At 'Netroots Nation,' Obama Campaign Goes to Ground
By Garance Franke-Ruta
AUSTIN -- As liberal bloggers and the people who read them gather in Texas's capital city and settle into a groove for their third annual convention, it is somehow fitting that presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, who appeared at the conference last year, is as far away as can be.
The conference formerly known as Yearly Kos was enlivened for its first two years by the frisson of insiders and outsiders coming together. Former Virginia governor Mark Warner feted the bloggerati with chocolate fountains and plentiful booze in Las Vegas in 2006, and, the following year, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama and former senator John Edwards took part in a candidate forum co-moderated by a Daily Kos blogger and a reporter for The New York Times.
This year, the event has been renamed Netroots Nation, and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has less need to court this crowd, having proven himself a better organizer than they -- and on a far grander scale - and the primary contest having been decided.
The presidential-candidate speakers of previous years have given way to a mélange of former office-holders (Harold Ford Jr., Don Siegelman) and party stalwarts (Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi), giving the conference a more subdued, settled vibe. But that doesn't mean an irreparable breach between the netroots and the Obama campaign, which is here in force.
"While he's not here, they've definitely been participatory," said Cheryl Contee, a Netroots Nation board member, of the Obama campaign. "They're very active. ... They are definitely involved and committed to working with the netroots to elect Obama in 2008."
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who coordinates My.Barack.Obama.com, the Obama campaign's wildly successful online social networking site, spoke at a training workshop for activists and bloggers here yesterday, notes Josh Orton, political director for Netroots Nation (and also the former deputy new media director for the Barack Obama campaign).
The nearly day-long "training for American" forum "for Democratic activists and leaders" was co-sponsored by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee, and it featured panels on the ground game for 2008, online social networking strategies and holding successful messaging conversations with neighbors. The DNC's Matt Ortega sent out this message across his Facebook network after the training's conclusion: "if you're looking a job while at #NN08 and want to elect Barack Obama the next POTUS, come see me in Ballroom G. 4:37pm."
Tomorrow, Obama deputy national campaign director Steve Hildebrand will sit on a panel on organizing strategy, "Organizing Change: Obama Grassroots." Obama new media director Joe Rospars is here for a panel, as well, accompanied by Obama inhouse blogger Sam Graham-Felsen.
Indeed, the Obama-blogger relationship appears less to have soured than to have moved from the intimacy and familiarity of the earliest stages of a primary campaign, when bloggers and Iowans alike were courted by the candidate himself at close range, to the distant and more instrumental relationships that characterize general election contests. Today, if the panels Obama staffers are on here are any indication, bloggers are of interest to the campaign mainly for their potential work in on-the-ground organizing and messaging.
And while some highly-visible bloggers have been critical of Obama's stance on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on their blogs, J.D. Gins, a Texas field organizer from Obama for America staffing the Obama table, said that, at the conference, "overwhelmingly it's been a positive reception." Of the hundreds of people who've stopped by, only two have wanted to engage in criticism of the Obama campaign, he said.
"They're excited for the buttons and stickers. They're excited about Obama," he added, handing me an Obama "50 State Campaign" button with a "union made promotional item" sticker on the back. "We're going for the 50-state strategy."
Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of the Daily Kos blog and a longtime proponent of that very strategy, noted at a plenary session with former representative Ford (D-Tenn.), "There may have been some grumbling" about some of Obama's general election positions, "but it wasn't mass discontent."
Posted at 4:41 PM ET on Jul 18, 2008
Share This: 
Technorati
| Tag in Del.icio.us | Digg This
Previous: Questions About McCain's Tech Savvy Worry Bloggers on the Right |
Next: McCain Strafes Obama on War
Get This Widget >>
Comments
Posted by: Anonymous | July 21, 2008 6:21 PM | Report abuse
Obama is a fake. If he had to make a hard and immediate decision on his own, he would freeze, because he would need to do it without his handler. He can't. I am sorry he has his cultists so blinded..
Posted by: dragonfly777 | July 19, 2008 9:52 PM | Report abuse
LOL! :-D
Markos Zuniga should stop worrying about carrying O'Bomba-Nation's "Water", and get some protection from all that "Yellow Rain" "Barry" keeps him drenched in!
They say you can fool some of the People Some of the Time, but "Barry" can pee on Markie-Kos and his Obamasamamites ALL the time!
Hey, Markie!
