As the train that is YearlyKos 07 bears down on us I would like to share some photographs and memories from YearlyKos 06.
All of us who came to Las Vegas took a gamble. The gamble paid off in spades. For me it was a life altering experience- amazingly fun, interesting and breathtaking. The folks who spent a year planning and obsessing to create this event have my gratitude for giving us an experience that's right up there with the likes of Woodstock- a new wrinkle in our American culture. Everyone is still trying to puzzle out what it all means, but for sure the powers that be took notice and are variously worried or delighted at the prospect of another meeting of some of the most astute minds that reside in the blogosphere.
Seeing and meeting some of the people we have come to know in the Dailykos community was like a novel coming to life, all the characters were suddenly three dimensional. What a high to hear and converse with some of my most admired diarists and hear so many of our most valued and revered political minds. They honored our community by being there.
What we need to keep in mind this week as we talk and listen to our community is that our purpose is to work to elect Democrats. While it is wonderful to have the validation of so many People Like Us (PLU), it was striking to go into the casinos and out on the street amongst ordinary people; these are the people that we need to reach. Those of you who come to partake of Yearlykos 07- please look around you- at the hotel workers, the people you pass in the hall without those orange lanyards around their necks, the kids in Chicago for Lollapalooza, a swath of middle America that is Chicago. These are the folks we need to pull into the Democratic Party fold and get motivated to vote for the candidates who will put the earth back on its axis.
Here follows some of my photographs from Ykos06 as an appetizer for the feast that is coming.
UID Number 3
Markos and Arianna Huffington
Joe Wilson gets his Unconventional portrait taken
Nyceve, Bonddad and OrangeClouds115
General Clark and Markos at the Hard Rock Cafe
Energy Panelists devilstower(Mark Sumner) A Siegal(Adam Siegal) and
Doolittle Sothere(George Karayannis)
Congressional candidates Jay Fawcett and Charles Brown
Jerome a Paris (Jerome Guillet)
Sarah Carter and Maureen Dowd
Dewey of the Desert, Bisco Bosco and Momster
MarkinSanFran and Stephen Darksyde
RubDMC and friend
Dewey of the Desert, NinthElegy and pabluestater
tin foil hats
old fashioned communication