They like us, they really like us

We here at All Politics is Local aren’t ones to brag.

BUT, we found out today this little ol’ blog of ours has been named a finalist for a national 2011 EPPY Award by Editor & Publisher magazine.

All Politics is Local is one of five finalists for best news/political blog for a mid-sized newspaper. The winner will be announced Wednesday.

While it might seem like we’re slapping ourselves on the back for this one, we didn’t even know Columbian web editor Libby Tucker nominated the blog for an award.

Here’s how she described All Politics is Local:

The Columbian’s new local politics blog, All Politics is Local, launched this year and has quickly become a must-read for city and county insiders and politicos who want to stay on top of the inner workings of local government in Southwest Washington. Run by a team of four city and county reporters, the site has a unique voice that manages to make even the most mundane City Hall meetings more interesting. In fact, the blog’s slogan is “We don’t back down from boring.”

Much of the content is culled from the reporters’ daily beat reporting, haunting the halls of city government and combing through public records. But they also venture out of bounds of typical reporting to add humor and commentary. One classic example of this was one of their most popular posts, which compared Vancouver City Council members’ personalities to those of the muppets.

The blog has enriched the reporters’ source building among city and county employees and given Columbian.com a reputation for local political insight and relevancy. And they often receive insider tips and photos that provide rich fodder for political discussion.

With the description, Tucker included three samples of our work.

Obviously, the Muppets blog post was included.

She also included “Patriotic postings” — a compilation of local officials’ reactions to Osama Bin Laden’s death — and “Does 200 bucks buy you a tax break?” which listed Vancouver City Council campaign donations made by Vancouver developer Elie Kassab.

The meeting mavens would like to extend a big “Thank you” to our faithful readers for egging us on and sending us amusing photos of our elected officials.

We are honored and humbled to even been named a finalist.

No matter the outcome, rest assured we won’t back down from boring anytime soon.