Imagine my bemused surprise upon seeing the smiling face of our very own Markos on the front page of my local newspaper, the Bloomington Herald-Times. That's Bloomington, Indiana, which--for those geopolitically challenged readers--is the centerpiece of Indiana's 9th district, where Baron Hill is running against Mike Sodrel in one of the nation's most important congressional races.
Kos is coming to speak here tomorrow at an amazing little bookstore called Boxcar Books, which is why he's on the cover of the H-T. Inside, columnist Mike Leonard paints a relatively flattering picture of the Netroots. Here is a snippet (sorry, website is registration-only--but maybe if enough of you register with the site, Deny My Freedom will get a weekly guest column in the paper or something; wink, wink):
"There's no better example of the new political paradigm espoused by Markos Moulistas than Moulistas' own appearances in Bloomington Friday.
[snip]
Kos also is a strong advocate of using technology to reinvent interest in politics and reinvigorate the Democratic Party and progressive politics.
[snip]
Kos and fellow progressive blogger Jerome Armstrong ( MyDD.com), wrote "Crashing the Gate" to lambaste the Democratic establishment for not being more creative and forward-thinking and to illustrate just how effective Republicans have been. 'We say in the book, they "consevatives" are great at what they do. They complain about a liberal media when, in fact, they're the ones who have Rush and Sean Hannity and half of cable television and pretty much all of the damn radio dial,' he said."
It occurred to me, albeit on short notice, that this is the perfect opportunity to introduce the Netroots to the strategically silent Baron Hill...
Let's email and call his office today and invite him to meet with Kos and other local progressives and bloggers. Think about it. Even if you won't be here in person, you can still make your presence felt, and your opinions heard.
The Netroots will be well represented Friday night by of course Daily Kos, but also local Deny My Freedom bloggers Yoss and myself. Please join me in inviting Baron Hill to start a relationship with the blogosphere by either attending Kos's speech, the meet and greet afterward at the always fantastic, locally owned and operated Upland Brewing Company, or both.
Here is Baron Hill's contact information:
Phone Number: 812-522-8764
Email Address: info@bringbackbaron.com
Website Contact Form: www.Baron2006...
Also feel free to leave any comments, questions, well-wishes and further invitations to Baron Hill, and we'll print them out and hand-deliver a copy--whether Baron Hill shows up Friday night or not (we'll see him plenty of other times, I guarantee it). I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
(Originally posted at Deny My Freedom)