The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates to massive amounts of anonymous corporate spending in our elections and allowed Super PACs to spend millions on campaign ads with no accountability. In the Republican presidential primary, we’ve seen Super PACs acting as shadow arms of the candidates’ campaigns. This new doctrine of “corporate speech rights” threatens to drown out the voices of the American people. Organized by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Center for American Progress Action Fund, this panel will examine the far-reaching impact of Citizens United and discuss how legislators, activists, bloggers and stakeholders can help restore sanity to our elections.

Citizens United, Super PACs and the Fight for Our Democracy

Miss this panel? No problem! Here’s what happened.

Storified by Netroots Nation · Fri, Jun 08 2012 16:35:17

Led by: Tom Perriello

Panelists: Becky Bond, Senator Sherrod Brown, Senator Jeff Merkley, Trevor Potter, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

Androids and iPhones are quickly becoming our primary gateways to the Internet. The ways that we organize political and advocacy campaigns, produce and communicate with our world depends on access to them and the broadband data connections they provide. But imagine livestreaming video from a protest and running up against data caps. Imagine planning out your next SMS campaign, and the phone companies telling you they don’t like the content. These threats to mobile freedom are real. As we fight for control over our mobile experience, it’s fair to say that your phone is political. This panel will discuss how the power dynamic between the carriers and the public is affecting our ability to communicate via mobile phones, why the progressive community must stand up for mobile freedom and how we can create better policies that protect us from wireless carrier abuse.

Led by: Josh Levy

Panelists: Garlin Gilchrist II, Joaquin Guerra, Sabrina Hersi Issa, Jamilah King

Despite broad opposition from military and security leaders in the United States and internationally, the sponsors of the Iraq War have attempted to fear-monger their way into another costly Middle East conflict. Bush has dropped from the headlines, but the architects of his foreign policy have taken over the shadow cabinets of GOP presidential contenders, the corner offices of think tanks and the halls of Congress. But 2012 is not 2003. A restrained economy, an ascendant model of less-militarized foreign policy and a war-weary public create an opportunity for a responsible policy outcome and a definitive blow to the (neo)conservative death-grip on national security politics. Attendees will hear from experts well-steeped in the trends and decisions behind the war drumbeat both then and now, who will spotlight the web of familiar players, debunk their arguments and discuss strategies for achieving a sounder policy and winning the political debate.

Led by: Karen Finney

Panelists: Bob Creamer, Heather Hurlburt, Alireza Nader, Sen. Jack Reed

When Occupy Wall Street first started, almost no one thought it would work. What does the explosion of interest in OWS say about the tactics of the occupation? What can progressive organizations learn from Occupy’s success in shifting the dialogue from austerity to inequality?

That Will Never Work: What Progressives Can Learn from OWS

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Storified by Netroots Nation · Fri, Jun 08 2012 18:18:36

Led by: Max Berger

Panelists: Isham Christie, Mary Clinton, Michelle Crentsil, Yotam Marom

This panel will explore case studies that exemplify outstanding mobile organizing practices and how they’re going to be critical in 2012. Panelists will share their experiences in bridging the digital divide by using texts to drive advocacy phone calls; taking the work out of calling your legislator through click-to-call widgets; using texts to build your list of supporters and syncing that list with the data that in your CRM to move supporters up the ladder of engagement. Plus we’ll discuss how to generate action, online and offline, and benefit from a high return on engagement.

Organizing Issue-Based Campaigns with College Students

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Storified by Netroots Nation · Fri, Jun 08 2012 17:47:20

Led by: Jed Alpert

Panelists: Doug Foote, Kristin Koch, Liba Rubenstein, Michelle Whittaker

This panel will address the needs, successes and obstacles to having greater participation from people of color in the blogosphere. Using the models of the Native American Netroots and Black Kos as a beginning point for the discussion, we’ll cover topics such as color blindness vs. representation and how to get historically underrepresented groups and their views heard. We’ll discuss how to organize outreach between the larger blogosphere and blogs that are specific to communities of color and how to form stronger connections to ongoing organizing efforts and activism in communities of color. We’ll also focus on how organizations can promote diversity within new grassroots organizations.

Led by: David Reid

Panelists: Renee Chantler, Neeta Lind, Denise Oliver-Velez, Ian Reifowitz

American college campuses are hotbeds of idealism and activism. The 2008 election, the massive protests in Wisconsin and Ohio and the Occupy movement showed that when this young constituency is politically mobilized, history can be made. While youth vote turnout is often addressed, too little is done to address this constituency’s issues: affordable college education, student debt and limited job prospects. Meanwhile, college students find themselves the target of voter ID laws and other efforts to suppress their voice in the political process. Student organizations and their allies are organizing students to get active around the issues that are important to them. Come hear how to mobilize the student vote for affordable higher education, immigrant rights, voting rights and a host of other issues.

Organizing Issue-Based Campaigns with College Students

Miss this panel? No problem! Here’s what happened.

Storified by Netroots Nation · Fri, Jun 08 2012 17:59:43

Led by: Chris Goff

Panelists: Michael Fabricant, Angus Johnston, Claire Lewis

Deval Patrick won an unlikely race for governor in 2006; two years later, Barack Obama was elected president. In January 2010, Scott Brown won an unlikely race for U.S. Senate; ten months later, Republicans swept the national Congressional races—except in Massachusetts, where all 10 Congressional seats went Democratic and Patrick won re-election in a race many thought he couldn’t win. Now, Elizabeth Warren is running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts and Barack Obama is up for reelection, possibly against a former Massachusetts governor. What can recent elections in Massachusetts tell us about national trends? Experts from Patrick and Warren’s campaigns, plus one of the Boston Globe’s top political columnists, will dive into this question.

Led by: David Kravitz

Panelists: Richard Chacon, Doug Rubin, Joan Vennochi

Over the course of the next year, the Supreme Court is poised to rule on nearly every major political issue facing the country today. By the time the current term ends in late June, the Court will issue potentially monumental decisions in the cases challenging the Affordable Care Act and Arizona’s draconian immigration law. When it reconvenes in October, the Court will consider the constitutionality of affirmative action and is likely to accept for review cases on same sex marriage, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, abortion, indefinite detention and campaign finance. The Court’s decisions in these cases will have serious implications for the fundamental freedoms we enjoy, the equality of opportunity to which we aspire and the democracy which we have built. Join our panel of experts as they discuss the cases before the Court and how we can mobilize effectively around them.

Led by: Nan Aron

Panelists: Debo Adegbile, Lani Guinier, Dahlia Lithwick