Check out the Taj Palace on Tuesday for an Indian Veggie Buffet! I believe you have a real problemo with "Red Meat"!
And I just want to offer some "Local" advice! ;~)
Say HI! to Lloyd Dogmeat when he gets away from your groin for me!
RAT.-The
-Say, who was that "Rat" man?
Posted by: RAT-The | July 19, 2008 12:30 AM | Report abuse
LOL! :-D
Markie Ziniga should stop worrying about carrying O'Bomba-Nation's "Water", and get some protection from all the "Yellow Rain" "Barry" keeps showering him and the loony left with!
Hey Markos! You should check out the Taj palace on Tuesday for their Veggie Buffet! I hear you can't really handle "Red Meat"!
Just wanting to offer some "Local" expertice!
LOL!
Why do I picture a RAT-The Bashing Bash, along with the Bushie Bashing Bash?
Libbies; the Dingleberries of Politics!
Hmmmm, Who Was/Is that RAT-Man?!
Posted by: RAT-The | July 19, 2008 12:10 AM | Report abuse
LOL! :-D
Markie Ziniga should stop worrying about carrying O'Bomba-Nation's "Water", and get some protection from all the "Yellow Rain" "Barry" keeps showering him and the loony left with!
Hey Markos! You should check out the Taj palace on Tuesday for their Veggie Buffet! I hear you can't really handle "Red Meat"!
Just wanting to offer some "Local" expertice!
LOL!
Why do I picture a RAT-The Bashing Bash, along with the Bushie Bashing Bash?
Libbies; the Dingleberries of Politics!
Hmmmm, Who Was/Is that RAT-Man?!
Posted by: RAT-The | July 19, 2008 12:10 AM | Report abuse
This is what has made Senator Obama's campaign so great and such a success! Bringing people together, taking the time to train them, and getting out there and working hard. So many enthusiastic volunteers are a great blessing to the campaign. We, Obama supporters, recognize he is the individual for these troubled times and poor economy in our country. He is such a breath of freshair with his God-given gifts of wisdom, vision, strong leadership skills and financial management know how. I also admire how he has stayed above the fray of the destructive and divisive politics of yesteryear which were employed by Hilliary and now McCain. Such tactics do not belong in this new century and newer generations. I believe our youth understand that a dog-eat-dog world is not the best way to live our lives here in America. I also believe that is Senator Obama's belief. He consistently emphasizes working together to lift ourselves an our country up. He'll make a great President of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of our military.
Many believe "experience" is the end game; however, NONE of the candidates had or have the "Presidential experience". The ONLY person that would be "experienced" would be the incumbent and previous Presidents. To me, these matter: good character, proven leadership skills (Obama's outstanding campaign), proven finance managerial skills (Obama's subperb fund-raising skills and great management of those funds, and his proven wisdom and vision (2002 speech against going to war with Iraq). Anyone who takes the time to listen to that speech and compare it to where we are now will clearly see his unique vision. Senator Obama is the leader for our times. All of these characteristics trump false claims of experience!!
Posted by: NinaK | July 18, 2008 11:11 PM | Report abuse
All this talk about Obama this and Obama that...it still remains to be seen if he can rise to the level of a true Presidential candidate. Take away his speech writers and what do you get?
