To build on Jerome's post below, after spending the last two days at the Take Back America conference in D.C., I wanted to pop in with some quick thoughts. First, a complete video archive of the conference can be found here. Perhaps the highlight of the conference, at least for me, was at the gala awards dinner last night. In a rare public appearance, Digby accepted the Paul Wellstone award in our honor with her typical class and insight (embarrassingly, the underdressed guy in the yellow shirt is me):


Also, here is the blogger ethics activism panel I was on with Matt, Jane Hamsher, Oliver Willis, and Jim Dean:

As for a certain distortion about Hillary Clinton and boos currently being spread around the media, Common Sense, Taylor Marsh, Seeing the Forest and, of course,Digby, have the real story.

I have two quick thoughts on the conference:

• First, as one more in a growing number of regular gatherings and discussions that bring together a wide variety of organizations and activists within the progressive movement, at Take Back America we continued to witness the rise of a better coordinated, multi-issue, effective left-wing political movement in America. Just five years ago, the connective tissues between our various advocacy organizations, media outlets, activists, consultants, and candidates / elected officials were either frayed seemingly beyond repair or simply non-existent. Now, virtually everyone seems to be talking with each other, if not coordinating and organizing together. The increasingly frequent occurrence of progressive political successes is directly related to this development.
  
  
• The 2008 Democratic field is talking in a far more openly progressive manner than at any other point in at least two decades. For example, watching Obama and Edwards speak back to back, I was struck at how much more progressive their messages were than really anything we saw in 2003. In fact, virtually all of them seem to be openly identifying themselves as progressives now, which is another step in the right direction. This is also connected to the rising effectiveness of the progressive movement, and to a cultural shift in America that also seems decidedly progressive to me. Further, I think the netroots have usefully engaged in a carrot and stick approach with most candidates, first by giving them a lot of support in terms of money, buzz and volunteers and second by still holding their feet to the fire when they do something we don't like.

While there is still a long way to go, I think the country is definitely shifting to the left, and there is potential for much more. This is a good time to be a progressive.

Update: Obama wins the conference straw poll (PDF, second choice numbers in parenthesis).

Obama: 29 (30)
Edwards: 26 (28)
Clinton: 17 (16)
Richardson: 9 (11)
Gore: 8 (2)
Kucinich: 5 (6)
Dodd: 1 (2)
Biden: 1 (2)
Gravel: 1 (1)
Other / None: 3 (2)

With all the bloggers at the event, these results are fairly unsurprising. :)