I just got back from the Take Back America Conference's panel discussion on blogging (or more precisely panel discussion featuring bloggers). Here are some of my observations...

The folks at the registration table were kind enough to let me in to the conference for free (rather than charging me $50 -- and who says liberals can't be generous?).

I ambled into the hall at about 7:40, and the seats began to fill at about 8:00 (though the crowd was somewhat sparse by this point after two full days of speeches and discussions). I had a nice chat with Jerome Armstrong of MyDD -- it's always nice to put a face with a name -- before grabbing a prime location in the second row. Behind me, a woman with a strong New York accent blathererd about Lakoff, touchscreen machines in Florida and the impending invasion of Iran, to my right, a man with a skullet delivered an anti-Israel screed.

The show didn't start until about 8:15 (perhaps due to scheduling issues with C-SPAN2?), at which time liberal talk radio host Stephanie Miller started things off with a rather mediocre impersonator. Among his caricatures were Bush 43, Bush 41 (the only one he nailed), Cheney, Rumsfeld, Blitzer (way off), and Schwarzenegger. Comedian Emily Levine followed next, and the audience seemed to enjoy her liberal/feminist stylings (though I found them to be somewhat trite).

Finally, the panel: Duncan Black (Atrios) of Eschaton, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD, Christopher Rabb of Afro-Netizen and David Corn of The Nation. The audience was a bit rowdy, but they generally allowed the bloggers to talk without interruption on issues ranging from Iraq to bankruptcy reform to the lack of diversity in the blogosphere.

The whole thing was a little cliche and somewhat disappointing, but all in all, I'm glad I made the schlep out there tonight.