The Pundit Project

by: Jeff Gardner

Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 02:06:05 PM EDT

My favorite seminar yesterday was The Pundit Project - featuring Matt Yglesias, Cliff Shecter, Amanda Terkel and Faiz Shakir.

And some of the tips to remember for effective advocacy would be really helpful for New Jersey's progressive activists:

Getting on air doesn't just happen. Unless you work for an organization with a booking agent, or wrote a book and have a publicist on your side, you have to go out and sell yourself or your organization/idea/event to the media. Nightline is not going to come looking for you.

So, armed with that information - I marched over to the Sirius Satellite Radio booth, told them I was a blogger and internet radio host from BlueJersey.com, the fabulous progressive political website from New Jersey, and asked how I get on the air. A short conversation later, and I was booked for the show, which aired on the Me and Vinnie show on Sirius indie_talk this morning. If Sirius weren't so strict with their audio, I might be able to offer you a clip. But, since they are, I can tell you IT WAS AMAZING! THE BEST SHOW EVER! (and you won't be able to prove otherwise.)

It certainly helped that I was paired with Friend of Blue Jersey, NJ's own Obama Girl. Amber (that's her real name) had actually been on Sirius Radio before, the Howard Stern Show to be specific. But, everybody starts somewhere. And, thanks to the Pundit Project, Sirius Radio, and a little bit of gumption, Blue Jersey got a little bit of extra media exposure today. And if you follow these tips, you can do that too!

[Insert gratuitous Obama Girl photo:]

So, in keeping with all I've learned, I invite you to join me tonight at 8:00 p.m. on Blue Jersey Radio, when Jason and I recap the day in both New Jersey politics and Netroots Nation.  

Netroots Nation Diary - Part II

by: Jeff Gardner

Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 11:19:09 AM EDT

Hi again everybody - from Austin, TX. After a day of seminars, networking, meeting and greeting in smaller groups, the Netroots Nation crowd came together in one room for the first time last night for the kickoff keynote speech by Howard Dean. It probably goes without saying, but,... he killed.

Update: The video is available on Dkos courtesy of Mitch - JG

And, he was joined on stage by Wes Clark (who was also great), and by Glen Maxey (the first openly gay representative in Texas) who, well, knocked it out of the park Texas-style.

But, just to prove once again that Jersey makes and the world takes, as I watched the speakers with the DFA crew and others, I suddenly found myself chatting with Holly Shulman - yes, Dennis's daughter. She's working on netroots darling Rick Noriega's Senate campaign here, and she'll be joining us on Blue Jersey Radio tonight. (P.S. - to dad, Holly says hi).

I will be stealing a chunk of time midday today to share more of yesterday's events. But, right now, I'm actually heading over to the Sirius Satellite Radio booth, where I've been asked to be a guest.

That's right - if you are a Sirius subscriber, tune in at 11:00a on Sirius's indie_talk station - I'll be plugging Blue Jersey in just a few

So, while I deal with my nerves, I'll leave you with the photo I promised yesterday. I give you, Pam Spaulding:

Useful things I learned at Netroots Nation today

by: Jeff Gardner

Fri Jul 18, 2008 at 09:30:00 AM EDT

State legislative candidates in New Jersey can now use ActBlue to raise money. It used to be that ActBlue found our ELEC rules too byzantine to bother with, and NJ was one of the few places unable to take advantage of ActBlue. That's no longer true. If you're a NJ state-level candidate, and want to avail yourself of ActBlue to do your fundraising, you need only contact them, fill out a little bit of extra paperwork upfront, and you're off to the races (minus a tiny extra % charge, again thanks to ELEC).

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

Darcy Burner is totally awesome, and someone our NJ delegation will want to get to know.

Dennis Shulman, also awesome, is drawing more notice from across the country than people realize. (Maybe it helps to be so accessible to his supporters).

The average age of Netroots Nation attendees is much older than you think. You are never too old to join the progressive movement, and take part in taking our country back.

Rutgers Law School - Newark may still deserve its old nickname as the "People's Electric Law School" for its progressive activism: my friend and classmate there, Vince Warren, is the Executive Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights (the people who argued the plaintiffs' case in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Habeas Corpus rights for the detainees at Guantanamo Bay), and a presenter here.

Lots of progressive groups are hiring, at various levels. Some local ones: ACORN is looking for Political Organizers throughout the country (email RESUME to: Sara Mathers at: polrecruit@acorn.org, and NJ Environmental Federation is hiring at its 3 New Jersey offices in Belmar, Montclair and Trenton.

