Last week a blogger acquaintance of mine Dan Riehl wrote why with the rise of new media road trip reporting was less vital:

There are cases where shoe leather matters. But they are fewer and further in between. And the better one is at building out a cost-effective, electronic network of disparate resources across any geographic region, the more likely it is that they are going to be successful in pure news gathering.

Dan has a good point about the wise use of resources but there is something to be said for being there, making personal contact, watching reactions and looking someone in the eye. There is a value to counting the signs, listening in the local eateries and judging for yourself the feel of a district.

Last week in Ma-4 I talked to A Haitian immigrant who came 32 years ago indignant that people assumed she supported the president because she is black and talking of American opportunity , while her co-worker spoke of regret for  her Obama vote of 2008 opting home this election cycle.  I've heard this a lot, but is this a local trend or a national one?

This week I traveled 1200 miles through 5 states to find out:

In NY-25 I saw enthusiasm in Clyde NY as Ann Marie Buerkle talked issues while Dan Mafti dodged his votes and threw mud.

In NY-22 I saw the George Phillips campaign pushing issues while Maurice Hinchey spent his time ducking issues and “pushing” a local reporter instead.

In Ny-24 I saw a small businessman so angry with incumbents he couldn’t wait to vent his frustration to two bloggers passing through.

In Pa-10 A Tom Marino volunteer talked of the hundreds of democrats he called supporting republicans while congressman Carney acts as if he has no idea who Nancy Pelosi is.

And in Va-11 I saw a steady stream of volunteers for Keith Fimian while his opponent obsesses about abortion.

In all of these cases the Mainstream media and/or unions were doing their best to run interference for the sitting democrat and their records while people who were never active in politics before turn out for the republicans.

In a state where Democrats have ruled the roost for so long optimism can be a dirty word, but after seeing the same feelings repeated in state after state I think the Big Red Wave of 2010 is a reality staring me in the face.