Although his election was the very definition of "squeaker," Sen. Franken has managed to thread another needle since taking office: he's demonstrated a commitment to working hard on behalf of all Minnesotans while also being a strong advocate for the progressive policies in which he believes.
And now he'll be the closing keynote speaker at this year's Netroots Nation convention in Las Vegas.
The event will, as it has for several years now, bring together basically the entire progressive netroots for several days of panel discussions, trainings, and networking over four days in July.
From the release published by the Netroots Nation team this morning:
Sen. Franken and interested observers saw firsthand what democracy and fair elections are all about last year when his Senate race was the subject of a state-wide comprehensive recount. Since his swearing in, Sen. Franken has been a strong advocate for progressive policies, speaking out in favor of a public option, cutting oil subsidies and slashing interest rates for student loans.
"Even during the recount, we knew Sen. Franken would be a fighter," said Raven Brooks, executive director of Netroots Nation. "Whether he's fighting for health care or education, he's shown that he represents American families and isn't afraid to stand up for strong progressive values."
Organizers say that's why they chose Sen. Franken to close out the fifth annual convention.
Some of you may remember last year's Netroots Minnesota conference, which we put together in conjunction with the Netroots Nation organization. The national conference is due back in the Midwest in 2011, and it would be downright grand if our junior Senator were on hand to help announce that the Big Kahuna is coming to Minnesota next year. But that may be getting ahead of ourselves -- who's up for a Vegas trip this July?
In two weeks, progressives from across Minnesota will gather in St. Paul for a day and a half of panels, trainings, networking opportunities and keynotes--all in an effort to strategize and organize around progressive change.
Netroots Minnesota will be the premier kickoff to the critical conversations progressives will be having as we approach 2010, and today, Denise Cardinal, Executive Director at Alliance for a Better Minnesota, announced a forum for Netroots Minnesota attendees to start the conversation with the candidates running for governor.
The Minnesota 2010 gubernatorial race will be one of the most-watched in the nation.
What should the race be about? How can a progressive win? What role will the Netroots play in the campaign?
These vital questions will be answered by some of the gubernatorial candidates themselves at Netroots Minnesota.
On Friday evening, November 20, DFL candidates for governor will join us at Netroots Minnesota to take questions directly from you.
During a discussion moderated by Star Tribune writer Lori Sturdevant, the candidates will be asked questions solicited online via Twitter (using the hashtag #nmn09gov), Facebook, email, and in person.
This forum, sponsored by Alliance for a Better Minnesota Action Fund, is going to be one of the most interactive and engaging forums for the candidates to date -- be sure toregister for Netroots Minnesota to get a front-row seat at this must-see-for-yourself political event.
(I've posted previously about this upcoming event, but registration is now open -- This promises to be a fantastic two-day event, featuring some really great leaders in the progressive movement in Minnesota. Don't miss it. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
When we were at Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh this past summer, a group of Minnesotans, including MPP's very own Populista, The UpTake's Jason Barnett, Grassroots Solutions' Lindsay Hansen, and some of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota crew started talking about how great it would be if Netroots Nation came to Minnesota. Having a Netroots conference in Minnesota would give us the opportunity to enhance our tradition of grassroots organizing by offering trainings and panels on using technology to promote progressive ideas.
Fast forward a couple of months, after a lot of help from every segment of the progressive community in the state and the Netroots Nation team, and we're proud to be announcing the first-ever Netroots Minnesota, a regional conference of Netroots Nation, which will be held in St. Paul from November 20-21st.
From an email Denise Cardinal, ABM's Executive Director, sent to our list this morning:
Over the next 12 months, we will be working hard to advocate for progressive policies. But in order to be effective, we're going to need to get the progressive grassroots and Netroots together to network and organize.
Join us, along with progressives from all over Minnesota, in St. Paul on November 20th and 21st for the first ever Netroots Minnesota conference.
We'll have captivating panels led by national and state experts, practical training sessions and workshops, and a gubernatorial candidate forum. This conference is the premier kickoff to the critical conversations progressives will be having as we approach 2010.
