| Howard Dean Keynote:
It's our job to keep progress moving. We've made progress, but we need to do a lot more. That's our job. One of the most disgraceful things Republicans have done, and they've done a lot of disgraceful We can't just blame the administration for not being progressive enough, you've got to work to make them progressive enough.
Van Jones:
It's good to be back. We're in Vegas, what happens in Vegas... will be on YouTube in about 3 minutes. Don't do it. Don't do it. This year I have a little bit more time. Since I was here two years ago all my dreams came true and all my nightmares. I spent six months throwing myself the biggest pity party. Then I realized, I'm not alone. These are the days of hope and heartbreak. Show me someone who doesn't know an American who finally got that dream home, and then lost it. Hope and heartbreak. Show me someone who got that promotion, only to be laid off. Hope and heartbreak. People are using the new media we built to spread poison and lies. Hope and heartbreak. There is a great danger that we will go from 8 years of despair to a couple months of hope back to despair. The only way we avoid that is if you change that future. When you're wiping those crumbs off your mouth from the donuts that's called despair. When you see the guy at the supermarket with washboard abs, that's hope. When you actually go to the gym and lose 15 pounds that's change. That's what we need. Netroots Nation, we need to keep the hope alive.
But we're facing a backlash. And that's going to happen. In the Bush years we fought back and made politics more beautiful, now people are trying to make politics more ugly. We can't thrive on conflict, we've got to rebuild on contrast between our vision and theirs. So what do we do? We've got to have an economic program that puts America back to work and pulls America back together. As we watch public services devastated remember this, we are not Malawi. We are a rich country. Don't tell me we don't have enough money. We don't have the will. Even in the oil spill there is still hope for a better energy future. We've got to take responsibility for our addiction. We're the ones who have been asking our brothers and sisters to risk their lives in the mines, on the rigs. America's future is not down those holes. Look up. That's where the future is. Look up. Solar panels. Wind turbines. We have workers sitting idle. We need people to make solar panels and wind turbines, we need people to put them up. These people make cars. Don't let anyone talk down American workers. American, union workers are the best in the world. None of us can make a car, we've got some of the smartest people in the country right here, but none of us can make a car. Don't tell me we don't have great workers. I've never heard of a wind slick, have you? I've never heard of a sun spill. We need to put America back to work. Rural America is hurting. I want to give them three paychecks, one just from watching their wind turbines turn. Then they'll be getting a paycheck from growing advanced crops for fuel, not food crops. Then they'll be getting a third paycheck from smart farming techniques that save carbon. This country is headed towards a future that's more diverse, which is good. But less prosperous, which is bad. The other side welcomes that and wants to use it to divide us. We've got to lead into the future with a progressive economic vision that unites us. I saw you all crying in November 2008. It's because you love the country. We should stop calling ourselves environmentalists, we should start calling each other patriots. This cheaper kind of patriotism is not the only kind of patriotism. I was born in 1968. That was the year they assassinated hope in our country. Shot RFK and MLK. I remember being a kindergartener and a classmate asked who was Bobby Kennedy. She cried, I had never seen a grown adult cry. It took 40 years for hope to become a mass phenomenon again. Don't let your disappointment on one issue let that hope die. Don't blow that candle out. People like you can do beautiful things, you can write beautiful words, you can write powerful truths. What I want to leave you with is that these are the days of hope and heartbreak. But these days will end. And when they end will we have the country we dreaded? Or will be have the country we were promised when we were little children. BP has something to teach us in a very twisted, twisted way. They made one small act of greed in not installing a cheap system to prevent spills from happening. If a tiny act based on greed can do that much harm (the BP oil spill) then a tiny act of hope can make amazing things happen. You will never know who will read your words, but that's not why you do it. You do it for your country. Don't go back to despair. We will put America back to work, we will pull America back together.
Q and A with Ari Melber
Q: You were targeted because you were black and you were progressive. What can people do to fight back from these smears. A: First, we've got to realize that we're in a new world. We've taken away our immune system, the old gatekeepers. But we don't have new ones. The information system has taken a huge leap forward, but the wisdom system has not. Eventually what will happen is 5, 10, 15 % of people will be like me and lose their jobs because of technology. But in the short term there is a huge incentive for sensational stuff. Your right, I had a much more experimental past than Ms. Sherrod. I was identifiable as a radical leftist, in the bay area. That's like being a dork at Netroots Nation. Luckily, this story has a happy ending. Even Ben Jelous who is one of the most promising leaders in America, made a mistake. But he admitted that and moved on.
