Leonardo's Notebook is a popular liberal blog in South Carolina that is consistently ranked in the top 10 blogs of influence in that state. Leonardo's Notebook was the featured blog of the week in November 2007 as compiled by The State Newspaper in Columbia, SC. Leonardo's Notebook is consistently referenced by South Carolina news aggregator Political Net News and Blognet News.
The blog's content, from a center-left perspective, is concerned around state and national politics but also has emphases in religion, sexuality, and popular culture.
The author of the blog is Matthew Butler who writes pseudonymously as Mattheus Mei a homonymous latinization of his college alias. He caused controversy in late 2008 after leveling harsh criticism on much of South Carolina's ruling republican establishment. Another influential blog, amongst conservatives, the Palmetto Scoop, led the charge to expose the actual identity of the author.
In August 2008, the author joined with other progressive bloggers in South Carolina and became known as "the coalition of the willing" an ironic name based on the coalition of nations that were to follow the US into Iraq. Efforts were made to create an umbrella website for progressive bloggers in South Carolina. Two ideas emerged, an internet news magazine and a diary-styled site. Leonardo's Notebook joined with the author of Waldo Lydecker's Journal in creating L'Espere.com which is still in slow release and planning stage. Other members of the coalition went on to create the wildly successful Indigo Journal a diary based site similar to Daily Kos.