Progressive and conservative net laders define role of new media in democracy

The Personal Democracy Forum gets under way on Thursday, and many leaders of American politics and social networking will meet to discuss what happens when technology intersects with policy.

As it has for the past six years, this week’s PDF conference is going to attract many famous bloggers, authors, politicians and analysts to its podium. People from Newt Gingrich to Craig Newmark of craigslist.org will all take the stage to discuss the role the Internet plays in shaping the American democracy.

Given the Internet’s recent history of building the fervent base of voters and campaign donors vital to the election of Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass) on the right and President Barack Obama on the left, the question this year is: how will the Internet be used in this year’s upcoming midterm elections?

We’re joined by Mindy Finn, a conservative strategist and partner at Engage, a new media consulting firm; and Jane Hamsher, founder of the popular progressive blog firedoglake.com, and the keynote speaker for tomorrow’s events.