This is my first post as a BlogHer Contributing Editor, so let me say how thrilled and excited I am to be here! (OK, enough for my Sally Field moment)!

Five key states, great women (progressive) political bloggers. As we near ever closer to primary season, all politics becomes local. It’s worth paying attention to primary states because not only do they help decide the nominee, they get to meet the candidates, a lot. For a full calendar of the Democratic primaries, click here. And here’s a great primer on why primaries matter, Here are state-based political bloggers I’ve just put on my RSS feed: Iowa Caucus date: Thursday, January 3. 57 delegates at stake. Bleeding Heartland, a progressive group blog. I love EssentialEstrogen. Rock on, WomenforPeace, Iowa.