Netroots Nation agenda a blueprint for conservative strategy

The Netroots Nation, arguably the most influential Web-based outreach group for Democrats, concluded their 2010 convention in Las Vegas on Sunday. Guest speakers included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Barack Obama’s deposed ‘enviro-czar’ Van Jones. Reid took the opportunity to admit what most of us have known all along: Democrats will push for a public option in health insurance despite the fact government programs like Medicare and Medicaid are a fiscal disaster. Most believe cuts will be sought, and those cuts will come from Medicare.

Cutting Medicare is in line with leftwing approaches to the rationing some Obamacare proponents believe will be necessary. The US Report has talked to several people in the healthcare profession who endorse rationing in end-of-life care. Ironically those same individuals endorse providing taxpayer funded healthcare to adults who are not in the U.S. legally. The U.S. taxpayer already provides such healthcare to children of undocumented aliens.

Adding verbal fireworks to the mix was notorious Florida congressman Alan Grayson who told the world Republicans wanted people to die. Another guest speaker was Minnesota senator Al Franken who obtained his seat in a recount that a conservative watchdog group recently said included hundreds of illegal votes for the Democrat candidate. Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s chief adviser, also spoke.

The speakers and the agenda point to a blueprint conservatives might take advantage of. Issues covered in  workshops are likely to become part of Democrat candidates’ platforms and Party agenda in the year to come.

There’s an obvious emphasis on working the Web to grow the Democrat Party, and an overall impression the collectivist approach so popular on the left will govern policy and legislation as key Democrat officials follow the lead of these influencers inspired by the founder of the Daily Kos blog mill.

There’s the predictable emphasis on labor union involvement. On the NN website, one commenter in a promo video notes, “Netroots are new union halls.”

The conference also featured workshops on organizing youth born to undocumented aliens, a group that represents good opportunity for politicians seeking quid pro quo votes.

Attendees could learn ‘How to be a media star’ and how to support science. An interesting description accompanied one workshop: “[p]andemic flu was averted thanks to public health campaigns and in spite of anti-vaccine denialists, climate change legislation made unprecedented advances even as emails stolen from a climate researcher gave the public a confusing view of science’s inner workings, and statewide science standards were found to require more and better evolution lessons than ever before.”

There’s no mention in the ‘pandemic flu’ declaration that the US will now incinerate tons of that vaccine. The Washington Times said,  “About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired — meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million is being written off as trash.”

The left has an obsession, apparently, with the word ‘denialist.’ That word is also used against experts who pose common-sense questions about global warming research, especially after the underreported scandal many refer to as ClimateGate.

Other workshops mention the “right-wing’s race baiting” and targeting Christians for political support. The leftwing in conjunction with like-minded clergy focus on collectivism and like some on the far right, use principles of faith to advance their politics.

There’s also a certain amount of racism and fabricated allegations directed at Tea Party supporters.

Ironically though the left loves to note how few people of color attend Tea Party rallies, the video on site doesn’t show too many people of color as just plain attendees at the Netroots meetup.

There’s also a new problem. Now that leftwingers have absolute control of two branches of the federal government, they are a bit short on targets for verbal assassination. One workshop description said, “The internet was built on snark, particularly the blogging careers of many of our panelists. Mocking conservatives was a political and survival strategy during the Bush years, but now we’ve got a Democratic majority and President, and the dominant political voice on the internet. How has cracking jokes changed in the Obama era?” [Ed. Note—too many errors within that paragraph, so just assume there’s a giant sic by all the mistakes.]

Incidentally all that ‘snarking’ was readily accommodated by members of the Journolist established by a number of media workers who wanted to help elect a Democrat to the presidency.

The Netroots Nation website offers excellent information for conservative strategists who are libertarians, Republicans and Tea Party supporters. It’s worth visiting and studying for purposes of strategy in 2010 and 2012. (--Commentary by Kay B. Day, July 26, 2010)