If you go on Sirius Satellite Radio, and say it's a bad idea to drill for oil off New Jersey's shoreline because you don't want our beaches to end up like the Texas Gulf Coast, and you're in Texas when you say that, you might get some angry callers.

Blue Jersey Radio - LIVE from Netroots Nation

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 08:02:21 PM EDT

This week: Jeff is live from Netroots Nation in Texas, while Jason guards the homefront in South Jersey. We'll have all the buzz from both places, plus any juicy bits you want to chime in with. Give us a call tonight at 8:00 p.m. and we can discuss.

We're live from 8:00p-8:30p tonight, and would love to hear from you. Just call: 646-652-2773

Talk to you then!

Netroots Nation Diary - Part I

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 10:00:00 AM EDT

The trip here yesterday was long, but dotted with momentary reminders that everything would be okay. After frantically finishing up work from my day job, I raced to Newark Liberty airport, got through security, and before I could even say to myself "what the hell are you doing flying to Texas in the middle of July?" - who do I see on my plane, but Clammyc in the flesh. He's been beating up on Scott Garrett here, and is on a panel this weekend about internet media. So - yeah - I remember why I'm going to Texas.

After a bit of a bumpy landing, I hopped in a cab from the airport to make sure I got to the hotel in time for last night's radio show. I started thinking about our guest, and the geography of north and south, and red and blue, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the first big business establishment since arriving in the great red state of Texas - "The Landing Strip" (get it - a stripper bar near the airport). And, before I finished the thought in my head about republican faux-bible-thumping, we drove past the Planned Parenthood.

So, by the time this Jersey boy stepped into his hotel room in the capital of the Lone Star State, I had realized two important things: in real life, there are no red places and blue places - there's just America, in all its imperfect glory. And, second, I need to take more pictures if I want these diaries to be more interesting.

Well - off to today's sessions - talk to you later!

Update: I'm in the Pundit Project seminar right now, along with Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blend. (I know Pam's got some Jersey fans.) This is going to be fun!

Update #2: More New Jersey sightings:

- Mitch Manzella (as seen in the comments)
- Adam Green
- Brian McGinnis

Allow me to introduce you to Professor George Lakoff

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 04:30:00 AM EDT

Hi again, from Netroots Nation. Hey, are you busy today at 5:30p EDT? Because, Professor George Lakoff will be here in Austin with Democracy for America, presenting a special afternoon edition of DFA Night School.

Howard Dean called Professor George Lakoff "One of the most influential political thinkers of the progressive movement."  Professor Lakoff returns to DFA Night School as we go live from Netroots Nation in Austin, Texas for this hour long online training. We'll discuss his latest book, The Political Mind, and the frames and metaphors we need to use to win in November.

Blue Jersey's Yellow Rose of Texas

by: Jay Lassiter

Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 09:38:53 AM EDT

[promoted simply because it was grossly inappropriate to do so.  Now do what Jay says -- huntsu] 

For anyone who wanted to go to Netroots Nation, it's the next best thing since you'll be reading about the action every day on Blue Jersey.

When Jeff Gardner took the early lead in a DFA-sponsored scholarship to Netroots Nation, I was thrilled.  After all, it'd mean one of Blue Jersey's more prolific media whores will be in Austin to cover Netroots Nation (formerly YearkyKos) and give the rest of us a front row glimpse at the action.

Over the weekend, while Jeff was incommunicado celebrating his anniversary at an undisclosed location -- some dude named Robert Harding inched into the lead with the help, no doubt, of his merry band of New York goons liberals.  (With a name like Harding, this guy will likely do anything to win.) 

So it's up to us to put Jeff over the top, and the sooner the better.  After all, the deadline is tonite.  So go vote for Jeff right away. 

Anyone going to Netroots Nation?

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu May 29, 2008 at 12:03:31 AM EDT

Update (Juan): They called you "swamp rats". Are you going to take that? Jeff is only behind by one vote. So vote!

If you've never heard of Netroots Nation, let me tell you about it. Formerly known as "YearlyKos," it's an annual convention begun in 2006, that brings together progressive bloggers and online activists from around the country. This year, the event takes place in Austin, TX in July, and promises to be better than ever:

The third annual gathering of the Netroots community will include panels and caucuses led by national and international experts; prominent political, issue and policy-oriented speakers; a progressive film screening series and the most concentrated gathering of high-profile progressive bloggers to date.

Well, Democracy for America is offering scholarships to send nine lucky individuals from across the county to this year's Netroots Nation in Austin, TX, and I applied.

DFA is considering the level of grassroots support for each applicant in making its selection, so now, I'm writing to ask for support from the Blue Jersey community to help me get to Austin! You can help me with little more than a click on this link.

Thanks - your support would mean a lot to me!
:)