Posted by: Young Blood
----------------------
Young Blood, you are underestimating Senator Obama. He is more than capable of authoring his own speeches and has done so long before he became a candidate. Have you forgotten he is highly intelligent, graduated from Columbia University and Harvard? Have you forgotten hs was the President of the Harvard Review Board? It takes "SMARTS" to accomplish these things. Your character must be extremely shallow if you believe Senator Obama is all about speeches and nothing more!! Obama has characteristics that have been missing in our President and leader for decades: Integrity, good character, honesty, outstanding leadership abilities proven by his near flawless campaign which has been recognized the BEST in U.S. History; outstanding financial managerial skills (BEST fundraiser in U.S. History, and the BEST fundraising techniques ever in U.S. History). Senator Obama is a man of wisdom and vision who is able to step out of the "proverbial box" and look at it from angles and beyond. And yes, his oratory skills are fabulous!! Yes, he has speech writers; all candidates do, by the way!! But it is Senator Obama who has the unsurpassed talent to deliver those speeches. And delivery is what matters when it comes to speeches. All of these characteristics far surpass any "Presidential" experience McCain might claim, especially when McCain DOES NOT HAVE SUCH EXPERIENCE! Tell me, please, how does being shot down and a POW in Viet Nam 35 years ago equate to "Presidential" experience?? Furthermore, McCain is playing on his "hero" status. You do know, don't you, that McCain never made Admiral and he NEVER was selected to receive the "MEDAL OF HONOR" which is reserved for those people who performed over and beyong their duties, those who put their comrades and troops before self, like the solder who was killed when he saw a live grenade and covered it with his body to save his troops. These military folks are the REAL heroes and they are the receipients as the coveted award. As I said, McCain was not one of these people. Also, perhaps you can explain why McCain was told by his Commanders he would never make Admiral because he had shamed the McCain name (grandpa and daddy were Admirals in the U.S.Navy), his unit, the U.S. Navy, and the United States of America. Why would a Commder chastize and reprimand McCain in such severe terms?? Think about it, this kind of chastizement and reprimand is not given for minor infractions; it is reserved for major infractions!! Why did McCain seal his military records?? Furthermore, take a look at this:
(QUOTE) THE STORY OF GENOCIDE AGAINST THE DINEH-NAVAJO
a Dineh Healing Chamois Woven by the loving hands of an elder Dineh-Navajo Elder Grandmother, likely now deceased. Their only complaints were those made since the very beginning: "Peabody raped our Holy Land and Drains off the Water! Our Mother Earth has been ravaged! We have no food: our livestock poisoned by pollution. The reputation of the US will be harmed all over the world..."
GENOCIDE committed against a gentle people: the Di'neh (Arizona Navajo)...against a beautiful Indian Holy Land: The Black Mesa... the Navajo's "Jerusalem" or "Mecca". Horrifying brutality orchestrated by a cruel, indifferent Senator: John McCain, and business interests from Illinois and Massachusetts. The Navajo have been our Code Talkers in time of war, have mined Uranium for the Nuclear Weapons of our military, and supplied labor to mine the Coal used to power our country, despite being deprived any of the royalties for the theft of their Coal (it lies beneath their properties, and they are entitled to payment for it).
Illicitly secured Mining interests on the way to building the Peabody Group (the world's largest coal company), committing RAPE of the LAND for dirty COAL energy: dirty campaigns financed through street names in Nevada; improper Energy Bills meant to deprive the Navajo of their land for it's coal; dirty bills signed into law casually by Bill Clinton, Carter and Ford...
McCain, supported by Senators Kennedy and Kerry from Massachusetts, and Senator Rockefeller from West Virginia coal mining country, attains profits through massive business gained by McCain's Wife and her Alcoholic Beverage Distribution business. McCain is backed by the very Nevada casinos and energy companies, who stand to gain the most from the Coal stolen from the Indians: money that fuels McCain's campaign chest the excess of which he can pocket after every Campaign ends comes to him through street names in Nevada, according to Common Cause, a vastly well regarded public watchdog agency.
Horrific BIA thuggery, even after apologizing to the Indians, the BIA continues to honor stolen land claims by phony puppet Tribal councils organized by Corporate Natural Resource businesses and to deprive and abuse the rightful owners of the Indians lands, a clever trick.
Abuses by the very organization supposedly given to protect them: stolen trust money, stolen lands, displaced people and casual government and corporate indifference. In Nevada, thousands of native Arizona Dineh-Navajo elders died, many were forced to relocate to a Nuclear Spill site, church's Hill, where double the national average birth defect rate is found among newborns... Who's behind these horrifying events?
Press blackouts issued by McCain/Rockefeller/Kennedy interests at Peabody Group since 1987 have prevented the American Public from learning of the enormous international hue and cry for justice regarding the deprivation of Human and Civil Rights being committed by McCain, his fellow Senators Kerry and Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Peabody Western, against the Di'neh Navajo in Arizona. And now it has invaded the electoral process.
Navajo deaths attributable to forced resettlement: 7,233 & rising...(UNQUOTE)
Posted by: NinaK | July 18, 2008 10:58 PM | Report abuse
This is what has made Senator Obama's campaign so great and such a success! Bringing people together, taking the time to train them, and getting out there and working hard. So many enthusiastic volunteers are a great blessing to the campaign. We, Obama supporters, recognize he is the individual for these troubled times and poor economy in our country. He is such a breath of freshair with his God-given gifts of wisdom, vision, strong leadership skills and financial management know how. I also admire how he has stayed above the fray of the destructive and divisive politics of yesteryear which were employed by Hilliary and now McCain. Such tactics do not belong in this new century and newer generations. I believe our youth understand that a dog-eat-dog world is not the best way to live our lives here in America. I also believe that is Senator Obama's belief. He consistently emphasizes working together to lift ourselves an our country up. He'll make a great President of the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of our military.
