by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Another day, more bloggers.  I began the day hanging out at the "blogger boulevard." The Cafepress folks came by with news that Obama is clinging to his lead in the random buying-stuff primary (with a substantial lead in the T-shirt and thong(huh?) categories).  Dave Johnson, Chris Bowers, Gina Cooper, and lots of other cool people were haning out there.

I'm now sitting in a health care session with Jacob Hacker, Ezra Klein and a few others.  Oh, and Jack Layton, the leader of the NDP in Canada is here. It's quite interesting hearing these people together. You have single payer, PDA folks arguing for their plan. You have Hacker and, to a greater extent, Klein arguing for political realism. Take Back America is a really interesting mix of old style activism with new school communications. I'm looking forward to some of these sessions this week.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller (of MyDD) and Mike Lux (of the Beltway –- but in a good way) have teamed up to launch OpenLeft, a new online venture that (and I’m about to oversimplify here) seeks to provide a space that bridges the different pieces of the movement -- both technological and generational -- and to a certain extent, activist and practioner. At least that’s my impression. And, they’re off to a great start.

And in an example of "OldLeft meets OpenLeft" is Stoller’s post on Congressman George Miller’s (CA-7) response to a question Stoller asked in "Ask George", a new feature on Miller’s website. As noted, Congressman Miller’s very smart use of technology to engage his constituents on the Iraq War and launch a virtual townhall is pretty clever -- and one of the many many reasons Congressman Miller is so popular and respected. (Disclaimer: Congressman Miller was one of my first bosses, something I take great pride in –- that and he still calls me kiddo –- which when I’m feeling old, I like). I hope to see Congressman Miller’s virtual townhall not only adopted by more members of Congress, but it would be nice to see some (any) members of the CA Legislature employ similar outreach tools.

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Leading up to the election last November, Chris Bowers initiated the Use It or Lose It project, urging unopposed members of Congress to contribute their money to the DCCC in support of other competitive races.  In addition, I found 64 more districts with token opposition (Republican had raised less than $10,000 total).  California's districts, safely drawn as many of them are, were well represented on these two lists, and while many of California's Democrats were very supportive, not all of them were.  Our representatives have a responsibility to support the party as a whole whenever possible, and sitting on piles of cash is both a waste and a betrayal of good faith.  Here's a look at how the delegation performed so that we can start applying pressure where necessary.