An amazing morning so far at YearlyKos. I haven’t had any star struck moments, but have instead enjoyed the panels and workshops.
The first workshop I attended was about using the Blogosphere for campaigns or issues. Chris Bowers, Matt Stoller (both of MyDD), Joe Trippi (Howard Dean’s campaign manager), and Jonathan Goulds (don’t know if I got that right) discussed how blogs can make a difference for a campaign. Of course, the powers that be may not want a blog unless the posts are all vetted and edited to be colorless PR.
Jonathan talked about the campaign in New York City to keep the parks. Under the radar bloggers connected with like-minded souls, often using MySpace and Friendster to get the word out. By the time the city council was going to vote on the issue the politicians realized that how they originally thought of the issue needed a bit of tweaking.
Trippi talked about the Howard Dean blog and how that made a huge difference in the race. Dean was a fourth-tier candidate who ended up in the top tier, because his methods of his message could connect people to the campaign.
Next was the Plame Leak panel with Joseph Wilson, Larry Johnson, Christy Hardin Smith, Dan Froomkin, Marcie Wheeler, Jane Hamscher, and Murray Waas. What a combination. Everyone on the panel had their own area of expertise and talked about either the press role and lack of investigation, the administration going after Wilson by attacking his wife, how a grand jury works, and more. Johnson talked about what damage the CIA suffered when Plame was outed.
Poor Byron York. A writer for the National Review, he has stated in the past that the Plame leak wasn’t that big a deal as Plame was not undercover. Sitting there, he must have felt uncomfortable as he was pointed out several times for his incorrect statements.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) gave the luncheon keynote and was incredibly inspiring. She tore into the incompetence of the Bush administration, the fake family values (“if you want to support families raise the minimum wage, give them health care…”).
My niece, Lisa, was to join me today, but she couldn’t make it. She is so disappointed; as am I. I need to get back downstairs as the afternoon sessions have started, but I needed a moment away from people. It was getting to me. I’ll keep you posted on who is here and what happens.
