10:45: This panel includes Adam Green, Andre Banks, Liz Rose, Joan McCarter (McJoan), Timothy Karr and Craig Aaron. The point of this session is connecting grassroots organizers to political insiders in order to effect change.
10:54: The Save the Internet campaign was successful in pressuring the FCC on Net Neutrality by getting large numbers of people to respond to action items to leave comments during the open comment period. Readers responded by leaving video comments and flooding the FCC with responses. It worked.
10:59: Part of the problem in dealing with many of these policy issues is that they are complex and many of the details and procedural issues are convoluted and hard to understand. Bloggers can help make these issues real to readers.
11:01: For nonprofits: Give bloggers info, make sure they understand it, make sure you know who you are contacting. Sometimes you give a trusted blogger info you might not give to traditional media.
11:08: Often the insiders are unaware that there is a large group of people willing to go to bat on their behalf outside of government, be it a bloggers, constituents, etc. These insiders, including members of Congress, need to know this and to be aware of what’s going on in the Netroots. One way to get this done is for Netroots people to help out with campaigns and become staffers.
11:11: MoveOn was able to get people to support Net Neutrality by getting the message across to people in power that they would get the support of the Netroots if they do the right thing (such as supporting Net Neutrality) and that they would be lauded as a hero and if they opposed it, they would be pressured afterward and would not get that support.
11:14: We need to get as many of our people on the inside as possible and need to find opportunities and take advantage of them when they come up. It’s also important to have an ally on the inside.
11:15: Anything that increases awareness of the Netroots amongst decision-makers gives us power.
11:19: McJoan says that her approach to blogging is issue-oriented and that telling the truth about candidates is more important than devotion to the person.
11:23: Adam points out that one of the key things that moves the whole process is having open lines of communication.
11:27: Idea for Florida — we need more interaction with the bloggers and the interest groups. At the national level there is a good amount of working together, not so much at the state level.
11:29: There should be a better job of knowing what organizations are working on, which makes it easier to coordinate at important times.
11:31: Legislators & members of Congress are unlikely to pay much attention to grassroots/Netroots activists until they are afraid that it will affect them at the ballot box.
11:44: The state/local bloggers are important in feeding stories to the national groups, who work on state/local things when they know about them.
11:45: Giving awards to legislators is one way to raise awareness and reward them.
11:46: The Pew Center on the States is a key resource for helping with state politics. Another is the Progressive States Network.
11:48: Timing is a key factor in successful action. Insiders can provide that information to the Netroots and make it very effective. Another is intelligence on individuals, the more we know about people and how they think and work, the easier it is to pressure them.
11:49: Insiders have a tendency to horde information and the more they learn to let that go is a great way to leverage and increase their power.