The Netroots have played a critical role in helping shape a national progressive agenda over the last several years, and we hope to build on that same success here in Minnesota. We hope that Netroots Minnesota will provide a space where progressives from across the state could come together, network and organize, and to learn how we can more effectively use technology to strengthen our community.
There's a programming committee composed of bloggers, activists, and progressive organizations which will meet regularly between now and the conference to take your suggestions and create the best possible agenda we can.
This is only the beginning of the critical conversations progressives will be having as we approach 2010 and we think its a great way to get the entire community involved in this dialogue.
Disclosure: I'm the New Media Director for Alliance for a Better Minnesota
It was another great day of Netroots Nation yesterday with lots of great sessions and speakers. I also met Tarryl Clark (who's fantastic and can win in 2010) and chatted with some of the great folks with Alliance for a Better Minnesota.
Today I will be on a panel entitled "Yes we did?" about the interactions between blogging and field organizing. It's at 12:30 MN time, you can follow along via our twitter hashtag or at fellow state blog Calitics where I believe Robert Cruickshank will be liveblogging it.
But first up I will be seeing Obama's "BFF" Valerie Jarrett this morning. As always the best place to follow along is my twitter feed. Stay tuned!
UPDATE: 9:34PM Valerie Jarrett was great. Lots of interesting stuff from her. Now at a panel on the "Obama model."
UPDATE: 4:21PM Great day. My panel went great, lots of people came. It was taped and I will let you all know when it's up online for all to see. This has been such a amazing conference. I'm so glad I was able to come.
Day 1 of Netroots Nation is over. It was fantastic. You'll get a better idea of it via my twitter feed which I was able to update even when I didn't have wireless. Today I'll see Howard Dean, Tarryl Clark and lots of others. Stay tuned!
UPDATE 1:28pm: Sorry for lack of MPP updates. No WiFi for Dean and then I was organizing a healthcare phonebank and lunching with Texas Senate candidate Bill White. I'm now at a panel on local and state blogs like this one.
UPDATE 2:00pm: I'm now waiting for a panel that includes some great activists from around the country including Minnesota native Paul Delehanty.
UPDATE 2:34pm: Lots of great insights. Janice Caswell talked about working in NE Philly for Obama and watching as people with deeply held racial fears coming around and finally voting for a black man. Obama won every area of NE Philly.
UPDATE 2:56pm: So much good stuff. Love this panel. Adam Ruff of BSD stole most of my points. Honored to be in a room with so many amazing activists who have done so much.
UPDATE 3:16pm: Great story from Paul about person who had been getting Obama doorknockers come daily, he said "How about you give me your home phone and address and I'll come and bother you every day." Talked about listening and how he ended up talking with the guy on his couch.
UPDATE 3:32pm: Very good panel. Now switching between panel on organizing in Rural Areas and Turning Red Districts Blue.
And the day is now mostly over. I'm going to do some final prep for my panel tomorrow and get some sleep. Good.
I am at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, registered for Netroots Nation. I have a busy schedule planned so stay tuned to get the latest. I'll be updating this post and maybe other posts throughout the day as well as my Twitter feed.
UPDATE 8:25am: I'm at a great panel on the netroots and climate change. Livetweeting it. Follow along.
UPDATE 9:27am: Done with great climate panel. Now waiting for Nerd Jesus Nate Silver and his polling panel.
UPDATE: 9:43:Polling panel has started. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report is talking.
UPDATE 10:06am Charlie Cook predicted that Democrats will lose 20 House seats in 2010. I predict he's crazy. I'd bet money he's wrong if it was legal.
UPDATE 10:15am Nate Silver is now talking. If you care about politics or anything related you've simply got to read Nate's site
UPDATE: 2:13pm Done with lunch. Now at a panel about a new New Deal. Christopher Hayes just finished talking. If you watch Countdown you might recognize him. Now former IMF Chief Economist Rob Johnson is talking.
UPDATE: 2:31pm Johnson just had a fantastic point.
The FDR vs Obama debate is stupid. They are not comparable. Obama isn't blocking progress, our lack of action is.
UPDATE: 2:45pm Maya Rockeymoore is on fire. Lots of good points.
The New Deal was great overall, but it was a raw deal for people of color.