Many believe "experience" is the end game; however, NONE of the candidates had or have the "Presidential experience". The ONLY person that would be "experienced" would be the incumbent and previous Presidents. To me, good character, proven leadership skills (Obama's outstanding campaign), proven finance managerial skills (Obama's subperb fund-raising skills and great management of those funds, and his proven wisdom and vision (2002 speech against going to war with Iraq). Anyone who takes the time to listen to that speech and compare it to where we are now will clearly see his unique vision. Senator Obama is the leader for our times.
Posted by: NinaK | July 18, 2008 10:30 PM | Report abuse
All this talk about Obama this and Obama that...it still remains to be seen if he can rise to the level of a true Presidential candidate. Take away his speech writers and what do you get?
Posted by: Young Blood | July 18, 2008 6:10 PM
==================================
goes with out saying nimrod... that opportunity will come when he is president. He is a candidate, a nominee, as it were. Stick to checkers, you are showing your ignorance.
Posted by: pubichaironmycokecan | July 18, 2008 6:58 PM | Report abuse
My.Barack.Obama.com ? I think he meant MyBarackObama.com, the website and not the one with the dots because it takes you to a Animee site (Japanese).
Posted by: angriestdogintheworld | July 18, 2008 6:56 PM | Report abuse
How right you are, "Young Blood"!
Yes, even though Barack Obama has had the nomination locked up for some time now, it "remains to be seen" whether he is a presidential candidate (although please re-read your tipsheet next time; capitalizing 'presidential' turns it into a proper noun, which implies that you're referring to President Barack Obama, rather than presidential candidate Barack Obama - I'm afraid we won't be able to award you any McCain Points for your post today).
And you're right - if you take away NObama's head speechwriter - himself - he won't have anything to say, as he wrote two books without ghostwriters (like our candidate's Mark Salter) and writes the most important of his speeches (such as that awful "A More Perfect Union" tripe) all by himself.
Keep at it, though - soon you'll be earning plenty of McCain Points (redeemable for McCain Golf Gear) as we work to elect the candidate with years, and years, and years of experience with women - John Sidney McCain III !
Posted by: Christina West | July 18, 2008 6:46 PM | Report abuse
Young Blood -
Take away his speech writers, and Obama is an even more intimately intellectual and inspirational man. The trappings and entourage just serves to amplify his message. Try meeting him in one of his townhalls. The "just-words" accusation doesn't stick on this guy. I am very impressed and look forward to voting across party lines this Nov.
Posted by: FLRepublican | July 18, 2008 6:46 PM | Report abuse
In this election, it'll be the ground game that wins. It's time to take back America.
Posted by: thebob.bob | July 18, 2008 6:27 PM | Report abuse
Barack the dude is for real, and the net organizing of his campaign with My Barack Obama.com is empowering all of his supporters to make a positive difference locally for change. I expect the activism will continue right on through and past the election.
This is a new era of grass roots empowerment, we won't be sitting on the sidelines with Obama representing the People of the US, in the White House.
The changes necessary will require everyone working together (Yes, We Can!) in order to accomplish them.
We're Fired up! And Ready to Go!
Obama 08
Posted by: Ohio 4 Obama-n | July 18, 2008 6:25 PM | Report abuse
All this talk about Obama this and Obama that...it still remains to be seen if he can rise to the level of a true Presidential candidate. Take away his speech writers and what do you get?
Posted by: Young Blood | July 18, 2008 6:10 PM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.
http://www.womenforjohnmccain.com/
Posted by: Christina West | July 18, 2008 6:46 PM
we work to elect the candidate with years, and years, and years of experience with women as a womanizer.
read:
Republican Women Say No To McCain
Full news article here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/0 6/18/MNS211BBRL.DTL&tsp=1
Short quote from the article: "The challenges facing Sen. Barack Obama as he tries to woo supporters of former rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could pale in comparison with Sen. John McCain's troubles with female voters - if the voices of a growing number of prominent Republican women are any indication. "I cannot see a more counterproductive candidate for women," said Jillian Manus-Salzman, a leading California Republican activist and generous GOP donor in the nation's most populous state, an ATM for presidential campaigns. "I cannot vote for McCain."