So tonight 60 or so young leaders from campuses across the country and I got to participate in an improv training session lead by Laughing Liberally (while Markos and others watched from the back) at the 2007 "Young People For" National Summit. It was great and in the midst of all of this, I was struck by the fact that just a few years ago none of this existed. Young People For, Laughing Liberally, DailyKos; these and other pillars of the progressive movements infrastructure are all relatively new.

(Background: Young People For (YP4) is a part of the the People for the American Way Foundation - the orange lanyards at YearlyKos). I've posted about them before and Markos and Jerome wrote about YP4 and its founder, Iara Peng, on page 120 of Crashing the Gate.)

Perhaps the one overriding conclusion I've drawn from my time in the progressive movement is that passion alone isn't enough. Because we've always had, and still have, passion in spades. But progressives need the infrastructure and the funding to support, nurture, and grow the progressive movement, which is why programs like YP4 and its investment in young leaders are an essential component to our long-term success.

Over the next four days 180 YP4 fellows are going to spend their time media training, issue advocacy, campaigns tactics, and other skills to help them advance their leadership skills. But they're going to also get a far more important message, that they're not alone in their struggles for progressive change their campuses or in their communities across the country.

I know that sounds counter-intuitive to many who believe that campuses are already overwhelmingly left-leaning. But left-leaning and left-acting are two very different things and last year the right invested $48 million in the right's young leaders and campus programs. We need to empower those who can bring active progressive change and also to spread the word that blogs and the netroots can be a huge part of that change mechanism for young people.

Last year, at the 2006 YP4 conference, I met a stranger who offered me candy. Actually, I met Jerome, who hired me about 3 days later to join the Warner Campaign, thus beginning my entry into the netroots (and a hell of a year). And maybe this year I'll find some recruits for the netroots (if any YP4 fellows see this post and are interested in blogging, be sure and find me).

But mostly what I'll come away from this weekend is a bit of hope and inspiration from some truly remarkable young leaders that I'm lucky enough to call my peers and we're lucky enough to have on our side. I'll be posting a few diaries and pictures on the conference over the next few days to try and share this important part of the progressive movement with the the netroots. Also check out the Young People For Group Blog.