WSJ DC Bureau Chief Jerry Seib sent the following note, obtained by FishbowlDC, to reporters today:

To the bureau:

I wanted to alert you all to an exciting expansion in the political analysis we've been bringing readers on WSJ.com in this amazing political year.

Starting Monday, we'll be launching a new and free-standing Political Perceptions site designed to bring a range of fresh and timely political analysis to our readers. This blog, which will have its own page within WSJ.com, and soon its own Web address outside WSJ.com, will have two main components. The first is the daily collection of political analysis Sara and I have been compiling every morning, which we have been calling Political Perceptions. This feature has attracted high readership and will continue in its current form, but now will be published on this new page rather than within Washwire.com. (Washwire.com will continue as it is, carrying out its different mission as a terrific 24/7 running blog of political news and insights from Sue Davis and many of you.)

The second element of Political Perceptions will be a guest column written every day exclusively for WSJ.com. To accomplish this, we have gathered a collection of online analysts from outside the Journal, each with a particular and different area of expertise and emphasis, which we think will provide an interesting range of insights as the year unfolds. The site will have a different contributor each day:

MONDAYS: PETER BROWN, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. Peter specializes in polling electoral battleground states, particularly Ohio and Florida.

TUESDAYS: My column.

WEDNESDAYS: STEVEN WALDMAN, president and editor-in-chief of Beliefnet.com, and previously national editor of U.S. News & World Report. Steve is a nationally recognized expert on religion, spirituality and the politics surrounding social issues.

THURSDAYS: KATHERINE RIZZO is Inside Congress editor of Congressional Quarterly, supervising coverage of congressional leaders; she's also a former writer for the Associated Press. She will follow the dynamic of the race for Congress.

FRIDAYS: RHODES COOK is a veteran Washington political analyst and writer who publishes a bimonthly political newsletter. Rhodes is a well-known and well-respected expert in voting trends in presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections.

The Political Perceptions page also will have links to some other analytical material, including polls and a blog on American politics maintained by our friends at the Times of London, which offers an interesting view of American politics and its effect on the world from across the Atlantic. We'll also link to Washwire.com, and vice versa.

Political Perceptions will be outside the subscription wall, meaning it will be free to all comers, and will be flagged on the home page of WSJ.com and eventually will be reachable directly from Web, as is Washwire.com. Mary Lu will be the editor for these outside columnists, and will help with the overall production of the page. Sara Murray has been deeply involved in helping shape it in the last few weeks. We're all excited about it, and hope you will have a look.
Jerry