The diaries section seems to have evolved into a solid forum much like the original RedState started out. But I don’t know if anyone else noticed but the front page has lost it’s edge. There are still occasional good articles by the front page authors but everything from the morning briefing to the headlines tends to get stale. Some days there is nothing new  in the morning briefing, assuming there is a briefing for the current day at all.

After Drudge, my first stop was always Red State. I could count on finding sharp pertinent articles on the latest topics. Drudge might break a story, but it wouldn’t be long before one or more of the front page writers would have analysis posted.  This check Drudge, check Red State, research loop was successful during months of non-events leaving me with an important question: Why now that we are in the midst of the most critical and exiting election since 1980 why do I never find a reason to stay on Red State any more? Instead of finding a plethora of great insight, I find what looks to me like an empty page with a few stale articles scattered around.

Of course, I am still in the habit of looking at the front page and then moving on to my second or third choices. In the past I  could go weeks never needing to look at TownHall or other sites for commentary or analysis. When I find that the writers at TH are more current I worry. Maybe I need to change my viewing habit. I used to enjoy chasing interesting diaries by following the comment streams. I have learned there is  no value in that. And like a lot of other people here I don’t write for a living, so there are times when I can’t respond the way I would like to my comments. Now I haven’t figured out how to re-engage a reader who commented on my post if it is more than a few hours old.  Something I could always do before. While I can’t always monitor and comment while at work I always tried to be responsible and follow up when I could. Very disappointing.

And recently we had a spill on “Aisle 3″ as was the phrase I remember from the old days. The diaries were being spammed.

So, I am asking this question. What happened and when will the front page be restored to it’s former greatness.