By 2042 people of color will be a majority of our country and yet our country has never really invested in them. And we want to be a global leader?
UPDATE: 3:41pm Now at a panel about redistricting. Fellow state blogger Matt Glazer of Texas blog Burnt Orange Report.
UPDATE: 4:11pm Really interesting panel. Hard to explain. Now heading over to a panel with Alliance for a Better Minnesota's Xavier Lopez-Ayala.
Nearly a month ago I asked for some help getting to Netroots Nation. And you responded! I got the forth highest number of public supports and a DFA scholarship to help cover the costs.
And so in a few hours, thanks to you, I will be getting on a plane and heading to Pittsburgh!
I also couldn't have done this without Democracy for America. They listened to your votes, reviewed a lot of amazing applications and decided to help send me to Pittsburgh. Their scholarship program helps make Netroots Nation great. And DFA can't keep doing it without your help.
On a listserv for progressive activists that I am on there has been a ongoing debate about the term and idea of "slacktivisim" generally defined as the feeling of being a activist by signing e-petitions, joining Facebook groups, changing your twitter avatar or similar actions. The general consensus that I agree with is that it's a derogatory, useless term.
However I think the debate about slacktivism is a useful discussion related to a important debate that the netroots needs to be having about how to integrate the online activism the netroots is so good at: raising money, signing petitions, writing blogs and spreading messaging and the more traditional tactics needed to win campaigns and legislative fights: calling voters and representatives, canvassing, data entry, organizing events and training activists. And it's a topic I will be discussing at Netroots Nation on the "Yes We Did: How Blogging Can (and Can't) Support a Field Campaign" panel with some awesome activists from around the country.
I'm pleased to announce that our very own Populista (known in the flesh-and-blood world as Karl Singer) is headed to Netroots Nation 2009 on a scholarship from Democracy for America!
Many thanks are due to DFA for making the program available to great progressive leaders all over the country, and many thanks are also due to Populista for being awesome. A few more thanks are due to you folks out there who voted for Karl and helped get him there -- as with so many things in progressive politics, it starts and ends with you.
Netroots Nation will be held from August 13th - 16th in Pittsburgh, and will be the year's biggest gathering of progressive Netroots leaders from across America. We'll be watching Populista's live updates with anticipation and a fair bit of glee.
I want to go to Pittsburgh. Not beacuse I don't like Minnesota. Minnesota is a great state in fact.
You see, from August 13-16 Pittsburgh will be hosting the fourth annual Netroots Nation convention of political bloggers from around the country. I want to be there to appear on a panel and hopefully report back to the MN Progressive Project Community.
But I need your help to get there. Howard Dean's Democracy for America is running a scholarship competition to help make the costs of attending more affordable. They will be selecting 10 winners from the final round judged by a variety of factors, but one of them is public support. You can help me win a scholarship by voting for me. It will take less than a minute and I'd really appreciate your help. Just click here. That will take you to a page where you can either log into your existing DFA account (if you have one) or create a new one, then it takes you to a page where you can write a quick comment of support and click on "voice support" to officially support me. If you want to read my application click here.
It costs money for DFA to provide these scholarships, if you can send them some money to help out with the cost. It helps send 30 people to Netroots Nation who might not have been able otherwise. So any donations you could send them gives you a great bang for the buck in progressive investments and helps send some great people to Netroots Nation.
Thanks so much for all that you do and for any votes that you could give me.
This week our friends at Democracy For America are announcing another round of winners for their Netroots Nation scholarship contest. If you weren't on the list of winners and you can't find the money/time/energy to get to Pittsburgh August 13 to 16 for the convention, don't despair...there is another way!
For the third year in a row we'll be taking advantage of the rich multimedia capabilities of Second Life to bring you live streaming audio and video from Netroots Nation right to your own computer monitor. Through Second Life we're able to bring you not only streaming video, but also real time discussion and participation in the panels from the comfort of your own home, exclusive online panels and information displays from nonprofit organizations, online retailers and great progressive companies. Oh, and did we mention it's free?
Join us over the fold and we'll walk you through the particulars of how to participate and how to support our work with sponsorships.
