Koufax Awards Voting Now Open

Voting in the prestigious Koufax Awards just started and I wanted to give you my thoughts and recommendations.

First a note on the awards themselves: The Koufax Awards are what we on the left side of the blog world strive for and, while my open disdain for the Weblog Awards last year got me considerably pummeled by the right wingers, even making it to the finals of the Koufax Awards would make me more excited than a GOP lobbyist at a Dubai cocktail mixer.

That said, I’ll admit that I did not nominate myself for Best New Blog (though I am nominated) and will say only that I suggested Taylor Marsh, Pensito Review and Firedoglake for that award. (Though Firedoglake doesn’t appear to be among the nominees and I’m not sure why.)

Given the true spirit of these awards, I intend to vote for either Taylor or Jon Ponder at Pensito Review – not gonna say which! – and will, of course, consider Firedoglake if they reappear in that group.

Where am I asking for your consideration? Best Post. To many of us, this is all about the writing and I’m honored to have two nominations in this category:

A Conflicted Veteran On Memorial Day

I Know This Little Boy In New Orleans

I’m proud of each of these because being a Veteran and a father are so central to my way of thinking these days and these posts are among the kind in which we writers truly spill our guts and put ourselves on the line emotionally.

That said, I am in amazing company in this category and your vote will mean even more if you go out and look at the other nominees as well – check out Digby’s The Heart of the Democratic Party for an excellent example of what I’m talking about.

I thank you if you vote for me, but please do it only once. This is what separates the Koufax Awards from others and makes them valuable and, if you vote for someone else, I will congratulate them as well and know the votes fell where they should have.