This year was not the first time I attended Netroots Nation/Yearly Kos; I’ve been to all but the first in Las Vegas. But this is the first time I attended as a candidate, for Rensselaer County (NY) Legislature, District 4.
So I went to Pittsburgh with a different goal – to learn how to be an effective candidate and how to help the residents of my county should I be elected.
While this year’s confab was as fun-filled as Chicago and Austin, I came away with several important lessons.
More below the fold.
The most important thing I learned from NN09 was how supportive this wonderful community is. Each time I mentioned I was a candidate during a session, there was a round of applause. When I mentioned it one-on-one, there were atta-girls. Nobody cared that the office I am seeking is a local one, because having people like us run for office is the important thing. The enthusiasm was energizing.
Kossacks also offered more tangible support. Sidnora said she was charmed by the hand-written slips of paper that served as my business cards. But as charming as they might be, she told me, I really needed something a bit more professional. So she offered her services as a designer and after a few e-mails back and forth, she sent me a wonderful looking business card, and 500 cards are in the mail -- Sidnora’s much-appreciated donation to my campaign.
Then there was Darcy Burner, who I ran into in the Westin lobby and was genuinely excited that I was running. We need progressives in county legislatures, too.
Another highlight for my candidacy was getting introduced at the Meet the Candidates and Pub Quiz, and getting a chance to make a short speech.
My inexperience as a public speaker did not deter Lauren Martin from the Women’s Campaign Forum and She Should Run (which did a lot to make the Pub Quiz a success). She approached me, and encouraged me to look into what She Should Run has to offer women candidates.
I learned a great deal from Matt Blizek from Democracy for America, LoRayne Apo-Joynt, Graham Davis, Julielyn Gibbons (from Michigan, all!), John Rowley, and Kid Oakland.
I learned that if we stick together and support each other, we can win, at every level.
I am still working my way through the many obstacles of being a rookie Democratic candidate for an office largely owned by Republicans for decades. Republicans have branded me a "liberal blogger" and a "cranky political hack" on their campaign blog. I am sure that these slurs will be mild by comparison to what mud they will sling in the last week.
My biggest challenge at the moment is raising the money I need to fund this campaign.
So please help a fellow Kossack by visiting my ActBlue page.