Now, the next installment in Extreme Mortman’s regular feature: a peek inside the blog-reading habits of our nation’s top reporters and media celebrities. And what a treat we have in store for you this time. Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation’s top political reporters, and lauded by legendary columnist/author Jules Witcover as “one of the best of the political reporters who have succeeded my own generation,” Dick Polman analyzes national politics for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has covered the last four presidential campaigns, and recently joined our blogging ranks by launching the immediately must-read political blog, Dick Polman’s American Debate.

And now, Dick Polman — here’s what he tells Extreme Mortman he reads:

I have become a blog devotee. I don’t believe that they should replace some of the habits that are so two years ago - things like actually talking to real human beings - but they are often great tip sheets for measuring mood and ‘tude in the political world. I work with some friends who scoff at blogs and say “nobody is reading them, nobody is reading you,” but I keep insisting that they are behind the times. Yes there are many thousands of political blogs, and most of them are probably rant-infested, but I suspect we’re in an era not totally unlike the early 20th century with the autombile. There were scads of car companies, but over time most died off as consumers gravitated toward the credible ones. Anyway, I get story ideas from the credible blogs of today; I also get links to stories I would not have known about.

Partisan blogs are great just so you can find out what those partisans are thinking about.

My top five liberal ones are:

1. Talking Points Memo –Josh Marshall is a professional guy with interesting hobby horses. And his spinoff, tpmcafe.com, is a good bulletin board.
2. David Corn — I think David is one of the most thorough liberal reporters, and I suspect he wears that label proudly. When he takes positions, but grounds them in fact-based research.
3. Eric Alterman — One of the smartest flamers around. That’s a compliment. He’s especially good on why the “liberal media” label is a canard. He also branches out, and writes cool music reviews. I get CD ideas from him sometimes.
4. Tapped — A passel of liberal analysts contribute to the American Prospect blog, on a wide range of subjects.
5. Kevin Drum — He’s willing to get more policy-wonky than the average smart blogger. He’s also willing to buck liberal orthodoxy and act the contrarian.

My top centrist blogs:

1. Ed Kilgore — He’s a Democrat, but, hailing from the Democratic Leadership Council and a southern upbringing, he’s often quite good on religion issues, values issues, and the importance of Democrats connecting below the Mason Dixon line.
2. Marshall Wittmann — He’s been a Christian Coalition lobbyist, Bush 41 underling, McCain press aide, and now he’s with the aforementioned DLC. So he’s the scourge of the liberal bloggers, but always an independent thinker.
3. Andrew Sullivan — You never know whether he’s going to go left, right, or both at the same time. But wherever he ends up, he’s impassioned about it.

My top five conservative blogs:

1. Red State — A slew of right-leaning flamers regularly contribute here, although too many insist on being anonymous. A good tip sheet on what the right is thinking about on any given day. Or hour.
2. The Corner — This is like eavesdropping on the crisscossing emails of all the intellects, large and small, that Bill Buckley has spawned. Great for mood-testing. This was the first place where I saw the growing fury over the Harriet Miers nomination.
3. Power Line — If what you need is a defense of George W. Bush, no matter what he has done and no matter what bad things even Republicans are saying about him, the three lawyers on this site are happy to oblige.
4. Hugh Hewitt — This law professor and radio host is good for a number of reasons: He
   sometimes posts stuff five or six times a day, he often does his own original interviewing, he links to posts all over the credible conservative blogosphere, and he can be relied upon to always explain away anything that hints at trouble in the GOP camp.
5. Real Clear Politics — This blog features a lot of good conservative posters, led by Tom Bevan. It tries to be newsy over the course of a day, so you get developments mixed with the commentating.

And lastly, on the mainstream media clearinghouses:
Does one favor First Read or The Note? It’s a bit like the Hydrox versus Oreos debate of my youth, but I come down narrowly on the side of First Read, even though it’s The Note that occasionally links my stuff. For me, it’s a tone issue. First Read is more straightforward. The Note, for my tastes, smacks too much of Beltway smugosity. But that’s just me, because I don’t live inside the Beltway, or work there either.