For weeks, top-level editors at the Washington Post have been planning a new online feature to enhance the paper’s coverage of the 2008 presidential race. But they’d refused to call it a blog. Susan Glasser, the paper’s top national editor, said simply that it’s “not a blog.” And top-top editor Leonard Downie Jr. said that “blog” is “not the right word for it.”

Now readers get to make that call. “The Trail” is sitting atop washingtonpost.com, inviting all political junkies to plunge into the latest politics product from the Post. Here’s the description on the site: “Starting today, The Trail will serve as The Washington Post’s daily diary of the 2008 presidential campaign, offering reported insights and analysis from Washington and the campaign trail throughout the day.” A broad platform, The Trail will host the paper’s breaking news stories and will be the place where the paper will “revisit” its provocative enterprise stories. There’ll be columns, too.

Today’s items include a riff on the prez’s terrible poll numbers as well as a debate after-party scener. The items have voice and a chatty tone and cute little news pegs. A lot like a blog, in other words.