Elizabeth Warren headlines liberal gathering Netroots

Elizabeth Warren headlines liberal gathering as other top 2020 contenders skip Netroots

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and three other Democratic primary candidates will take center stage at the 14th annual Netroots Nation conference on Saturday, facing questions at a forum capping off days of activist workshops, panel discussions and a few morning yoga sessions.

Thousands of progressive organizers have been gathered here since Thursday, meeting to trade tips and tactics for building on last year's gains ahead of the 2020 elections. The Massachusetts Democrat will be the de facto headliner. Other early polling leaders are absent due to scheduling conflicts in what has already become, with nearly seven months to go before the Iowa caucuses, an unrelenting campaign for the party's nomination.

The presidential forum will also include New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.

Netroots Nation, which debuted under a different title the summer before the 2006 midterms, is one of the longest running and most historically influential annual progressive political conferences, welcoming presidential candidates and top Democratic congressional leaders. Well before Twitter overtook blogs as the grassroots' digital megaphone of choice, it was instrumental in pushing party establishment leaders to more aggressively battle Republicans and embrace issues like climate change.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/13/politics/elizabeth-warren-netroots-nation-2019-progressive-convention/index.html