to be able to help keep it going strong.

[ Parent ]
That's really kind of you!
Re-doing the site is something we might consider after the elections. I think we'll all need a breather, though!
[ Parent ]
I like the site
 But it would be nice to be able to delete your comments if you made a typo or were in a really bad mood.  

for more election analysis, visit  http://frogandturtle.blogspot....




17, CA-06,  

[ Parent ]
And also
ratings like they have on Calitics to hide comments and possibly deter trolls, that have been popping up here like weeds lately.

0 = Censor this garbage!
1 = Trollish
2 = Eh
3 = Valid point
4 = Good point
5 = Excellent
8 = Trustworthy!

My blog
Twitter
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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)

[ Parent ]
The ratings idea is good
 I have not seen anyone trolls here though since anka. Am I missing a daily digest or thread recently?  

for more election analysis, visit  http://frogandturtle.blogspot....




17, CA-06,  

[ Parent ]
I meant to add spammers with trolls.
I have seen quite a few of those recently.

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Happy Birthday
This site is an invaluable resource to psephologists and political fans. I've learned more things than I can count and I still learn every day. Thank you for creating and maintaining this site.

24, male, African-American, CA-24, Democrat. Chair of the SSP Black Caucus.
I learn something every time I'm on SSP
Today one of those things was what "psephology" meant.

This is useful, because I am something of a "psephaholic."  And you can't spell that without SSP.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

[ Parent ]
New word for me, too! n/t


"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Has it really been that long?
Wow. Happy birthday.  
I had been a lurker
in the site's early years, joining in late 2007.

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
Also
at about the same time SSP went up, I was agonizing over the aftermath of the California recall, and getting into politics especially in California for the first time. Time sure flies!

My blog
Twitter
Scribd
28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Wow, congrats!
I spent a little time reading the early posts and now the name "Swing State Project" makes sense. So weird to see the comments back then and how much they have changed--although it was nice to know that even in 2004, there were a couple of brave Republicans here!

What really struck me is that this blog started when I was 12 and knew the names of exactly 3 politicians--George Bush, Mitt Romney, and Ted Kennedy (my president, governor, and senior Senator.) Times have changed, but David and Co. are still here doing amazing work day in and day out.

It would be interesting to see a history of the site--when did it switch over from exclusively covering Presidential politics to exclusively covering Congressional and gubernatorial elections?  

20, CD MA-03/NH-01/MA-08

Pretty much right after the 2004 elections
I was ready to shutter the site (especially since Markos had just tapped me as a new editor at Daily Kos), but Tim Tagaris convinced me to keep it going, and to focus on downballot races. Never looked back! And when 2008 rolled around, I had no interest in covering the presidential race. Every blogger on earth was writing about that - not a lot of people were doing what we were doing. Plus, I also wanted to avoid the primary wars. I think we made the right choice!

Though the name sure has confused a hell of a lot of people....

[ Parent ]
SSP, Fall 2005
The wonderful world of Virginia State House and Governor elections.

Raising Kaine and watching Corzine skate to victory. Following the Paul Hackett fun in the summer, man those were fun times. Right as we were all discovering what the down ballots consisted of. Suddenly, we were all experts in southwest Ohio and the entire state of Virginia.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26

[ Parent ]
Awesome, thanks
And I commend the decision--there are a zillion websites dedicated to presidential politics but only one SSP!

I wasn't reading political blogs in early 2008, but the primary wars must have gotten incredibly annoying--I thought Fisher/Brunner was bad enough. At least on the Republican side, usually you have an electable candidate and a purist nutcase, so those wars make a little more sense. Good call all around.

20, CD MA-03/NH-01/MA-08

[ Parent ]
Great news!
I love this site to death, and since last year i've been a member. Thank you guys for bringing us not only national elections, but downballot ones as well, without the screaming children at Daily Kos screaming about PUMA's.

