| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Jan 15th, 2008 at 12:45 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Ohio Bloggers |
Ohio progressives meet so the left hand knows what the left hand is doing - Mark Naymik
Columbus -- They will hate the compliment, but a number of Democratic-leaning groups in Ohio are thinking like Republicans.
During a daylong conference Sunday, dubbed "Rootscamp," dozens of progressive groups met in a Columbus office tower to better coordinate their volunteers and resources to influence state politics.
The gathering was significant for several reasons. First, the event wasn't about candidates.
Four years ago, it seemed the progressive movement was driven by hype for then-Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, who thumbed his nose at the party's centrist politics. As a progressive, you had to be behind him to keep your street cred.
The buzz on Sunday was the boring-sounding phrase "best practices," as groups talked about the nuts and bolts of reaching voters, raising money and building coalitions. (John Edwards and Barack Obama seemed to get more nods from participants when pressed.)
The conference also showed many signs of long-term thinking.
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