Blogs: Take Back America

Netroots Nations participants have four clear priorities for the next president: ending the war in Iraq, addressing the global warming crisis, obtaining health care for all and clsing the growing gap between the rich and poor, according to a straw poll done by Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America's Future. more »

Given the headlines of the past few weeks, it's perhaps no surprise that the number one issue on the minds of Take Back America participants is the economy, according to a poll done by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Politico.com. more »

Forty.

Fifty-seven.

Sixty-three.

Those are the three numbers Brad Woodhouse of Americans United for Change is begging progressives to worry about in the months leading up to the November election. more »

Yesterday, I spent interviewing Take Back America attendees about the issues that are important to them as progressives, I was reminded of what being a progressive is — at its core — about. Their answers were personal, as parents and grandparents talked about the kind of world they want their children and grandchildren to inherit. But there was another aspect to their answers. more »

Norman Lear received the America's Future Lifetime Leadership Award at the Take Back America Gala Dinner on Tuesday evening. Lear was recognized for his work as both a groundbreaking television producer and an outspoken progressive activist and benefactor. Also honored was Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky for her advocacy in Congress and the Green Jobs for All team of Van Jones and Majora Carter. more »

One of the underappreciated success stories of 2008 is the growing ability of the progressive movement to accumulate resources and use them to push toward a set of common goals. more »

At the "New Green Deal" luncheon, Majora Carter of Sustainable South Bronx just delivered one of the most powerful presentations heard at Take Back America 2008, detailing her efforts to bring green-collar jobs and open spaces, sparking a transformation of the poorest area of New York City. more »

Earlier this morning at Take Back America 2008, some of the leading lights of the progressive blogosphere -- Chris Bowers, Digby, Terrance Heath, Tracy Russo and Pam Spaulding -- gathered to discuss how blogs have successfully influenced the political and media establishments, and how blogs can continue their success as the political environment shifts. more »

Read Isaiah's account of this morning's landmark panel with Roger Wilkins, Jesse Jackson, and Taylor Branch before you bother with my mere two cents. more »

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Roger Wilkins — an activist outsider and a White House insider in the 1960s — say that today's progressive movement needs to lay claim to the successes of the 1960s in order to advance its agenda in 2008 and beyond. “The third rail is where the energy is, where the power is, where the fire is,” Jackson said. The focus of this year's Take Back America conference has been the need to build an independent progressive movement ready to hold accountable whoever controls the White House and Congress.

Check the conference home page for more of the action at Take Back America 2008.

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