Governor Spitzer, in his keynote speech yesterday, told us that

it’s springtime for the Democratic Party. We are sweeping away some of the old rules in Albany … we’re beginning to see the fruits of our labor.

It takes a lot of labor to make New York State politics bear progressive fruit, but the governor was right. We’re seeing revitalized Democratic leadership that has brought new funding and fairness to our school system, jump-started a serious conversation about campaign finance reform – and a host of other desperately-needed reforms -- moved in favor of marriage equality, and begun a serious push, at long last, to take control of the state Senate.

The labor of the emerging New York progressive netroots is also bearing fruit. The state party’s new leadership has been both proactive and responsive in its outreach to the blogosphere; they did a terrific job making us a part of the spring meeting and we have every reason to believe that they’re committed to building a stronger relationship going forward. One of the neatest parts of yesterday’s experience was chatting with local electeds and party officials who stopped by to talk, often just to ask “what is a blog?” Considering that the wealth of a party is really in its vast network of grassroots activists and local-level candidates and officials, it’s a great thing every time we’re able to take another step forward in mutual understanding between that network and the netroots (and, of course, most of us in the netroots like to consider ourselves part of that network). We have a lot of work to do, on both sides, but so far so good.

At the same time, this developing relationship presents both the party and the netroots with certain challenges.

Notes from the general meeting:

Dave Pollak asks us to imagine a time when the future looks remarkably bright for New York’s Democrats. We have a popular Democratic governor, Dems control both houses of Congress, and a New York Democrat holds a formidable lead over the generic Republican in the early presidential election polls.

That time was 1988. Dave points out that “success is very fleeting … we can never forget that lesson.” We need to be sure to avoid a repeat of the early 90s. This is why he talks about turning New York “permanent blue” – so that “there will never be another Republican elected in New York State again.”

June O’Neill welcomes the bloggers. “We hope this will be the first in a long term relationship…. It’s to our mutual benefit to get the word out … who we are, what we are, what we’re doing.” Bloggers may be just as bewildered by the workings of the state party as many state party members are by the blogs. O’Neill talks about a “62-county strategy,” promising to “leave no county behind.” She points out that in 2007, a so-called “off year,” Democrats can elect more local officials – county legislators, town councilmembers, and others – than ever before.

Had a very interesting conversation with Tim Merrick, who did yeoman's work last year challenging Betty Little in the 45th State Senate District -- one of the most conservative corners of the state.

We discussed the challenges Albany reform efforts will face as the political momentum shifts in favor of the Democrats. Merrick, who ran as a reform candidate, said that Gov. Spitzer’s efforts so far have demonstrated a willingness to advocate reforms even if they aren’t necessarily politically expedient. But the real question is whether, once Democrats take the Senate, they will still be motivated to push for procedural reform. Merrick agreed that “it will really put the Democrats on the spot” when the reform cause loses its partisan fuel and becomes strictly a matter of good government. Of course, it’s not just a Senate issue – Merrick, who is considering a challenge against Janet Duprey in the 114th Assembly District, suggested that the new context could offer opportunities for reformers to work with Speaker Silver. I pointed out that blogs like Daily Gotham have not exactly been shy to criticize Silver’s leadership; he observed that, in the fight for Albany reform, the more voices the better.

The state party's reform caucus has been discussing campaign finance reform. There's a good deal of support for the Clean Money/Clean Elections legislation proposed by Citizen Action, and caucus members are asking people to call the Governor's office [(518) 474-8390] in support of campaign finance reform -- though Gov. Spitzer's approach is somewhat more incremental than the sweeping changes recommended by Citizen Action. This looks like an issue that will continue to be discussed within the party over the next few months.

Reform Caucus Acting Chair Lori Gardner also mentioned that her caucus is starting a blog -- complete, we hope, with comments enabled. She promised to forward us the url.

I'm here at the Desmond Hotel -- looks like I beat Liza and Bouldin -- to help cover the state Democratic Committee's Spring Meeting. New York's Democrats, along with state parties in places like Michigan and North Carolina, have been leaders in reaching out to the state-level netroots. The Craig Johnson campaign gave us an idea of what we can accomplish when bloggers and the state party work together in harmony, and the party's leaders -- co-chairs Dave Pollak and June O'Neill and Executive Director Edna Ishayik -- have demonstrated a genuine interest in building on that success. This event is part of that process.

At the same time, of course, we in the netroots will have to be careful to maintain our independence. One of the things we've been fighting for is a more responsive Democratic party; we're starting to get that, but that victory comes with its own set of fresh challenges. More about that later -- at any rate, it's a good problem to have. Dave, June, and Edna have done a great job building trust; we only have to build on that. Meanwhile, we'll keep you updated on the goings-on here at the Desmond throughout the day.