(Cross-Posted at MyDD.com)

I realized that none of my posts from a weekend spent at the Young Elected Officials Conference had really focused on any of the young elected officials that the conference revolves around (famous YouTube congressmen and documentary stars aside).

Yesterday I attended a session on being "Effective in the Minority," whose participants occasionally shared stories of tactics used by Republican Majorities in the states that would've been too much even for Tom Delay to get away with. While most of the talk focused on those in a legislative minority, often times there were instances of those on a city council or school board who as progressives are literally a minority of one. And that can be a very lonely place to be.

Though I obviously can't say from personal experience, it seems that the true value of the YEO conference is in showing these young elected officials that they're not alone in the world.

Keep in mind that many of these young elected officials took on the machine or the political establishment in their communities to win offices that, almost universally, they were considered too young for and upon assuming office are often relegated to the "not serious" category solely because of their age.

For them, the chance to be around other folks who truly understand and relate to their situation can be an unbelievable breath of fresh air.

A conference like this allows these young elected officials to share their experiences, successes, and frustrations and then allows for a tremendous cross-pollination of policy ideas. More than once the rallying cry of "Paid Sick Leave!" could be heard from the attendees following a particularly fruitful policy discussion on the subject. Just getting to know some of these folks was really really cool.

Last night I went to dinner with members of the Arizona Delegation, which included the youngest member of the Arizona state legislature, David Schapira (a GW graduate like myself), who extolled the virtues of the Arizona public financing system for campaigns.

Or Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino, who for his presentation on Universal Health Care, managed to boil down an explanation his state's new system into a single sheet of paper (double-sided) which is nothing short of minor miracle.

I sat on two panels today with Stoller and Andrew Rasiej from the Sunlight Foundation/Personal Democracy Forum on the subject of transparency in government (specifically) and technology in politics (generally).

The discussion often skewed between two different tracks, one being basic technological questions like how do i set up a blog, should i allow comments, what about people who say bad things or bad words, etc.

While many of the YEOs seemed comfortable with technology in their personal life (blackberries and treos were prevalent all around) many had less experience with technology. But they were eager to be presented with the case for integrating technology into politics and government. We did our best to explain some things, assuage some fears, and occasionally interjected a few fears of our own (note: the internet is NOT going away).

Andrew and others from the Sunlight Foundation introduced the concept of greater transparency in government and lead a discussion on various ways it could be implemented, like posting your schedule online so that folks know who you've been meeting with.

The young elected officials were able to give us feedback on things we don't often think about, like security concerns that might come from posting your schedule. That was point brought up by someone who is really an inspiration to me, Arizona State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (right speaking with Stoller), who faced down death threats when she introduced legislation to classify militia groups as domestic terrorists.

But State Rep. Tony Payton, Jr., who represents part of Philadelphia and can occasionally be found on the Young Philly Politics site, noted that if nothing else, putting his schedule online could show his constituents (and any naysayers) just how hard he works and the long hours he puts in.

One thing I came way with is a better understanding that one of the main challenges facing people-powered politics is convincing people, elected officials, that while the old assumption that power in politics is a zero-sum game is wrong, politics is very much a zero-sum game when it comes to time.

There are only 24 hours in a day and the calendar is always counting down towards the next election day, particularly for these local and state officials who have little or no staff and often have an additional full-time job outside of politics,

These new technologies can seem daunting for those just trying to keep up with the obligations they already have. The challenge for us is to show and convince them of the power of the people powered movement, of how while there may only be 24 hours in day, people-power multiplies their strengths and can put an army to work where before there was just one.

I think that we're lucky because, as I noted earlier, many of these young elected officials had to create an engaging people-powered campaigns to get elected against the odds in the first place, and they have an inherent understanding of its advantages. So the ground is fertile for us to plant the seeds and help them grow.

All in all, the weekend was the kind of experience that refreshes and revitalizes you, reaffirming your faith in this great experiment that we call American Democracy. It's important that we help them see the benefits of integrating technology and people power now, because somewhere in that room was a future Senator, a soon-to-be governor, and maybe even the 47th or 48th President of the United States. After all, this guy was an Illinois State Senator just three years ago...

(On the Web: The Young Elected Officals Network, a Project of People for the American Way)