Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Live coverage of Netroots Nation begins today

Starting a little later today, the Northwest Progressive Institute team will be reporting to you live from Austin, Texas, where five of us are in town for the third annual Netroots Nation Convention, formerly known as YearlyKos.

This year's convention is bigger than ever, with a plethora of panels, one of which yours truly is part of. Key presenters include Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will respond to Q&A, Chairman Howard Dean, Congresswoman Donna Edwards, General Wesley Clark, Lawrence Lessig, Van Jones, and Harold Ford, who is slated to appear with Markos Moulitsas tomorrow for what promises to be a lively lunchtime debate.

Most of the events going on today are caucuses - meetings of smaller groups of people who share a common bond (geographical, readers of a particular blog, readers who share a common hobby, and so on).

The Washington State lunchtime caucus will be happening at the Moonshine Bar & Grill about a block away from the Convention Center at noon. If you're reading this from Austin, please remember to join us for lunch! And if you're reading from home in the Pacific Northwest or somewhere else, stay tuned to The Advocate for continuing coverage of the convention, in words, pictures, audio, and video.

UPDATE: There's an excellent article about Netroots Nation in the Dallas Morning News, filed by reporter Karen Brooks. An excerpt:
"I would say we’ve been taking those steps all along, but yes, there’s an emphasis on it right now because there’s the urgency of an election," said Gina Cooper, executive director of Netroots Nation, formerly known as YearlyKos — the convention named after the Daily Kos, the granddaddy of political blogs. "You will see a bigger emphasis on what are the practical things that we do – how do we hit the streets?"

The answer, attendees and organizers say, will include training in how to recruit volunteers, looking and sounding good on TV, getting media exposure, crafting campaign messages, running a successful voter-registration campaign, and precinct organizing.

The somewhat dated stereotype of anti-social, pajama-wearing bloggers has already fallen by the wayside when it comes to most attendees. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Howard Dean, Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, and former White House security adviser Richard Clarke are among the keynote speakers, illustrating the increasing importance of the blogosphere in politics.
It's a well-written article - great perspective on the convention.

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