Eric Massa's Weely Diary: YearlyKos Followup

Cross posted from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/6/11/15019/4326">kos


It was a red eye return to Rochester from Las Vegas via NYC after a hectic and whirlwind two days at the YearlyKos Convention. The invitation to appear at the convention as one of two netroots endorsed Congressional candidates was too important to pass up and even though it took me out of District NY-29 for a little over 36 hours. The opportunity to meet so many of the bloggers who have participated in our ongoing dialogue made it all worth while.

In addition to attending many seminars that addressed issues, both domestic and international, there were great opportunities to meet some of the real visionaries in the netroots movement. I was asked at every turn why I thought the netroots were important -- and I put some focused thought into trying to express what I sensed some time ago. Almost nine months ago I started to blog live every week. As I worked to learn the ropes it struck me that, in reality, what I was doing was holding a national town hall meeting every week and -- while all politics is local -- blogging has the potential to reach far beyond the Congressional District.

I know that I have become a better candidate as a result of the three hours that I try to dedicate to the web every week. I get a sense of what is really going on both in my District and in America as a whole. The internet has, to a large degree, replaced the traditional press as a method of receiving rapidly breaking news and -- more importantly from the political campaign point of view – it has, to a large degree, replaced traditional press as a tool for rapid reaction. All of this and a great deal more was very clear to those of us who were able to attend the event this year.

There are many postings about the actual convention from the speech by Governor Dean -- which restated and reemphasized his (our) 50 state strategy -- to Governor Warner’s all-out gala at the very top of the Stratosphere. (I’ve been to quite a few parties and that one broke the record as far as food, fun and location – 1100 feet above Los Vegas!!!! – and no I did not ride the roller coaster at the top of the needle although it was rented out full time for the party.)

There is no doubt that the growing netroots movement will play an increasingly dominating role in the upcoming elections. And I am fully committed to not only continue my emphasis on this channel of communication but – more importantly – to continuing this weekly blog (live) well after I am elected.

Thanks for stopping by and if you can give me a day or two to get some sleep we’ll be back up and running by mid week!!!!

Eric Massa