16, Male, Democrat, CA-42/sometimes CA-32.
Congrats!
Love this site! Discovered it in '08, been avid reader ever since, finally got the courage to sign up and become a member!
Welcome to the club!


26, Male, Democrat, TX-26
[ Parent ]
You guys know SSP is awesome, right?
You know that this is easily one of the best sites on the entire Internet, right? Besides Wonkette, it's the only site where I actually look forward to reading the comments (and comedy sites like Wonkette have it much easier).

Every other site's commenters either make my blood boil and/or make me despair for humanity....especially the political ones.

I'd been looking for a site like SSP for awhile so I could follow politics in the media wasteland of LA, and found it only in late 2007/early 2008. I lurked for awhile, joined after the 2008 election. And I've been impossible to shut up ever since. :)

So SSP community, I want to thank all of you for putting up with me, as well as for being just incredibly smart, curious, well-informed, detailed, analytical, wry, open-minded, friendly and yes, cool.   ... even the Republicans!

And special thanks, of course, goes to our fearless leaders/editorial staff for wielding the commenter banhammer judiciously and keeping SSP such a consistently-wonderful place to visit.

Kansan by birth, Californian by choice, and Gay by the grace of God.

I really want to second your sentiments
about the comments here. I learn a great deal from the comments, as well as the front page posts and diaries.

So, did you guys put the 7 candles in the babka for your birthday cake? And what donkeys - or elephants - are you pinning the tail on tonight?

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

[ Parent ]
Wow, happy birthday, guys!
Congrats on lucky number 7. Clicking on that link made my feet tingle...I was in sixth grade when you guys went live! I'm not sure if I could tell a Bush from a Gore back then.

Anyhow, here's to many more years of top-notch reporting from  all of you who run this site. Thanks for putting together a fantastic operation (though I can't say I'm grateful for getting absurdly addicted to SSP...it's 3 AM and I have a game theory exam soon!).

19, male, Dem, CT-04 (home) PA-02 (college and registered)

Here's to late night studying!
Human Resource Management on this end, 2 am.

26, Male, Democrat, TX-26
[ Parent ]
Congratulations!
I love this blog.  It's one of my first web visits every day.  The only thing I wish would change is if the main diarists could refrain from all the bad language - it's embarrassing when someone comes into my office.  But the information provided is priceless.

Here's to many years more!

Here's to at least another 93!


Male, 23, DC-At Large
"Happy to you"
as my two-year-old would say...

34, WM, Democrat, FL-11
Congratulations and best wishes to all team!!!

Zorionak zuei :)

I hope you like my congratulation in basque language. It mean "Congratulations to you" (all the team of SSP).

This is a very interesting site. And very easy and fast for write and send the posts. Very dinamic. This is an important part of the charm of the site. The kind people is other important part of the charm of the site. Keep all it!

Comhgairdeas daoibh
In my native Irish.

It's a great blog, with top notch commentry and anaylse. It's the first and last thibg I check for the daily updates of the campaign. Keep up the good work for 7 more!

[ Parent ]
Omedeto gozaimasu (Japanese)
Thanks for all the hard work you guys do.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
¡Felicitaciones! Felicitações!


My blog
Twitter
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28, New Democrat, Female, TX-03 (hometown CA-26)
[ Parent ]
Syabasy! (Shabash in the old spelling)
That's Congratulations in Malay, my 2nd language.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  
[ Parent ]
Auguri in Italian
totally blanking out on Chinese right now...maybe like ji nian ri kuai le or something? Lol.

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Tanti Auguri
is "Many good wishes." Congratulations in Italian is "Congratulazioni!"

The French is "Felicitations!"

