Who’s Afraid of the Netroots?

Since the right-wing and even some of the mainstream media, and the DLC, continue to paint the Blogosphere and Netroots Nation as some kind of far-left vaguely communist anti-American collection of tired old hippies, I’ve put together (with some help) a list of the politicians that attended the conference in Austin. None of these politicians were afraid to be seen with the technocratic, entrepreneurial, civil libertarian-minded attendees, and presumably most had an expectation that they would gain some benefit from the association.

Alabama
Don Siegelman, former AL-Gov

Alaska
Mark Begich, AK-Sen

California
Nancy Pelosi- Speaker of the House, CA-08
Debra Bowen, CA Secretary of State
Charlie Brown, CA-04
Russ Warner, CA-26
Debbie Cook, CA-46
Steve Young, CA-48
Mike Lumpkin, CA-52
Gavin Newsom, San Francisco, CA, Mayor

Colorado
Hal Bidlack, CO-05

Connecticut
Jim Himes, CT-04

District of Columbia
Howard Park, DC, Ward 6

Florida
Alan Grayson, FL-08
Annette Taddeo, FL-18
Joe Garcia, FL-25

Georgia
Bob Barr, GA, Libertarian candidate for President

Idaho
Larry LaRocco, ID-Sen

Illinois
Dan Seals, IL-10
Scott Harper, IL-13

Kansas
Jim Slattery, KS-Sen

Maryland
Donna Edwards, MD-4

Missouri
Robin Carnahan, MO-Secretary of State

New Mexico
Martin Heinrich, NM-01
Ben Ray Lujan, NM-03

Nevada
Jill Derby, NV-02

New York
Steve Behar, NYC Council
Kevin Powell, NY-10
Jon Powers, NY-26

North Carolina
Brad Miller, NC-13

Ohio
John Boccieri, OH-16

Oregon
Jeff Merkley, OR-Sen

Pennsylvania
Sam Bennett, PA-15

Tennessee
Al Gore, TN, former Vice-President of the United States

Texas

Rick Noriega, TX-Sen
Larry Joe Doherty, TX-10
Lloyd Doggett, TX-25
Joe Jaworski, TX Sen District 11
Kenneth Franks, TX House District 9
Garnet Coleman, TX House District 147
Sherrie Matula, TX House District 129
Glen Maxey, former TX House District 51
Mike Engelhart, TX Judicial District 151
Mark Thompson, TX Railroad Commission

Vermont
Howard Dean, VT-Former Gov

Virginia
Glenn Nye, VA-02

Washington
Darcy Burner, WA-08

Wisconsin
Ben Masel, WI-Sen candidate for 2012

Wyoming
Nick Carter, WY-Sen

There were a lot of politicians from red and purple states and districts who had the common sense to understand that the (New) New Left may be anti-war but they have little else in common with the 60’s counterculture (except insofar as the Netroots welcomes the veterans of those wars with open arms). The Netroots is unapologetically pro-Constitution, anti-torture, and pro-Small Business. Our consensus positions on the war, on reproductive rights, on gay rights, and the environment are now majority American opinions. They aren’t fringe. We have the (Old) New Left to thank for a lot of that, but the Netroots’ culture is decidedly different, as are our primary goals. The (Old) New Left was tackling the Establishment on desegregation and women’s liberation in an attempt to tear down centuries-old injustices. The (New) New Left is not attempting anything so bold or transformative. We’re trying to get universal health care, Fair Trade, a green energy plan, and a restoration of the consensus American governmental and legal values of the post-war period…including internationalism and human rights.

Our politicians are actually running on these issues and not away from them. Up on The Hill, Congress is still giving us a stiff-arm, but down in the trenches and on the campaign trail, our values are winning the day. That’s why the new breed of Democrats are not afraid to come to our conferences. They want to be there. That’s also why Bill O’Reilly is so hilarious.