Crashing the Party: Transforming Netroots Activism into Grassroots Action Within State and Local Parties
One of the challenges facing the Netroots in creating a progressive movement is the transformation of Netroots activism into grassroots action. This panel will discuss the benefits and challenges in working within the Democratic Party on the state and local level. This discussion will include a primer on how to get involved, as well as a discussion on the resistance one may face “crashing the party.” The goal of this discussion is to encourage more Netroots community members to actively engage in politics on the state and local level.
Chris Bowers co-founded Open Left in July of 2007. He was a full-time editor at MyDD from May 2004 until June 2007, and has been the Treasurer of BlogPac since March of 2006.
He has worked as a consultant for MoveOn, Media Matters, SEIU, Progressive Strategies, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The latter allowed him to work on new media for Joe Sestak for Senate. Chris was also recently a fellow at the New Organizing Institute, which allowed him to work with Americans for Financial Reform.
Chris is 36, and recently moved to Washington, D.C. with his wife Natasha Chart.
Jason Melrath is a Philadelphia attorney residing in Delaware, and is known as "Delaware Dem" on Daily Kos, MyDD, Booman Tribune, Delaware Liberal and Daily Delaware. He graduated from George Washington University with degrees in criminal justice and political science. He earned a J.D. degree from Widener University School of Law in 2001, where he served as editor of the Widener Law Review. A member of the Progressive Democrats of Delaware and the Delaware Young Democrats, he founded the local political blog Daily Delaware in 2007 and remains active in state and local politics in the First State.
Dante Atkins was a classics major at UCLA before deciding that politics suited him better than academics. Dante started blogging at DailyKos as "hekebolos" in 2004 and currently serves as a frontpage author at Calitics. Dante is very involved in the California Democratic Party, where he is an elected delegate. He also serves on the CDP Platform Committee, and co-authored a new platform plank that affirms the Party's support of net neutrality and bloggers' rights. Dante works with The Pollux Group, a firm specializing in qualitative research and online marketing strategies. Dante spends his free time obsessing over spiders.
An attorney, Steve Thibodeau is known as “wmtriallawyer” in the blogging world. In 2006, Steve was elected to the Maryland State Democratic Central Committee to represent Legislative District 33 of Anne Arundel County. He serves as treasurer for the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee, as well as on the Rules Committee for the Maryland Democratic Party. He is also the former executive vice-president of Young Democrats of Maryland, and has prior work experience on Capitol Hill and as an editor for Jim Hightower, nationally-known progressive radio commentator. Steve currently resides in Annapolis with his wife, Jen, and cat, Ella.
Brian Keeler has a diverse, broad-based background in political activism, citizen journalism, Internet community development, business consulting and the performing arts. In 2006, Brian was a groundbreaking Netroots NYS Senate candidate with extensive online exposure. His campaign developed unique methods for utilizing the progressive on line community and was the first to hold a “blograiser,” a combined real-time and virtual fund-raising event. Brian is the co-founder of the blogs The Albany Project, Political Cortex and ePluribus Media.
