in political discourse (“Liberal bloggers can count the ways they are making their presence felt in the presidential race.” –Chicago Tribune) and predicted its influence beyond 2008 (“The Netroots appear to be here to stay. Much of the debate at this year’s conference is aimed not at defining who the group is but rather at on what the group should do in 2008 and beyond.” – Chris Cillizza, Washington Post). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were expected to appear, but were held up in Washington due to various votes. On Saturday night of the convention, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) legislation to expand George W. Bush's surveillance powers. 2008 After rebranding to Netroots Nation to reflect the growing influence and membership of the Netroots as a community of interest beyond Daily Kos' readership, the 2008 convention was held in Austin, Texas at the Austin Convention Center from July 17–20. Prominent speakers in 2008 included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was joined on stage by a surprise guest, former Vice President Al Gore, who discussed his new film An Inconvenient Truth, on the devastating effects of climate change. Other prominent speakers in attendance were Gov. Howard Dean, Harold Ford Jr., Lawrence Lessig, Rep. Donna Edwards and Van Jones. On Saturday night, Gina Cooper announced the end of her tenure as Director of Netroots Nation. 2009 In 2009, Netroots Nation was held at Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, on August 13–16. Pittsburgh was chosen in part because it is a leader in LEED Certified green building technology; it has more square footage of green buildings than any other city in the country. Another reason was Pittsburgh's rich labor union history. Prominent speakers included President Bill Clinton, Valerie Jarrett, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, SEIU's Anna Burger, former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and Dean Baker. There was also a debate between Pennsylvania Senate candidates Rep. Joe Sestak and Sen. Arlen Specter. The keynote speaker was former US President Bill Clinton. The event captured international headlines when the Democratic Congressional leadership seemingly abandoned the "public option" during the Health Care debate and Howard Dean spoke forcefully that the party would reconsider this issue and not compromise on it. Former President Bill Clinton also made headlines in Pittsburgh when responding to a question shouted at him during his