AOL launches elections blog

AOL LLC's news site has launched a free-wheeling blog focused on giving readers a variety of news and commentary about key races in the U.S. general elections next month.

The Stump features about 20 bloggers with a range of political perspectives. AOL News plans to recruit more bloggers before the Nov. 7 elections, then continue the blog with a general political emphasis, said Kathleen Hayden, a senior producer for AOL News.

The Stump, which officially launched Tuesday, recruited bloggers based in states with closely watched races this year. The goal is to give readers a "mix of the buzz news stories" making headlines in the state races and to bring those stories to a national audience, Hayden said.

With bloggers from a wide range of political views, the Stump has already sparked some spirited debate about several topics, including the resignation of U.S. Representative Mark Foley, a Florida Republican, for sending sexually explicit e-mail messages and instant messages to underage congressional pages.

The result is a mix of blog posts that's hard to pigeonhole, Hayden said. One recent comment on a post accused the blogger of using a "typical Democratic response," but the blogger is Republican, she said. "It was a concerted attempt taken when we were recruiting bloggers to find voices from all parts of the political spectrum," Hayden said.

Recent blog posts include a criticism of Minnesota Republican candidate Michele Bachmann suggesting God is on her side, and another post suggesting Democrats had orchestrated the release of information about Foley's contact with pages in order to swing the elections against Republicans.

It's too early to say what size audience the Stump will find, but AOL officials hope a good portion of the 24 million unique visitors at AOL News each month will check it out.