Netroots Nation...President's day at the Yearly Kos and the Wrapup.....

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I have seen the future of rock and roll and it is John Edwards!!
Yesterday at the Yearly Kos was confirmation for me that John Edwards is the one.
After a day of writing, and wringing and running round, I was able to get a great seat with Jill at the Presidential Leadership Forum, which was really more of a debate, and also just a stomping, energetic, loud, good time, with alot of the usual sound bytes and, for me, a great window into the unspoken body language, posturing, and those on their feet reactions than we normally see. This crowd was challenging in a way that these candidates are not especially used to, and it was clear who was easily able to embrace it and find it fun , and who was bristling ...not to mention that Mike Stark was sitting in front holding a sign that said "Hillary Stop Lying." (Check this guy out...hes awesome)

John Edwards speaks with the conviction of someone who is really devoted to changing things for the better and who has been through the mill of having his message shaped enough to get to a point where he has nothing to say except what is real to him...nothing else works ultimately. He loves a challenging audience and intelligent questions, and he is an active and thoughtful problem solver. It was so clear how energized he was by what we do and how the netroots have changed the playing field. And he is ready to change things, even if it means painful transitions and walking through the fire.
I came away from the forum feeling like he was really on fire, and I came away from the breakout session as a true believer. Hopefully I will be able to get a little video and audio up here.
I have to say that I went into this liking him (and Obama and Richardson as well) and came out completely sold that he is the future. I feel strongly that even if Hillary is the nominee and if she gets my vote, I will likely work for Edward's One America movement rather than put my energy into whatever she is doing...the rest Im not sure of...The ticket matters, the atmosphere in the country and the world matters....we'll see. But as of today, I remain an Edwards girl and I think that he needs to raise more funds because if more people saw him and what he's saying, he would be IT. Why the press is freezing him out is anyone's guess. I don't want to sound conspiratorial here so I'm not gonna say anything. In the coming weeks I want to talk more about Edwards specific plans and his ideas of how we can get back to the moral center of what America was supposed to be striving for.

The former First Lady and current Jr. Senator was in fine form in her turquoise pantsuit/jewelry combo and carefully measured answers.
Hillary was not prepared for this crowd and for the taxing and exacting reactions she would get. Simply put, she couldn't pander to us as if we were Wal-mart shoppers, and the reflected glow of Bill had long ago worn thin on this hawk. Hillary's carefully delivered sound bytes, came off as watered down Republican hackery. Really, I was surprised at how uncommunicative she was. How does she expect to get elected if there are things that she cant really go into and acts like she doesn't even have to explain it?
When pressed about pledging to not take special interest lobbyist money, Hillary made it clear that she wants to represent ALL of the people, including lobbyists, who are Americans too after all, and corporations, which are made up of Americans...right?
As John Edwards talked about the need to reform the system he urged Clinton to pledge...and her answer? "Well, John certainly has been taking that position."
That's it. And that's who she is. She believes that we should trust her record enough to believe that SHE couldn't possibly be swayed by lobby money. I just want to know why I should trust anyone who wont lay things out and acts like she is so above it all.
She said that she won't visit all the states but has that same "strategy" that Howard Dean talks about...But she does intend to visit all the red parts of the blue states. Its all a part of the strategy, you see.... she then went on to explain how she figured out where to go in NY State for the most bang...interesting, calculating...I know it happens all the time, but I don't need Hillary to go on about how clever she was in inserting herself into NY State politics when she decided that NY was the state she wanted. I don't think she is a bad senator, but I find her disingenuous and self congratulatory. She also seems to assume that its her and Howard all the way. I think that she takes alot for granted.

On the international front, Hillary believes that its not that the world hates Americans, but that its just Bush that they hate...huh? Doesn't what Bush orchestrates around the world reflect on us? Aren't we represented by our leaders? Aren't we sending them to do our work?
This disconnect is the red flag for me that Hillary doesn't really get what is coming down. We expect our politicians to tell us the truth, not be secretive. We also expect them to fucking represent us. We have had 6+ years of a president who condescends and acts like the things that he knows are too, too, secret for us to possibly understand. I don't like Hill's attitude about it. It of course there are classified issues, but its the attitude here that sits wrong...just quietly go about your business...don't use that tone with me!

Hillary also wanted to assure us that we are SAFER since 9-11 as far as our first responders system goes.....Well, Hillary, I'm here to tell you that I live a couple of towns over from you, and if anything happens...nuclear power plant accident, disease, chemical spill, hurricane, windstorm...we are screwed. Most houses in our area burn to the ground because we have a first responder network that is undermanned and with archaic equipment. But, we are in small towns...how about looking at New York City? Well, the system is far from safe or fixed, with communications that are still limited at best, and a billionaire mayor who is as concerned as Giuliani was with how how things look and smoothing over the deficits, leaving us all in danger in this most dangerous time that Herr Bush has created for us. In short, the radios still don't fully work!!

