What makes a good candiate? Groups like Emily's List and Working Families Party have a tendency to look to the candidates who have money, whose skills are in fundraising. Some people seem to think only lawyers can be effective politicians. And some simply think all candidates are pretty much the same and despair of finding excitement in supporting a candidate.

I don't buy any of those. I do get excited about candidates. They do not tend to be the ones who are supported by big money interests, and they are not always lawyers, but they are the candidates who are smart, articulate, and good on the issues. But there is one thing more that really makes a candidate kick ass. Dedication to the community. In some ways this may be the thing that can break through racial, cultural and political divides, because a candidate who proves him or herself to the community can get broad support: black and white, rich and poor, liberal and moderate. I want to discuss just such candidates.

By special request.

I remember when I first met my dog Ben.

He was a beagle puppy with a pack of other puppies in the bare dirt back yard of my uncle Ben's home.

Ben was my grandfather's brother. My first name came from my grandfather and my middle name from my uncle.

I named the dog after Ben.

He (the puppy, not my uncle) had jumped higher than the others and I liked his enthusiasm.

I was four. You don't put too much thought into picking out a dog when you're four years old.

At first, Ben (the pup again although also true of my uncle) had the run of our farm chasing rabbits and jumping back from the big yellow tom farm cat. Tom (the cat, not my neighbor who also was a dear curmudgeon) terrified my dog Ben, but little else did, including the skunk that sprayed him and left him smelling awful even after we bathed him several times.

Ben (the dog although also true of my uncle) was rather lazy. He loved nothing more than sitting under the old apple tree. He wasn't particular (also true of my uncle) and he would travel from house to house for meals (again, true of my uncle, a World War II veteran who fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France before returning home not quite right in the head. His wife, a particular woman, divorced him after he came home late -- or early in the morning depending on your point of view -- pissing in her flowers planted in front of the house one too many times.)

We here in the northeast US are getting whacked with a seasonal winter storm today. It'll be done by tonight, thank goodness, because tomorrow is BlogLeft Massachusetts, the blogger conference, or meet, or gathering, I'm not sure what to call it.

I expect it'll be both a modest meeting and also a powerful one. Sure, it's small, with about 30 people attending; but most of the liberal Massachusetts blogging community will be represented, including lots of people who are traveling out from the west of the state (I hope the roads are cleared on time!). At last count, four state candidates will stop by to meet and greet. We'll talk and brainstorm and hopefully come up with some innovative ways to use blogging to forward the progressive agenda.

The conference will be live blogged by some great bloggers tomorrow HERE at Political Cortex, so check it out!

As hard as it is to create a buzz about an event on Thanksgiving week, I'm trying to do just that.

Myself and other enterprising bloggers in Massachusetts are putting together a blog conference on December 10th, 2005, the first of its kind here in our state. All those interested in blogging and its future in MA are invited to attend this forum in Worcester, where we will meet from 10:30 until 4pm. It is my hope that this is the first in a long line of get-togethers where we can strengthen our blogging community.

This happy story carries a risk since it is sometimes easy for misunderstanding online. We can't see each other's facial expressions. We don't know each other except from our online postings. So please accept tonight's happy story for what it is as just a brief tale of happiness from long ago.

With that out of the way, please join me on the jump for tonight's happy story.