NEWPORT — If it's true, as Jesse Jackson once said, that deliberation and debate is the best way you stir the soul of our democracy, then Eileen Spillane is doing more than her fair share of stirring.

Sitting and stirring over coffee this past week, Mrs. Spillane is candid, engaging and passionate. The moderator and founder of Rhode Island's Twelfth, a local weblog (or "blog" for short), she's one of a handful of Aquidneck Islanders that make up the area's so-called blogosphere.

A self-described "mediocre writer," Mrs. Spillane provides commentary and research on a wide range of topics. "I have many interests and a lot of life experience," she said.

From school contract negotiations to mental health news and lighthearted odds and ends, Rhode Island's Twelfth is a go-to guide for Newport newshounds, politicos and partisans.

'Not the same as a reporter'

"It's the age of the blog!" Mrs. Spillane declared upon launching Rhode Island's Twelfth on Wednesday, March 15, 2006.

More than 200 entries later, Mrs. Spillane, 59, sees her role as one of facilitator. While she believes in the importance of blogs in political discourse, she said her goal is not to report the news, or supplant objectivity with overt partisanship.

"I'm not the same as a reporter," she added. "Discussion is good; debate is good ... Getting people involved in politics is the goal."

A two-time challenger to Sen. June Gibbs (R-Newport, Middletown, Little Compton) and a member of the Middletown Economic Advisory Committee, Mrs. Spillane is unavoidably political. "I started it as a political thing," she said. "But it has grown."

"Actually, I blame it on Guilleme de Ramel," she continued, referring to the Newport native and one-time secretary of state candidate. "I sat down one day when I had an extra hour. Three days later, I had the bare bones of the site," she said.

However, Mrs. Spillane's blog is not entirely political.

"Once I did a cookbook review," she said "Music, politics, anything that strikes my fancy. It's my blog," she explained. "The other day I put the headline up from a British newspaper. I'm getting hits from the UK."

She is also getting recognized at home.

One of her more memorable encounters took place during an event she attended last year, when Mrs. Spillane was approached by an unlikely reader: Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.)

"He just came up to me and said, 'You're Eileen. You have a blog,'" she said. "He had read one of my posts on mental health and we began talking."

Speaks on any subject

Consider it freedom of the net. Mrs. Spillane's eclectic blog postings belie her eclectic life experiences. A teacher in the Middletown Public Schools for many years, it's no easy task to find an area of conversation to which she cannot speak.

"I taught everything: K through 12, librarian, social studies," she said. "But in between, I would do other things. I worked for Bethleham Steel. I was a waitress and a nanny."

She also has experience in real estate, working closely with her husband, Francis, a developer and contractor in Middletown.

Web statistics can be tough to gauge, but readership for Rhode Island's Twelfth ranges anywhere from 100 to several hundred individual visitors each day. A web meter on the bottom of the page — just up from quotes by Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt — shows 26,372 total visits.

Her must-reads include the Providence Journal's online edition — "there's just so much paper in the house," she said — the Huffington Post (a popular national blog) and other local blogs including RIFuture.org, and RIPolicy.org.

Mrs. Spillane, who got her first computer in 1986, marvels at how far technology has come and doesn't see an end to her blogging.

"I've gone through five or six systems. It just gets easier (and) more amazing," she said. "And it keeps me away from house work."

In addition to Mrs. Spillane, Rhode Island's Twelfth also features posts from Newporters Sandra J. Flowers and Thomas Kalinowski. To make Rhode Island's Twelfth one of your bookmarks, visit RI12.blogspot.com.

by Tom Shevlin

news@newportthisweek.net