And so it's not surprising that Democratic luminaries like the party's chairman, Howard Dean, and its leaders in Congress, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, have arranged their schedules to address the convention, along with at least a few 2008 presidential contenders. No small contingent of political professionals and journalists will show up as well.
I'll miss it as I have court that Friday and will be in Aspen the weekend before and D.C. the weekend after, which is more traveling than I prefer these days. But I imagine there will be live-bloggers galore to keep us all informed. And I'll be reading them.
If you don't think this is serious stuff, check out the current agenda and the list of Exhibitors.
This is the mojo that can take back our country. Friendships and strategic alliances will be made. Knowledge will be shared. The energy will be electric. Some will get the bug to run for office themselves.
Conventions of yester-year were places you went once a year to catch up with people you had something in common with and get invigorated, but usually the follow-up was missing. Once back home, the reality of daily life set back in and only a few could sustain frequent and meaningful communication. The Internet has changed all that. The networking that will take place at Yearly Kos won't end on Sunday with the closing event. Through e-mail and blogs, these net roots'ers will multiply their effectiveness and spread the message ten-fold when they return home.
The politicians are wise to re-arrange their schedules. It's really about faith. For showing faith in the net roots, they will be rewarded -- with campaign volunteers and organizers and voters in the next election.
Yearly Kos is a win-win for progressives everywhere. The Republicans have nothing like it. Not only couldn't Karl Rove, Jerry Falwell and ten Justice Sundays pull this off, they won't be able to catch up.