Seven of the eight announced Democratic presidential candidates attended the YearlyKos 2007 Convention and participated in the 90 minute Candidate Forum Saturday afternoon. In spite of Hillary Clinton's scheduling problem, all seven of them also participated in a smaller session after (Clinton was forced to do her session before) the Forum. I think this is an unprecedented degree of access for bloggers and the Democratic wing of the Democratic party, as Howard Dean once called it.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson came into the room early, talked to folks and shook hands for a while. He stopped at our table -- I arrived at 10:30 to stake out a good seat -- and seemed very relaxed and comfortable in the crowd. None of the other candidates worked the room before the forum, and of course afterwards everyone headed to the breakout sessions.
Matt Bai of the New York Times (??) and McJoan of DailyKos moderated and Jeffrey Feldman of Frameshop was in the audience, looking for questions. Former Senator Mike Gravel, Senator Chris Dodd, Governor Bill Richardson, former Senator John Edwards, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama and Representative Dennis Kucinich were seated two by two on the stage, not hiding behind podiums as they have been at the other debates this year. Audience reaction was not discouraged and some of the questions were those submitted by bloggers. All in all, I thought it was a fiestier encounter than we have yet seen, with candidates reacting to the audience and mixing it up with each other a little. No doubt about it, the applause and etc. did take away from candidate time, but I think the instant feedback was good for our candidates.
Please forgive if this is short and choppy. I'm in O'Hare waiting for boarding and trying to get a last bit of blogging in. They announced this morning that this was the second and last YearlyKos Convention. Next year and in future, the convention will be called Netroots Nation. It's bigger than the DailyKos community and the name needs to reflect that.
There's no question that the convention is much bigger than just the DailyKos community. There are left wing state blogs in at least 44 states now, including Alabama. The people who were here came, at their own expense, on their own time, to interact with other people, all of whom are trying to find a way to make our country better. And our states better. These are ordinary people, not young kids and crazies. Look at the pictures below. You could know these people. They are doctors, lawyers, homemakers, teachers, nurses, students, business owners and virtually every other occupation you can name. They are all races. They are rich and poor (the poor got some help in coming to Chicago). The people at YearlyKos 2007 are America.
As Matt Stoller said this morning, "We need to keep blogging, keep growing, keep making alliances and we will get the country we want." And honestly, after the last 5 days, I believe that we really can get the country we want, but it won't be easy. We'll have to work like hell for it. But anything worth having is worth working for.
After the Presidential Candidate Forum and the Candidate Breakout sessions on Saturday, the Teamsters invited everyone to a cookout on the terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.
These guys know how to throw a party – grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, slaw, pasta salad, chips and grilled veggie wraps for us who don’t eat meat.
Also free drinks, limit 2 per person. They had music on the loudspeakers, a couple of trucks (you could pose for pictures with them, naturally) and presidential candidates Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel attended and each spoke for about 10 minutes.
We don’t all agree with labor or the Teamsters on everything – the guy behind me in the food line thought their record on the environment left a lot to be desired – but do you have any friends who agree with you all the time? Building coalitions is an essential part of the political process. If we are going to build a real progressive movement in this country, we have to look for common ground with our allies and agree to push an agenda that helps all of us, even if we disagree in other areas. Do you really think the religious right and big business agree on everything? Not on your life, but the leaders of those groups found some common ground and built a political coalition that has reshaped the judiciary of this country, deregulated corporations and cut taxes to the bone for the wealthiest Americans.
If the new, people powered Democratic party is going to achieve the durable, sustainable majority needed to accomplish real progressive reform, it will be through a coalition that includes labor, small business, the religious left, civil libertarians, environmental and humanitarian interests, as well as the netroots. The common ground is ample – the need for working people (including those who own small businesses) to make a decent living, an opportunity for the next generation to have as good a life as this one including the Constitutional “blessings of liberty”, and the imperative to move toward living in harmony with the planet instead of destroying it in search of ever more consumer crap imported from whatever third world country has the cheapest labor this year.
After the Friday sessions, there was a Netroots Candidate Celebration in the Vista Ballroom overlooking Lake Michigan. It was hosted by Vshift and intended to thank those who have stepped up, quit talking about it and committed to actually run for office.
