Great question Joe. And tricky..

Personally, I try (try I said) to keep politics out of my blog. Particularly "national level" politics and hotbed topics like the presidential elections, teh war, illegal immigration, abortion, etc.

Local politics is another thing though. I think a real estate blog is a good venue for exploring local politics, especially issues that affect real estate (zoning, growth, development, etc).

When I do that, I try to be "non-partisan" and present both sides.

I think a blog is the *perfect* venue for displaying your personality, and your opinions are a huge part of what makes you you. If it can be done tactfully (IE: don't say, "The Mayor is an ass!") then I say go for it.

It is of course, entirely possible that someone who disagrees with you could decide not to use you as a Realtor. Of course, teh opposite is true too!

Joe, great question, I have wondered often about this very thing.  I have stayed away from bringing politics and localisms into blogs, but after reading Jay's comment, I can see the value in presenting both sides and appearing to be the voice of reason.  They (consumers) could see you as the expert in your area or it could backfire, who knows in today's society.  I have also heard the quote, but don't remember who said it, that the only bad publicity is no publicity.  Good Luck, and I empathize with you on this.

I would do it without mentioning names. Saying something like we have an important election coming up in our city where one party would help the real estate industry and one would not. Please vote for the candidate that keeps your property taxes low, or please vote for the person who wishes not to incorporate, or change restrictions etc.....

Stick to discussing issues and posing questions, as opposed to stating opinions and challenging people, and you could add value by doing so.

Just remember that in our business we need to remain somewhat neutral.

I would say if you do blog about politics, you need to remain objective: just write the facts. Then, if you want, I think it would be okay to invite your readers to share their opinions and perhaps start a discussion that way, but even then I would not share my opinions, nor would I indicate through agreeing/disagreeing that I lean one way or the other on an issue.

Jay is right - you could lose some potential business.

Candice is right - we need to maintain neutrality.

Hope this helps.

Brian Wilson, Zolve.com

Hey Joe,

I was going to do the very same things for my local market. However I  was only going to state facts. I was going to leave my personal thoughts out and let my visitors and local residents express themselves.