On Winning, Life Inside Congress & Lessons From Bill Clinton[img_assist|nid=2987|title=U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Fort Washington)|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=220|height=167]

On Saturday, July 19, U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Fort Washington) traveled to Austin, Texas to finally speak in person with those who were among the first to listen to her and a message that would oust an entrenched incumbent less than two years later.

Edwards was the keynote speaker at ‘Netroots Nation,’ a gathering formerly known as YearlyKos, based off the popular progressive blog, Daily Kos. Netroots Nation is an annual gathering of the left-of-center online political community and attracts a ‘who’s who’ of Democratic politics. Former Vice President Al Gore and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also addressed the gathering in person, while U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) addressed the conference by a taped message.

But few Party leaders have the stature Edwards maintains in that community. Like 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean and 2006 U.S. Senate candidate Ned Lamont before her, she became an online icon for her ability to channel the power of the Internet into boots-on-the-ground action.

Her successful 2008 bid, in which she handily defeated eight-term Rep. Al Wynn, was preceded by a long-shot 2006 bid which the netroots community spurred her candidacy with online donations and word-of-mouth buzz. She lost by a small margin – so close it went to a recount – and came away convinced she could win the next time out.

Edwards’ relationship with the liberal online movement is so great, she professed, "I feel like I'm at a family reunion," at the opening of her nearly half-hour address.

Crediting the group with the attention and know-how that led to her 22-point Feb. 12 primary victory, she said, "[It] was a combination of the netroots and grassroots that turned this little foray of mine into politics into a 'W' in the win column."

[img_assist|nid=2986|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=220|height=178]"When you got the Washington Post as your town paper, you hardly get paid any attention to. But you all just changed the entire landscape of progressive politics."

It seems that in more ways than one, a strong Internet community made Edwards win possible. She said she was first turned onto Wynn's sub-par progressive record after reading the blog CBC Monitor Online, an organization founded in March 2005 to be the watchdog of the Congressional Black Caucus. There, she saw that her Congressman had a 'D' grade – "and the 'D' was not for Democrat."

Edwards ran the litany of grievances she and others had with Al Wynn’s record that led to his defeat, but said that, “[I]t was really because of the CBC Monitor and Black Agenda Report and then beginning to have that conversation with folks like Jane Hamsher and Howie Klein and Matt Stoller,” that "nationalized" her 2006 campaign.

She acknowledged that, "In some communities, when you say you 'nationalized' it, that's a bad thing. But in our community, that's such a good thing."

What her candidacy did, she said, was send a message to the Democratic caucus that "our party must be better and it must respond to us."

She spoke of how the netroots "democratizes our politics" through combining fundraising and on the ground organizing for long-shot challenges like hers, "[making] the impossible very possible."

And so, Edwards says, "Look out for 2008, but really look out for 2010 and 2012 because we're coming to get them!"

Recognizing that what she was about to say could get her into trouble, Edwards described sitting in meetings with her Democratic colleagues and hearing talk that made her wonder aloud, "Oh my gosh, did I join the Republican conference?"

"I whispered that," she grinned.

She attributed her dismay with her caucus to there being "such diversity” among the party ranks, but insisted, “I want more and better Democrats because there has to be a balance.”

“And right now we don't have that. We have a part of our party that's really driving the agenda and we need more voices like mine – like yours – in the Democratic caucus. And our work is cut out for us."

[img_assist|nid=2985|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=220|height=168]Edwards told of what great surprise she had when learning that she'd be the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress. She didn't believe it until a staff member looked it up on Wikipedia.

"Maryland is actually one of the bluest states in this country,” she said, “and yet I am the first African American woman to be elected in that state and there is something wrong with that picture and that picture is true across this country."

She recalled being branded as too liberal, and joked about the Al Wynn conference call in which he dubbed her campaign a “vast left-wing conspiracy.” Edwards said she took it as a badge of honor, even making a t-shirt that now hangs in her office.

“Our threshold must be higher" for how progressive members in safe Democratic districts are, she told the audience.

And while the activists are raising that, she warned them to not pay any attention to the political professionals who discount their efforts.

"Sometimes the political pundits want to tell us which districts are in play. But I want to tell you don't listen to them. Because if they had looked at my congressional district, they would have told you what they told me: 'You don't stand a chance, there's no way that you can win and so don't even bother to try and by the way, there's a political machine that you can't get around."

"[But] you've got to go beneath that so-called machine" to do as she did and use online tools to build coalitions with labor, environmental groups and women.

And beyond congressional challenges to incumbent Democrats, Edwards implored the crowd to use their rapid response skills in pushing back against attacks on potential first lady, Michelle Obama.

"Because the way the mainstream media is treating Michelle Obama right now is a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace." She predicted that helping Obama at the top of the ticket would make the difference in getting down-ballot Democrats elected.

Edwards also told of how proud she was to be an early Barack Obama supporter, though "it doesn't mean that... we have to be silent when that nominee isn't saying the things that need to be said to our community and doing what we need to do for this country."

"It's a lesson that I learned when Bill Clinton became president,” she said. “Because when Bill Clinton became president, many of us on the left – among liberals and progressives – became very silent. And that was a mistake, because that mistake brought us some policies that were really not so great. And so we can't make that same mistake with President Barack Obama."

However, she said they shouldn’t “be fooled" into thinking that electing John McCain would teach Democrats not to stray from the party’s base.

There were a few other requests she had of the gathering, like donating money to other progressive candidates because "I need some company" in the House.

Speaking on the one-month anniversary of her swearing-in to Congress, its newest member joked about how she already feels like an old pro going into the November election for her first full term – the third time her name will appear on a ballot in 2008.

"By the time I finish running for Congress this year, I actually should have more seniority than some people who won last year because I've run more elections."

Yet Edwards did not solely comment on politics and the process around getting to Congress. She gave her personal thoughts on the energy crisis, sharing a story of how she recently paid over $50 on a tank of gas and how she thought to herself, "If we in the United States Congress cannot be smarter and more honest with the American people about what we need to do to invest in a different kind of energy future, then all of us should be turned out."

"The American public is smarter" than the Republican mantra of "Drill! Drill! Drill!" she said. She thinks public transportation should cost less, not more, as the price of gasoline rises, and that a focus on renewable energies is the key to the future.

She remarked with amazement of the idea that people would actually want the same healthcare that members of Congress have.

"You don't want that. I'm paying $350 a month for my son and I to have health care. That's not health care that's affordable for the American public."

"We want a healthcare system that isn't about propping up an insurance system," desiring a system that is “universal, accessible and affordable.”

Still, she said, “none of this is possible as long as the United States continues to view itself as an occupying force in Iraq." Edwards spoke of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s position of adopting a timeline for troop withdrawal, saying “I think we should take him up on the offer," and that the next president of the United States will have to understand that it is "no longer time to chat about getting out of Iraq; it's time to get out of Iraq."

She only briefly mentioned FISA, insisting that if the government wants to listen to her phone-calls, they "need to go to a real court and get warrant." She expressed frustration with the compromise deal brokered by her colleague Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Mechanicsville), but thinks it is only a temporary setback, and that new action will be taken soon.

In all, Edwards concluded with a promise: "I will stand up with our leadership when it's appropriate and I will stand them down when it's appropriate."

"So you can count on that."