Statehouse Blogs: Easy Come, Easy Go

iplogo-1.jpg Figuring out which statehouse blogs are worth reading is a bit like playing whack-a-mole. Blogs pop up, gain fans, and then disappear as soon as the writer loses interest, is told to stop by his/her employer, gets a new job that requires meaningful daylong concentration, is threatened with a libel suit, or all of the above.

The latest to blow away with the breeze is the right-of-center Illinois blogger known as IlliniPundit. After one year of semi-anonymous blogging, IlliniPundit hanged it up yesterday.

Here's why:

"Due to my personal involvement this year on behalf of a number of active candidates for office - none of whom know that I am IlliniPundit - my contributions to this site must cease. While my activities here have always been independent of any candidate or campaign, I'm certain that if I were to continue, even without their knowledge, at some point they would be held responsible for the personal opinions I've written here."

According to the farewell post, various Republican writers will take over the site. "And if these changes to this site create a void," IlliniPundit signs off, "please take the initiative to fill it."