I did not attend YearlyKos, but I avidly kept up with all the goings-on. Thank God for C-Span and Fora TV, and for blogs of course.
From all that I have seen, read and heard, the event was a smashing success. Not only did we crash the gate, but we are now on the inside of the arena. The force seems to be with us.
So, what now? How do we build on this?
Am I crazy to envision our own debates among the contenders for the Democratic nomination? Real debates, not the canned stuff the SCLM with each reporter trying to show how clever s/he is. Debates which could be carried on C-Span and Public TV stations, and which could last as long as four hours if need be, with a short break in between. The questioners would be real people (bloggers) from different walks of life asking the bread & butter questions that are on the minds of the American people and demanding simple truthful answers, instead of paragraphs from stump speeches. Importantly they will be able to ask follow-up questions and to challenge the respondents if they find their questions are being evaded. A real public service event. A real debate.
Like everyone else 'I've heard of Mark Warner's sushi. Was he politicking? Well, it led me to wonder if, as a group, we should be in the business of supporting our own candidate for the Democratic nomination? And once we've decided on our candidate, we do as the unions do and work our butts off to ensure that he or she wins the nomination.
This at least may mean that we have some delineated bedrock principles which reflect who we are and where we stand. More to the point, what are the do's and don'ts that make one candidate acceptable to us, the other unacceptable. Kos said on MTP that we were opposed to Lieberman, not only because of Iraq, but also because he did not uphold Democratic principles, while Hillary and Kerry did. Yet, from what I've been reading I don't think that Hillary would be acceptable either. What specifically are the principles and characteristics that appeal to us?
I'm sure there are a lot more things. But what ideas are out ther on how we build on the enormous success that was Yearly Kos?
Oh, and finally, congratulations to everyone involved in putting the event together and making sure it came off as it did. Well done.