Netroots Nation

YearlyKos is a political convention for American progressive political activists, organized by readers and writers of Daily Kos, a liberal political blog.

Although it is closely associated with Daily Kos, it is not produced by Markos Moulitsas or Kos Media, but by an independent group, Bloggerpower.org. The idea and much of the organization for Yearly Kos came from Gina Cooper, aka gina, and many other volunteers.

2006

The first YearlyKos was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from June 8 to June 11, 2006. It attracted approximately 1,000 attendees, and featured prominent Democrats such as Harry Reid, Howard Dean, and Barbara Boxer, as well as four possible contenders in the 2008 Democratic primary: retired General Wesley Clark, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, Iowa governor Tom Vilsack, and former Virginia governor Mark Warner.

Laughing Liberally provided comedy entertainment at the convention, with stand-up comics Lee Camp and Baratunde Thurston, and George W. Bush impressionist James Adomian.

The convention also consisted of panels, roundtable discussion groups, and other gatherings of activists, members of the media and elected officials. Many of the panels were broadcast on C-SPAN. The convention was held at the Riviera hotel and casino.

2007

The 2007 YearlyKos was held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois from August 2 to August 5.[1]

Eight of the nine major Democratic Presidential candidates attended the Convention in a debate moderated by bloggers. The most memorable moment was when Hillary Clinton refused to join John Edwards and Barack Obama's pledge to stop taking money from Washington lobbyists. [2]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were expected to appear, but were held up in Washington due to various votes. On Saturday night of the Convention, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial FISA legislation to expand George Bush's powers.

2008

The 2008 Yearly Kos is expected to be held in Austin, Texas from July 18-20. For 2008, the YearlyKos convention changed its name to Netroots Nation to better reflect the growing influence and membership of the netroots as a whole rather than just Daily Kos.

External links

• Netroots Nation official website, previously known as YearlyKos Convention