The room was packed, even with a cash bar and no food. The candidates brought buttons, stickers, signs -- Scott Kleeb of Nebraska even brought tree seedlings for attendees to take home and plant.
As things were winding down, Kos showed up. The guy we were chatting with waved him over and he was gracious enough to pose for a picture with us -- not my best, but what the heck! The neat thing is, Markos asked where we were from and as soon as we said Alabama, he said "Alabama. Oh, Ron Sparks! What happened to Sparks?" And we chatted for a few minutes about the political situation in Alabama, and the potential for getting Sparks back in the race. No question, the netroots would be all over a populist Democrat from a Southern state. And, having heard the netroots candidates speak last night -- all very impressive -- I can assure you that Sparks is as good or better than anybody on that stage last night.
Where is that damned Draft Ron Sparks movement? Can we get him back in the race? More important, do we have any right to complain about Sessions for the next 6 years if we don't try to convince Sparks to get in the race, primary or not?
Friday started out with a keynote address by Gen. Wes Clark. He was introduced by Joh Soltz of VoteVets. Clark didn't anounce his candidacy for president, but he did say that Americans are just treading water, struggling to survive in th greatest country in America. He talked about foreign policy and the new NIE which says Al Quaeda is stronger than ever before, then said,
"We need to be using this moment of America's preeminence to reshape the international institutions that provide the framework for the global economy and addressing the problems of mankind that are too big for any one nation. Poverty, health, disease, global warming the prevention of war, the protection of human rights. Those are beyond the range of any single nation, no matter how .. we need the help from international law and institutions. We need to work those issues. And we need to rebuild America so we can compete more effectively in this global economy. Health care,education, infrastructure, the environment, new technology, a better business environment, new relations with labor. We can't do that until we find a way our of Iraq. We've got to get out of there!
Here's where I need your help. We've got to get out of there the right way. Because, unlike when we left Vietnam, when we leave Iraq, we'll still be left with a whole passel of interests there.
[snip]
Those interests won't go away simply by pulling US troops out, So we not only have to come out, we have to come out the right way. From the President's perspective, Iraq is just war. And he's real happy General Petreus is over there because General Petreus is a general and George Bush always listens to generals..When he gets tired of listening to them,he replaces them."
Of course, he brought the house down with that. Clark advocates leaving Iraq, but with a strong caution against simply pulling up stakes and getting out the quickest way possible. What's interesting is that most folks attending this convention have no problem with that, even though the sentiment is strong to get out of Iraq. The folks at YearlyKos aren't a bunch of idealistic kids. The average age must be close to 40 and these people are firmly planted in reality. Clark was making good sense and his views were welcomed and respected.
I attempted some photos, but none were usable. What can I say? It was early.
They couldn't find a ballroom in Chicago big enough for the YearlyKos crowd gathered to hear DNC Chairman Howard Dean's openng keynote last night. The (huge) room was packed and many -- like several hundred -- had to stand.
Howard Dean had a request for all of us: "Please call your representative today and ask them to get the voting machine bill passed now. The bill is stalled. We need secure voting for the 2008 election, 2010 is too late." The bill in question is H811. Here is an editorial on the subject from a Mississippi paper.
If the next presidential election were held today, one quarter of all registered voters would be forced to vote on paperless voting machines. These machines, known as DREs (for direct record electronic), record votes directly to computer memory and provide no other way to verify or retrieve that information.
[snip]
A federal bill, the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2007 (HR 811), would correct the problem in time for the 2008 presidential election. It calls for voter verified paper ballots and mandatory audits of voting machines.
So, please call your Congressmen today and urge them to act on HR811 now.
Jo Bonner (R, AL-01) Washington office (202) 225-4931
Terry Everett (R, AL-02) Washington office (202) 225-2901
Mike Rogers (R, AL-03) Washington office (202) 225-3261
Bud Cramer (D, AL-05) Washington office (202) 225-4801
Spencer Bachus (R, AL-06) Washington office (202) 225-4921
Artur Davis (D, AL-07) Washington office (202) 225-2665
So, please call or email them today and ask them to vote yes on HR 811 to restore confidence in our voting systems and the integrity of American elections.
Some quotes from Gov. Dean's speech last night:
"We believe there is something more important than our party -- that is our country."
"We can do better than this and we will do better than this."
"Democracy is a value of the Democratic party."