Q: But, as Ed Schultz said last night there is this feeling that the WH doesn't just have a war room, it has a sissy room. A: You've got to understand how hard it is. The short term policy perils are all consuming. Missiles are being lobbed at your friends. We're only as a society beginning to see that sometime you can get the right polices the wrong way with long term damage. Be tough on this problem, but have some sympathy for those dealing with a much more toxic media environment than has ever existed.
Q: John Kerry has said today that he really means he can get a climate bill passed, what do you think about that? A: First of all. John Kerry is a hero and I think he's been mistreated by his party. He went to war, he told the truth about the war, he went through the right wing attack machine. I think he's right that there is still time to change the math. But what we need to do is stop chasing DC and start making a movement that DC has to change. Lame duck session might work. Two questions, do you have a cap on utilities? Do you have a renewable energy and efficiency standard? You can't do the economy wide thing anymore. But we can do something about America having the right goals. I do thing people thought this was going to be some kind of ABC special. This Is Lord of the Rights. It is an epic. These people are orcs, man. When you get all mad at the President it pisses me off. He started leading the Titanic after it sunk. You believed in this country and fought for it when it really was not logical to do so. Now, when you're most needed. Not just to point out who didn't do what. But to take on ourselves more leadership. I believe in you. I believe in your ability to change things.
Q: There is this feeling that the WH is ignoring progressive media A: Why are we so sad, is it because I lost a job for 20 hours? Or because we built something great in 2008 that gave us hope. We started focusing on change and nobody managed the hope part. A lot of people have lost that sense of community. After the midterms a lot of the positive change will be local. This is not about a Presidency, it's about a pro-democracy movement. We pushed the authoritarians out of power and now we're trying to govern.
Q: On stitching together the environmental movement. The environmental movement spent 100 million dollars and didn't get a single Republican. Is that a fair criticism? A: A better view is that there is a constituency in America that is beautiful. They did not find the right magic to bring the best out of this White House, out of this Congress. We've got to figure out what the right magic is. It is disappointing and it's frustrating but let's keep the hope alive.
Q: A little bit of rapid fire.
What do you read in the morning? HuffPost. Specialized energy and environment. E and E News, WashPost, others.
Favorite TV show? Still the West Wing. Non-political. Sesame street. It's the stuff.
Music? Bob Marley. Sarah McGlarelen. Journey. Barry something. Tupac. I like it all. I like the English language.
Dialogue with Democratic Leaders
Sam Stein of the Huffington Post is moderating
Executive directors of the DNC, DSCC and DCCC
Got in late. A few notable things from the time I was there.
The DNC seemed to have the strongest response to a question about why we should fund the committees. Talked about how their research shows that the President's brand is critical to turning out the first time 2008 voters. DNC invested in local field organizing using that message to get those voters out which will be critical to our chances in November.
We shouldn't be talking about the healthcare bill and the Wall Street bill we should be talking about how it specifically impacts real people.
DSCC guy talked about how there is serious movement towards Senate reform
Advocacy and Elected Officials:
With
Nicole Rivera - Speaker Pelosi's office
Eddy Morales - Political consultant
How Congressional Offices Work:
DC Office: Member-Chief of staff-Legislative Director-Legislative assistants-Legislative corespondents-Staff Assistants-Interns
Staffers are generalists
District Director - Field Workers - Scheduler - Corespondents - Front Desk
Interacting with Members:
Who: You can't build a relationship with every office. Got to focus. At a local level, identify a few. Pick based on issues, constituents, committees, effectiveness. National organizations do this.
What we want: What are we asking for? Why are we building a relationship
Research: Voting record, history, vote margin, responsiveness, endorsements/donors, legislation, constituents.
Build relationship: Letters, calls. Calling congresspeople you don't represent doesn't work. They don't enter the information, it doesn't influence the member at all. If you want to influence a representative from a different district get someone from that district to call. Invite members to events, go to their events. Protests alone are not a way to make change, got to have a relationship first.
Meeting with a member:
3 people
Someone to give testimony
Someone to take notes
Someone to keep an agenda
Mention your groups power. I.E. we just registered 1k voters who care about this issue.
10 Tips on Effective Advocacy
1. Know your target
2. Clarity of purpose is key
3. Be ready to field Questions
4. Be open to a diologe on the issue
5. Understand the role of the legislator
6. Befriend the staff/find your internal allies
7. Learn the inner workings of an electeds office
8. Be persistent, yet patient
Election 2010: The Big Picture
Markos
Laura
Steve
David
David 2
James
Q: Will Democrats lose the House in November? A: James and David say yes, all else say no.
Q: What Republicans scare you most, what Democrats do you like? A MM: Rand Paul, Jack Conway LC: Ken Buck, Nancy Ann-Lane SS: Meg Whitman, Jack Conway DNYC: Pat Toomey, Manan Trivini DJ: Nikki Haley |
