I was honored to be amoung the Ohio bloggers chosen to meet with Sen Barack Obama at the Ohio Democratic Party Dinner. Initially, there was some discussion over whether bloggers should be considered media and get media passes or activist and be included in a raffle with other volunteers for the $150 dinner tickets. In the end, Sen Obama and his staff, sidestepped the whole discussion and just bought a table for a few Ohio bloggers. Included at the table were: Ohio2006, Writes Like She Talks, Psychobilly Democrat, Buckeye State Blog, Plunderbound, Ohio 2nd (Mr. & Mrs.), Phos Norka Pages and Diary of a Community Technology Advocate. Progressive Ohio is very lucky to have such active and engaging bloggers. It was a pleasure to meet everyone face to face. The crowd was huge (over 2500 people) and the energy level was off the charts. Everyone in the Veterans Memorial Center was excited about the event, the candidates and the possibility of a Blue Ohio.

After the opening speech, given by Sen Joseph Biden (which was invigorating) Mr. Obama stepped over to our table and sat down. I did not antcipate that he would be mobbed by excited fans, autograph seekers and staff and between the extra people and background noise - it was quite dificult to hear him. My first impression was - he seemed geniune and nice but he is a man with a mission. He tried to be accomidating to everyone, even the people interrupting him for autographs.

Pho started out by asking a good question about the role of bloggers in the political arena.

Barack says …”he believes in bottom up politics, blogs have the potential of tapping into that grassroots energy in a way that other media doesn’t have because it is interactive…and when I look at what happened in my race..the ability of the internet to spread the word about a campaign for a candidate that wasn’t that well known it was absolutely critical. It gave people confidence, it reinforced the possibilities to win - the meet ups ended up being a great tool - not only for candidates like me but - they formed great communities of people, that overtime would help elect other candidates and work on other issues- so I think that is the potential.

Now, .. I think the danger of the blogs..(interruption)..is we are only talking to ourselves and people who agree with us. That means then -that ovetime we are just reinforcing our own preceptions and we are not opening up to other ideas and other points of view. So, one of the things I am always trying to figure out, if possible, is how to get different bloggers and different points of view communicating and… so it is continuely a conversation and dialogue, not just all of us cheering each other on. Which is important - but ultimately, we got to make sure we are opening up the entire process to everybody.

Sen Obama responded … some of you guys know - I write and taught before I got into politics and the world is perfectable when you write. You can imagine the perfect candidate, the perfect world and the perfect policies and when I am writing - I do not have to vote on some stupid piece of legislation that is one half bad and one half good. So, what happens then is , there is a tendancy for us to get really frustrated, if a candidate, a party or a platform is not subscribing to our ideas …about where we should go and some of that is useful. I think the blogs have become a useful conscience to the Democratic Party. Where they (the party) start splitting the difference with Republicans over and over - pretty soon they start moving the goal posts way over here and blogs have been a useful corrective to that.

But, I think it is also important though - for every blogger to recognize that “Hey - look - we are operating in the real world and if we’ve got a situation where we’ve got a high quality candidate with progressive credentials, who has decided to run and is moving forward against someone whom we know is entirely supportive of George Bushs agenda then we’ve got to get on with it”

There were a few more good questions including one about Net Neutrality from Angela Stuber ( Diary of a Community Technology Advocate). It was an honor to meet Mr. Obama up close and personal. The time he took to address the blogospheres questions and concerns made me feel appreciated - a little recognition now and then goes a long way Thank you Sen Obama and the Ohio Democratic Party (who opened up many of the press facilities to us and generally made us feel welcomed and part of the family)

Here is the complete audio - complete with interruption and background noise but if you are interested it is a good session.

If you really would like to be invigorated here is Sen Obama speech to the 2500+ Democrats at the ODP Dinner (by this time I figured out how to get clear recordings):

If you would like to see more photos and commentary please visit my “home” blog HeightsMom or one of the bloggers mentioned in the article above. They are all covering the event and all have a unique viewpoint.

Take Care! Thanks - Cindy