Yesterday was my first official day at Netroots Nation. It's helpful to be surrounded by other progressive people. The sessions that I attended yesterday were pretty fantastic. After staffing "the gay booth" I went to the Pennsylvania caucus where I learned about the hot races coming up in Pennsylvania. The trainer, Michael Morrill, from Keystone Progress, said he thought President Obama would sweep Pennsylvania and that Romney's campain didn't have much of a presence in the state. I hope so, personally I think it would be a great disaster if Romney won the presidency.

The next session I attended was on the American Legislative Exchange Council where the very rich and powerful corporations sit down, behind closed doors in secet, and basically chose the legilsative agenda for states across the country, including Pennsylvania. ALEC is behind the voter registration laws, gun laws, "school choice," and other issues that impact we, the middle class. And have been front and center in Pennsylvania. It was very informative and a true example that knowledge is powerful. One of the speakers mentioned that ALEC was started during the Nixon administration because the right-wing in the Republican party thought Nixon wasn't supportive enough of big business. Nixon was too liberal!! This all goes back to the lessons I have been learning as I read the book Nixonland -- a lot of the right-wing extreme behavior began during Nixon's presidency.

The final session I attended was investigative reporting for bloggers. It was very helpful because the trainers listed all the various resources you can use/access to report on politicians, corporations, non-profits, etc. They used Donald Trump as their example. I took copious notes and learned a lot. Information can also be germane to my day job.

We had dinner and then attended the Planned Parenthood reception where we met a fellow lesbian and spoke to her about Wednesday's LGBT session. Then it was the keynote speakers. All of them were inspirational and especially Lily Eskelsen from the NEA who quite nicely tied up the right-wing, the Koch brothers, money and the right's relentless attack on the middle class. Hearing the speakers last night did fire me up somewhat but I still wonder -- given all the money and ALEC having our legislators in their back pockts, what can I do as an ordinary citizen beside vote which doesn't always seem to be enough. It seems as though the legislation that gets pushed that is very unhelpful to me as a citizen is almost a foregone conclusion. I have to think about this and what I want to do and can do. It just seems so hopeless sometimes. Well, time to get on with my day and the next sessions.