Mike Rogers, Blog Activist

How did a veteran activist who once worked for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force become, according to The Washington Post, “the most feared man” on Capitol Hill? Just ask Larry Craig. Mike Rogers outed the Idaho senator on his Web site, BlogActive.com, nearly a year before news came of his arrest in an airport sex sting. Craig wasn’t the first politician -- or political aide -- that Rogers has exposed, and he certainly won’t be the last: The Craig case has generated more than 500 tips for him.

Do you believe you’re solely responsible for Senator Craig’s demise?
If I can take credit for one thing, it’s that I put up a blog post in October 2006 that resulted in the biggest paper [in Idaho] assigning their most important political reporter to this story for five months. As a result, the night that Craig’s arrest became public, the Idaho Statesman had ready a 3,800-word article outlining Craig’s history of cruising men.

What has surprised you most about the coverage?
That so many times the press would credit me -- The Washington Post, CNN, Inside Edition, CBS news affiliates. It shows that people are learning how to filter what is legitimate journalism printed on a blog versus gossip or opinion.

Has your work changed at all since this story took off?
I’m no longer reporting on staffers. I attended this event where a lot of GOP staffers came up to me and said, “I love your work.” So I thought, How can I build a bridge personally? Why focus on staffers when presumably a lot more people are going to come to my site because I’m reporting only against politicians?

Why did you target staffers in the first place?
People think our elected officials hold the power in Washington, but the power is really held by the bureaucracy. These staffers have a lot of influence.

Some of your detractors charge that you are exposing the seedy underbelly of gay sex.
Americans are smart enough to tell the difference between someone who lives their life honestly and openly versus someone who makes unhealthy decisions by having public, inappropriate sexual encounters. We’ve taken about 20 steps forward with [the Craig] story and three steps back. I’m cool with it.