There is a small rumbling in the blogosphere to stop Hillary, because she would obviously be the GOP choice and she stands in the way of a real candidate getting out there. It feels pretty negative to me to turn on our own, but I have to say that there is something about Hillary that is not quite right and all there. I am uneasy with her and she sounds more and more Republican. She definitely wants to keep all options opened and she doesn't want to have to answer to anyone. I am really unsure about how she feels about globalization, social programs, war with Iran, real withdrawal from Iraq, and changing course in a big way in this country.
So far it seems pretty canned and positioned. She always seems to phrase things in a way that allows some way out..I dunno...

Obama is an incredible guy with great ideas. I cant say enough how much I feel for him and what his message is. I have been asking people about his breakout group and people came away from it awed and as true believers, but there is some but..but going round...Its always, IF he can get it, he would be great BUT can he? Is he ready? Its not clear to me that he is ready at all for the #1 job; nor does it seem clear to his supporters. I'd love to see him get some experience, grow a little older, and get better with the cameras and crowd. He hunched, he blushed, he leaned to the side and addressed the moderator directly, hardly looking to the audience...and I wanted to see more passion besides when Edwards tossed it to him and they tag teamed Hillary. This was a challenging group and even though it was his birthday, and the hall rang out with a good part of the HB song, I didnt sense that he felt as sympatico and as if he is one of the people as some of the others.

I've heard anecdotes from a couple of different people, about how he acts in the senate...as if he is just passing through and that his real job awaits him up higher...and I never really gave it much credence until now. Maybe he knows something we all don't know, or maybe you just have to be like that to make it through this process....but I like to feel like I could talk to any one of these people, just like any guy hanging round my town...and he is one that I'm not sure is comfortable enough in his own skin to realize that he is just some guy. ..just like anyone else...just a little extra vision and leadership qualities.


I love Chris Dodd and have pretty much no problem with him as my state's senior senator. He seems to have remembered his fire in the wake of Teddy Kennedy's flip-out on the floor when he started yelling "what is it you people hate about working people?"...fantastic!
It makes me happy to hear him and to proud to have him out there...His voice is important....but he is not the next President of the United States or even possibly our nominee...so this is all an exercise in getting information out and providing a wide field for us. I am very happy with this field, btw. I was just really disappointed that Ned Lamont still feels that he owes a debt of gratitude to him for his endorsement, and is campaigning for him actively. I would have liked to see Ned put his energy and following behind Edwards (who was one of the first politicians to come out for him.)
A great moment was when Obama speaking of public financing of campaigns, made the mistake of saying "...and I'm glad that Chris has gotten on board with this!" to which Dodd said "Ive been taking that stance for 15 years, I'm no NEWCOMER!"...Snap!

Richards was, as always, impressive and wonderful...but again, I just don't see it, and since he has said that he is not even interested in a job in the next administration because he feels like he has the best job in the world, I feel like I'm happy to have his input in the process, but I'm not gonna spend alot of time and energy on him.

And then there are Kucinich and Gravel, who are the perpetual short straws in these things where they draw randomly as to who is gonna sit where. They made the perfect bookends to that crew and were largely ignored and overlooked. Kucinich had some good points but was not forceful and lacked fire. Gravel seemed to struggle in and out of lucidity, providing some comic relief here and there...but it seemed like just so much nonsense and a little embarrassing.





































Netroots Nation is going to be the new name of this convention, and I think that its fitting that Markos step back at this point from being the king of this little party and let it grow beyond a blogger comment site that has become a social networking site. This organization has to be allowed to become as powerful as it is, without the collar of the person that is Kos.
Markos gave a really nice speech, which was quite touching all in all...and the comedians ranged from just so-so to pretty OK...and the community feeling was pretty strong over ice cream sundaes for those who waned to stand on line for half an hour to make their own or ices for the rest of us that wanted coffee more than anything.... by the time we all ended up sitting round on the couches blogging and watching the drunken goings on out on the patio.

By the time I stumbled down to the closing brunch this morning and loaded up on fruit and...bacon... (and a pretty funny exchange with staff about the huge amount of vegan bacon available and not taken, how they never serve that and don't really know what it is, and remembering that Janeane Garafolo said that she is a vegan except for bacon and sausage!)and listening to the debrief comments by the panel and many of the commenter's from DK, it seems like everyone feels like it was a huge success and that its a must for next year, no matter where they hold it!

Best purchase (thanks to Jill): a long Ethernet cable so I could sit on the bed with the laptop...it has really changed my hotel experience to be able to lay in bed and be on line at the same time!!

Tomorrow AM I'm off to the shambles of my home, where my William has taken to his bed with a headache, a baby chick died, and apparently no laundry has been done in days...Mom is nauseous, so I'm out of luck. It is really hard to get away like this because the falloout comes pretty hard. Next time I may just get a pet sitter and bring Will and Ben along....let them hang out at the pool or something...maybe next year will be more kid friendly. Jr. Activist Caucus anyone?

So, I know what Ill be doing this week...not to mention all the actual WORK I have to do...
Oh well...you wanna play, you gotta pay!
I met some really great people, had a great time with Jill...and did some good writing. I love going to new cities, even if I don't get around much, and I love getting alot of new ideas and feeling like Ive got something to say.
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard on this thing. Its greatly appreciated and I'm really looking forward to next year!

I hate flying....wish me luck!