CNN: Thousands of progressive activists meeting in Vegas

[Omaha Steve]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/22/thousands-of-progressive-activists-meeting-in-vegas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_politicalticker+%28Blog:+Political+Ticker%29&fbid=bHANjH6dCaH

Posted: July 22nd, 2010 08:11 AM ET

From CNN Senior Producer Kevin Bohn

Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) - Organizers of the annual Netroots Nation convention, beginning Thursday, hope what happens in Vegas does not stay in Vegas.

With the president's poll numbers hurting and chatter increases about the possibility of major defeats for Democrats in this year's mid-term elections, sponsors of the fifth conference hope the ideas and techniques that emerge from the participants will help propel the progressive agenda and spur action by the more than 2,200 progressive activists participating. It is billed as the largest gathering of the Democratic base in advance of the November election.

While the president still has an over 80 percent approval rating among Democrats, it has slipped a bit. As for the Democrats running this year, they are facing a large enthusiasm gap. Only 32 percent of Democrats said they were extremely or very enthusiastic about voting this year compared to 54 percent of Republicans, according to a May 21-23 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll.

Some 80 groups and organizations, many of them key constiuencies of the liberal wing of the Democratic party, are sponsoring NetRoots, including the AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFSCME, MoveOn.Org as well as the Democratic National Committee's Organizing For America wing.

There are over 150 different panels during the four-day event, ranging from voter contact: warming up the cold call; to channeling the power of jobs, populism and the angry voter; to how to respond to attacks on community organizers. Those sessions include a wide variety of activists, Democratic Party leaders, officeholders and candidates.

The convention occurs at a time when some in the progressive community are disappointed in the Obama Administration for not pushing harder for more of their agenda. Specifically they point to the exclusion of the public option in the health care overhaul and some of the nation's biggest banks were not broken up in the financial overhaul package just signed by the president. Other attendees however have blamed Congress for blocking some of those actions, especially in the Senate through the use of the filibuster, and say that is why more Democrats need to be elected.

FULL story at link.

[blm]

1. Did CNN cover it at all with their cameras? No. Did they cover Tea Pottiers extensively? Yes

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[katanalori]

2. I heard this on CNN............

"Hundreds attended........" I screamed at the teevee: "THOUSANDS! THOUSANDS!"