First, in case you haven’t heard, the annual conference of liberal and progressive bloggers is coming closer to our doors next year. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will host Netroots Nation on August 12-16, 2009. That is close enough for a lot of us to drive to. In fact, I would like to have the dean of the Delaware Blogosphere, Mr. Tom Noyes, attend and be on a panel about alternative energy policy. I will be contacting him.
Second, as for Netroots Nation 2008, what can I say, it was fun. I got to ask Al Gore a question that made national news everywhere. Unfortunately they did not use my name. I am just referred to as a “questioner.” I asked him if he would accept a role in the Obama Administration, he said he was flattered that so many have expressed an interest in having him join President Obama’s cabinet, or even serve as Vice President again, but he demurred and said that he’d rather “focus on trying to enlarge the political space in which political officials address this climate crisis.” He views himself as a global motivator of both citizens and governments, rather than having any government-specific responsibility.
I also got to meet and speak with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Air America’s Sam Seder, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (who laughed at the photo comparison I did of him and Charlie Copeland recently), new Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards, congressional candidates Charlie Brown (CA) and Darcy Burner (WA), Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Bob Barr, Senate canidate Rick Noreiga (TX), Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. And those are only the folks I can soberly remember. Who knows who I was speaking to at the many parties held at various locations in Austin’s bar district.
Third, the reason I attended this conference, and why I think it important to discuss it here at Delaware Liberal, is that we can both impart what has been successful in Delaware during our attempts to achieve progressive goals, and we can learn from the success or failure of others. Notably, as I have reported before, Delaware’s progressives were cheered in our recent success on offshore energy. And during my specific panel on “Crashing the Party,” it was agreed that having progressive support groups and organizations like Progressive Democrats for Delaware is indeed necessary if you are looking to have progressives infiltrate and change the Democratic Party for the better, if only for conmiseration purposes when we suffer a setback.
So next year, I hope I am no longer the sole representative of both Delaware’s progressives and Delaware’s progressive blogosphere. And hopefully, having it in Pittsburgh will allow for many of you to come.