"Look who they (Republican party) have running for president. Doesn't that look like something out of the 1950's?"
Dean got a great response from the YearlyKos crowd, including several standing ovations. Senator Dick Durbin (D, IL) also addressed the crowd, although Senate business kept him in Washington. He looked great on the big screens.
The lowpoint of the evening was the announcement that Senator Hillary Clinton would not be attending her candidate breakout session following the Presidential Forum on Saturday. The crowd was very disappointed. Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, Obama and Richardson will meet with their supporters in person after the forum, as planned.
We made it to Chicago! The weather was great for flying. American still makes you take your shoes off and get them x-rayed, but they seem to have dropped the 20 questions game about whether you packed your own bag and was it out of your custody, even for a moment. No food for travelers either, of course.
What I've learned so far:
The CTA doesn't make loudspeaker announcements as you're approaching a station, so you need to watch the signs. The price is a very reasonable $2 to get from O'Hare to downtown vs. $19 per person for a cab.
You can get a cab in Chicago by standing on the curb with your hand in the air -- at home you pretty much need to call the taxi company and have them send one to you.
The conference hotel is very nice. Internet service costs extra. Per day. Digging into the rainy day fund right now.
We have to find cheaper food. The trip from the airport took about 90 minutes and breakfast was really wearing thin by the time we got checked in. So we went down to the little sandwich shop by the lobby. Two sandwiches, two bags of chips and two soft drinks cost $38. The sandwiches were good, but not that good.
Markos of DailyKos looks good in person, but isn't as tall as I expected. Where do expectations like that even come from? He walked by while we were eating -- I resisted the impulse to do the Paparazzi thing.
Tomorrow morning the convention kicks off with speeches from Senator Dick Durbin, Gov. Howard Dean and Gen. Wesley Clark and in the afternoon we will be doing the Overall State Blogs Caucus followed by the Regional Blog Caucuses. I'll be participating in the Southern Blogs Caucus, as you might expect, and will keep you posted.
Fox News gave Kristol the airtime to say Democratic Presidential candidates have "gone left" because they will be attending the candidate forum at the YearlyKos convention in a couple of weeks. These are Democrats. What are they supposed to do, Bill, go right? You wish. In case you lost track of time, the "new" DLC was founded in 1985, so it's 22 years old. Not so new anymore and not representing the direction of modern Democrats these days, either. Triangulation, unregulated free trading and parsing of words are so nineties.
Another fact Kristol missed is that DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas is not involved with YearlyKos -- the organizers use "Kos" with his permission, and he'll probably be there, but it isn't his gathering, by any means.
Democratic candidates John Edwards, Chris Dodd, Barak Obama, Mike Gravel, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton have confirmed attendance at the YearlyKos Forum. Organizers are inviting regular folks like you and me to submit questions for them. Have at it!
Did you catch the bit in Juan Williams' response about "November is the new September?" Classic bait and switch, run out the clock strategy from the Bushies. Will the public let them get away with it?
It's in Chicago, August 2 - 5, and looks like a very good convention this year. Howard Dean, Wes Clark and Dick Durbin will be there and they have commitments from John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd for the candidate forum. On a more nuts and bolts level, there will be workshops and forums on better ways to do the things we are all trying to do. I know they are trying to organize a Southern Regional Caucus. It would be nice to meet some of the other bloggers from around here. You can leave word in the comments or email me if you're going to be there.
Last day to register is July 14th which is just one month away. Get more details at the YearlyKos website.
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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson came into the room early, talked to folks and shook hands for a while. He stopped at our table -- I arrived at 10:30 to stake out a good seat -- and seemed very relaxed and comfortable in the crowd. None of the other candidates worked the room before the forum, and of course afterwards everyone headed to the breakout sessions. 
Also free drinks, limit 2 per person. They had music on the loudspeakers, a couple of trucks (you could pose for pictures with them, naturally) and presidential candidates Bill Richardson and Mike Gravel attended and each spoke for about 10 minutes. 
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel. 
After the Friday sessions, there was a Netroots Candidate Celebration in the Vista Ballroom overlooking Lake Michigan. It was hosted by Vshift and intended to thank those who have stepped up, quit talking about it and committed to actually run for office. 
Some quotes from Gov. Dean's speech last night:
