There've been a couple of diaries referencing this shindig, but they didn't get much attention. This one will probably slide by too, but I thought I'd post a link to the goings on. The conference started yesterday, in D.C.
Take Back America 2006
The Take Back America Conference is a catalyst for building the infrastructure to ensure that the voice of the progressive majority is heard. Take Back America always attracts the nation's most prominent progressive leaders. Last year's speakers included Howard Dean, Antonio Villaraigosa, John Edwards, Jesse Jackson, Arianna Huffington and Bill Moyers, among others, and this year's lineup promises to be even better. Already the largest progressive gathering ever year, the Campaign for America's Future Take Back America Conference will be bigger than ever in 2006!
There's already been some press:
Democrats at Odds Over November Tactics
WASHINGTON - Sharp differences among Democrats over the best way to defeat Republicans in the November midterm elections were on display yesterday at a Washington conference of leading progressives, who suggested campaigning strategies quite contrary to those pursued by party leader Howard Dean.
Chief among the disagreements was how best to target voters. Unlike Dr. Dean, who favors exploiting the shortcomings of the Bush administration, a group of Democrats said a socially progressive agenda must be placed before electors, not the attacks on President Bush's competence favored by Dr. Dean.
Continued...
This year's participants:
Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Russ Feingold, Gov. Tom Vilsack, Rep. George Miller, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Harry Reid, Gov. Ed Rendell, Sen. Gary Hart, Sen. Tom Harkin, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Mel Watt, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Sherrod Brown, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, Robert Redford, David Bonior, Arianna Huffington, Jerome Ringo, Roger Hickey, Cecile Richards, Celinda Lake, Gloria Totten, John Podesta, Jacob Hacker, Gerald McEntee, John Sweeney, Robert Borosage, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Stan Greenberg, Leo Gerard, Larry Schweiger, Anna Burger, Joan Blades, Biko Baker, Jeff Faux, Lisa Turner, Jeff Blodgett, Heather Booth, William McNary, Jerome Armstrong, Michael Tomasky, Barbara Ehrenreich, Sen. Polly Baca, Karen Nussbaum, Maggie Fox, Cecile Richards, Luis Navarro, Donna Edwards, Kristina Wilfore, William Lerach, Madeline Janis-Aparicio, Dan Carol, Kay Coles, Daniel Gotoff, Will Robinson, Alexander Robinson, Jay Harris, Alexandra Walker, Robert Greenwald, Julie Bergman Sender, Tracy Van Slyke, Cenk Uygur, Iara Peng, Ellen Miller, Anya Kamenetz, David Donnelly, Quinn Wilhelmi, Elana Berkowitz, Maria Teresa Petersen, Biko Baker, Kevin Phillips, Thea Lee, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Tamara Draut, Jared Bernstein, Helen Brunner, Tim Bishop, Zach Pollet, Eva Bonime, Gar Alperovitz, David Bollier, Wayne Ford, Frannie WellingsTeresa Joyce, Deepak Bhargava, Rudy lopez, Angelica Salas, Roberto Lovato, Jaime Contreras, Sonia Ramirez, Rep. Joyce Elliott, John DeGraaf, Laura Pacheco, Wendy Puriefoy, Eli Pariser, Solange Bitol-Hansen, Bernard Rapoport, Tom Matzzie, Chellie Pingree, Dee Brown, Karen Ackerman, Ruy Teixeira, Oliver Thomas, Robert W. McChesney, Marcy Darnovsky, Joe Solmonese, Wade Henderson, Maria Elena Durazo, Dr. Joan Williams, Irasema Garza, Carol Joyner, Cali Ressler, Jody Thompson, Rev. Jennifer S. Butler, Harvey J. Kaye, Michael Kazin, David Sirota, Sarah Anderson, Steve Cobble, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Dan Petegorsky, Rep. Dave McAlpin, Ron Sims, Billy Parish, Joel Rogers, Joanne Derwin, Rich Feldman, Jennifer Ito, Malia Lazu, Belen Mendoza, Walter Mosley, Tyson King-Meadows, Christine Chen, Rev. Paul Sherry, Jen Kern, Beth Shulman, Eric Boehlert, Chris Rabb, Matt Stoller, Louis Pagan, Christy Hardin Smith, Mark Birnbaum, Robert Greenwald, Rick Jacobs, Jim Schermbeck, John Javna, Tanya Harris, and others--including progressive talk radio personalities and bloggers.
Check the Interactive Conference Agenda for multimedia content.