"I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!"
--  Will Rogers  

[ Parent ]
Ah, I see
I feel like I've heard auguri used for someone when something good happens to them (and for birthdays in Italian class we used to sing "tanti auguri a te"). But congratulations as well as good wishes to SSP :)

21, dude, RI-01 (registered) IL-01 (college)
please help Japan. click "donate funds" in upper right and then "Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami." http://www.redcross.org/
[ Parent ]
Basque!
I have been told that my grandmother's surname, Zulueta, is a Basque name.  Have you heard of it?  (Sorry for the off-topic, everyone else.)
[ Parent ]
Although
 I have been into politics for awhile, I did not discover this blog until March 2009. I was hanging around on Real Clear (my haunt before here) and I saw a link showing the Presidential results by congressional district. I remember you guys were still waiting for Nassau County's results. I slowly visited this blog more and more, getting an account in April and posting a diary on Creigh Deeds in June when I thought he would win. I remember flooding swing state in July with redistricting diaries and now I am posting something more like once a month here.  

for more election analysis, visit  http://frogandturtle.blogspot....




17, CA-06,  

Thank you so much
I had a great job for a couple years, working in a place where politics was a basic part of what we did. I lost that job in the recession, and the day-to-day informed election banter is what I missed the most. At my less-cool new job, I haven't replaced it. But at lunch, I take my food and laptop down to the Hudson River with SSP already loaded, and read through the day's posts and comments. For that half hour, I'm back in a community of election junkies - right where I belong.

That might have been a little bit emo, but I mean it. Heartfelt thanks to the creators, moderators, and the various posters/commenters. As has been said by others, this is one of the few places on the web where the comments represent value-added...I've learned so much here from people around the country. And yes, it's been most reassuring to know that there's a lot of people like us out there!

29, Male, Dem, NY-20  

Agreed!
Do you know how hard it is to wait until lunch to read the morning digest?  OR, worse, how disappointed I am when its not there?!?

I comment some but lurk mostly - there's enough comments already.  But this site is my absolute favorite.

Thank you guys - contributors AND commenters!

28, male, NC-13 formerly NC-01, 04, 05, 07, 11

[ Parent ]
Congrats, thanks for a great blog, and I hope it continues in perpetuity. (nm)
nm

43, male, Indian-American, Democrat, VA-10
Congrats, guys! Love the site! n/t

new (Jerry) brown ad link whitman to ahnold
http://politicalwire.com/archi...

Top ten signs you're an SSPer #1: your favorite song is "Panic At Tedisco" and no one understands what you mean.
Congrats.


Independent Socialist & Chair of SSP Cranky Indianian Hoosier Caucus, IN-09
Cheers! And thanks!!
Reading it since the election of 2004 (not sure when I registered though).  I don't comment very often, but I read it loyally.  Thanks so much!
WOW Happy Bday!
I remember finding this blog. There was a special election for the state senate in KY and I was searching for info and you guys live blogged it and the Houston Mayoral results. We lost the state senate election but I was so lucky to find you guys. I read through your articles and I was amazed, this was the place to be. I lurked for a while before signing up and then lurked some more. I actually remember my first post was a Mass Senate poll from some right wing outlet that got posted a few days ago apparently. I have loved it here ever since. Thanks for all the hard work that gets put into this blog.  

Proud member of the Indiana Democratic Party from IN-9.  
Mazel Tov!
Happy birthday, SSP. Congrats to all the editors and us commenters!

This blog is really special. Just because I read the daily digests, I'm known as a complete nerd and election expect around school. This is my home page and I get giddy when a new digest pops up or a polling dump.

Thanks for all your hard work!

NY-14, DC-AL (college) Distraught Mets fan

I love you guys
I registered with the site around a year ago (august 2009) but as far as I could remember, I was regularly reading this at the very latest near the tail end of the 2008 election.

This is perhaps the website I visit the most.  Hell, I set up my twitter account to text me when you the SSP account tweets something.  The only other twitter account that gets such a privilege is PPP, because I just can't get enough of their polls.

20, Male, Democrat, CA-44 (home) CA-12 (college)

I've only been reading everything on the main page for three years.
You're all so great, I wish I'd gooten here sooner.

And I found out what I was missing from Taniel. (I so, so miss Campaign Diaries.)

Happy 7th Birthday, SSP | 61 comments

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