The 30 Netroots Nation participants who spoke to POLITICO said they’re not motivated to see unnamed names on stage — though a few, admittedly, describe themselves as “fangirls” of AOC.
“Everyone is about being more local because that’s how you make the biggest impact,” said Jess Moore Matthews of Backbone Digital Leaders. “I think it’s a step away from the influencer politician.”
It’s not like no one is on the podium: Representatives Greg Casar of Texas, Maxwell Alejandro of Florida, Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Jesus “Chuy” García of Illinois, and Pramila Jayapal of Washington are all big names on the left.
Those in attendance said their focus is on broader issues related to voter organizing. The convention, which has attracted more than 2,900 attendees – the second-highest attendance ever – runs through Saturday.
Ruby Powell-Dennis from Tennessee was even more blunt. “Look, black women don’t look at Bernie Sanders from Vermont or AOC from New York. This is a movement and movements don’t need saviors,” she said after hearing Johnson speak on Thursday.
When Netroots started nearly two decades ago, it was trying to build credibility, so names mattered, said Markos Moulitsas, who started the forward-thinking Daily Kos blog and helped spin off the Netroots Nation conference. Now the group is less focused on blogging and more on organizing.
Initially, “there was a lot of fear and mistrust about our efforts,” Moulitsas said Friday between conference radio interviews. “Some thought we were somehow pushing the party too far to the left. So people like [former Senate Majority Leader] The fact that Harry Reid showed up was a validation for the movement and a signal to the wider party establishment that we were not dangerous.”
The conference tended to create news. Warren, who last took the stage in 2019, stunned those in attendance and gave an early launch to her presidential bid. And who can forget the controversy that sparked in 2015 when Sanders was shaken off stage for his Black Lives Matter recording?
Despite its buzzy origins, Netroots organizers said they are more focused on highlighting the issues their attendees care about.
The departure of big names “is indicative of all the different fronts we’re dealing with, progressives at the same time,” Eric Thut, executive director of Netroots Nation, told POLITICO, citing issues such as gun violence and the Supreme Court’s recent decisions on ticked everything off. from affirmative action to student loan forgiveness to abortion. “We have a lot of people and a lot of things to talk about and a lot of voices to amplify.”
Panel discussions explore AIv’s impact on organization, “what’s next for student debt”, “how to debunk misinformation about abortion” and the challenge female candidates face in “navigating the threat of misinformation/disinformation”.
The role of states in government is also getting some airtime. “The states are being used by the GOP to silence people they disagree with and block progress on important issues. And we’re starting to see backlash, like in Tennessee,” Thut said. Tennessee State Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson appear as panelists.
Just because this year’s speakers don’t have the national exposure of an AOC doesn’t mean there’s any less enthusiasm for national Democrats, Moulitsas said.
It’s just a different vibe with a Democrat already in the White House and other issues getting national attention. “When I started, everyone was obsessed with who was at the top of the list. The president was the only election that mattered,” Moulitsas recalls. “We couldn’t get people to care about state-level races. And it was frustrating.”