LIVE from Las Vegas: Primaries matter!
Good morning from Fabulous™ Las Vegas, Nevada!
The fifth annual Netroots Nation Convention is just kicking off here at the Rio All-Suites Hotel, where thousands of activists have gathered to talk about — and work on — strengthening the progressive movement.
My first panel for today is Primaries Matter, which features Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, DFA's Arshad Hasan, PCCC's Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, Adam Green, A.J. Carrillo (the campaign manager for Elaine Marshall, the Democratic Senate nominee in North Carolina) and Ilyse Hogue of MoveOn.
I'm not sure if this will be the case with all the panels, but in the room I'm in (Brasilia 6), the panel is not actually behind a table. Instead, they're in easy chairs behind a coffee table, living-room style.
It's a friendly and inviting setup.
The basic premise of the panel is that we can't achieve our objective of more and better Democrats without challenging entrenched incumbents in primaries.
"Primaries are a core part of our identity," said Arshad Hasan, in his introductory remarks. "We want to build a better party," he stressed.
"General elections are set up to be a race to the bottom... a contest of the lesser of two evils," Ilyse Hogue suggested in her opening. "Primaries allow us to tell a story separately from the Democratic Party."
Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter drew applause when it was his turn to speak. He thanked the room for the netroots community's support, and reviewed some of the highlights of his campaign, which, although it was unsuccessful, made the corrupt Blanche Lincoln more accountable.
Gesturing to the panelists next to him (Ilyse and Arshan), Halter reflected, "It is really amazing what these folks and the organizations they represent... were able to accomplish in an incredibly short time in political terms."
"Literally, a primary campaign was put together from the day of the announcement to the day of the vote in just eleven weeks."
"Over 11,000 individuals made a contribution to the campaign," he added.
Arshan posed only question of his own to the panel before opening up the floor to audience questions. One attendee asked Halter to talk more about why his campaign couldn't seal the deal with Arkansas voters, and whether there was anything the netroots should do differently next time. Halter replied that as far as he was concerned, the community did the best it could, and he didn't think any one specific thing (like Bill Clinton stumping for Blanche Lincoln) was responsible for his loss. He expressed remorse for not having started earlier, however.
Another question was about the "Top Two" primary system (which Washington has). The panelists agreed that the "Top Two" system disenfranchises Democratic voters and makes it easier for wealthy candidates and politicians with large personal followings to win, whilst hurting grassroots politics.
(That is precisely NPI's position; I have authored several posts here on The Advocate arguing that "Top Two" is bad for grassroots democracy).
Another question I really liked concerned how we deal with the narrative coming out of the 2010 midterms. Conservative Democrats in right wing districts are most likely to lose their seats to Republicans, and of course if that happens, the media is going to frame the election as a defeat for the Democratic Party.
The panel agreed that what progressives need to do is work to elect our champions (like Elaine Marshall), who are electable, so that we can point to such successes as evidence that voters are looking for progressive change.
The panel ended with a short discussion about the policy directions that progressives should run on, sparked by a question from the audience. Specific policy directions that were discussed included Medicare for All (or, a public option) and holding big banks accountable through a second financial reform bill.
The fifth annual Netroots Nation Convention is just kicking off here at the Rio All-Suites Hotel, where thousands of activists have gathered to talk about — and work on — strengthening the progressive movement.
My first panel for today is Primaries Matter, which features Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos, DFA's Arshad Hasan, PCCC's Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter, Adam Green, A.J. Carrillo (the campaign manager for Elaine Marshall, the Democratic Senate nominee in North Carolina) and Ilyse Hogue of MoveOn.
I'm not sure if this will be the case with all the panels, but in the room I'm in (Brasilia 6), the panel is not actually behind a table. Instead, they're in easy chairs behind a coffee table, living-room style.
It's a friendly and inviting setup.
The basic premise of the panel is that we can't achieve our objective of more and better Democrats without challenging entrenched incumbents in primaries.
"Primaries are a core part of our identity," said Arshad Hasan, in his introductory remarks. "We want to build a better party," he stressed.
"General elections are set up to be a race to the bottom... a contest of the lesser of two evils," Ilyse Hogue suggested in her opening. "Primaries allow us to tell a story separately from the Democratic Party."
Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter drew applause when it was his turn to speak. He thanked the room for the netroots community's support, and reviewed some of the highlights of his campaign, which, although it was unsuccessful, made the corrupt Blanche Lincoln more accountable.
Gesturing to the panelists next to him (Ilyse and Arshan), Halter reflected, "It is really amazing what these folks and the organizations they represent... were able to accomplish in an incredibly short time in political terms."
"Literally, a primary campaign was put together from the day of the announcement to the day of the vote in just eleven weeks."
"Over 11,000 individuals made a contribution to the campaign," he added.
Arshan posed only question of his own to the panel before opening up the floor to audience questions. One attendee asked Halter to talk more about why his campaign couldn't seal the deal with Arkansas voters, and whether there was anything the netroots should do differently next time. Halter replied that as far as he was concerned, the community did the best it could, and he didn't think any one specific thing (like Bill Clinton stumping for Blanche Lincoln) was responsible for his loss. He expressed remorse for not having started earlier, however.
Another question was about the "Top Two" primary system (which Washington has). The panelists agreed that the "Top Two" system disenfranchises Democratic voters and makes it easier for wealthy candidates and politicians with large personal followings to win, whilst hurting grassroots politics.
(That is precisely NPI's position; I have authored several posts here on The Advocate arguing that "Top Two" is bad for grassroots democracy).
Another question I really liked concerned how we deal with the narrative coming out of the 2010 midterms. Conservative Democrats in right wing districts are most likely to lose their seats to Republicans, and of course if that happens, the media is going to frame the election as a defeat for the Democratic Party.
The panel agreed that what progressives need to do is work to elect our champions (like Elaine Marshall), who are electable, so that we can point to such successes as evidence that voters are looking for progressive change.
The panel ended with a short discussion about the policy directions that progressives should run on, sparked by a question from the audience. Specific policy directions that were discussed included Medicare for All (or, a public option) and holding big banks accountable through a second financial reform bill.
# Posted by Andrew : 10:10 AM
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