Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

I haven't been as active there recently, I've spent more time as of late on the freewheeling comment threads over at Eschaton, but I still go by daily and keep up with the activity, skim the main posts and the recommended diaries.  I don't know if someone has written a "history of dKos" diary recently -- I know there have been occasional attempts to keep tabs of the various ebbs and flows of the community over time, but if there's been a comprehensive attempt recently, I've missed it.  I remember, though, reading one about a year, or maybe even longer, ago in which a wise diarist looked at all of the waves of new registrants, and all of the major dustups, and tried to get a sense of how the community had developed.

And that is what, of course, is most disappointing for me and others not going to YKos -- the realization that this will be the event that reifies the community like no other.  That is to say, of everything that will occur this weekend, what seems to me the most vital aspect is the concretization of relationships that have been, for the most part, virtual -- which is not to say that they are not real, but it is to say that they are not imbued with all of the fullness of face to face human relationships.  Many Kossacks (myself included, though not as often as I like) have gone to local MeetUps or other get togethers, and the difference in the type of interaction you have there is immediately noticeable.  But these events don't have the kind of concentrated energy that a weekend convention can have; nor do they bring together people from across the country; nor do they (usually) have the kind of hands on political content that your discussions and panels will bring.  I regretted, too, missing the first "EschaCon" last year, and I have seen on the comment threads there how unbelievably strong the bonds that were formed among those who were there, many of whom have become intimate, fast friends.

That is where I envision the greatest value of YearlyKos: the tipping point for the transformation of an online community into a mass political movement,where the relationships that undergird it provide both for a stronger blog community (where the kind of quarrels that make MetaJesus cry occur less often) and, subsequently, an invigorated and ever-more-influential political movement.  (By the way, the presence of so many other leading liberal bloggers is part of what makes me so optimistic about YKos: as someone who has spent many hours at both Eschaton and DailyKos over the past three years I have always been a bit befuddled at how little crossover there seems to be, and having Chris Bowers and John Aravosis and Christy Hardin Smith and Duncan Black et. al. all there seems to me yet another important part of the establishment of a broader community.)

My (personal) fear is being left out of this by my absence.  To those of you going -- I say bond with one another!  And grab Pelosi or Mark Warner or  Wes Clark by the ear and give them your ideas about how the Dems need to shape their message -- but also don't forget us other folks, and don't forget that what coalesces this weekend is the core, you are the advanced guard, and what happens in Vegas needs to be brought out to the rest of us, and from there to the rest of America.

-- Stu