Well, it IS Saint Patrick's Day, so I MUST post something DEAN/Irish to this thread.
Alice Flynn

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St. Patrick's Day is Irish Staff Appreciation Day

"Call me Emmet" he said, barely intelligible in what I suppose is a relatively light Irish accent but necessitated a 5 second comprehension delay to my ears. I had come from the Virgin Islands to volunteer in Des Moines but Emmet stole my title after arriving fresh from political study in Dublin. For we "band of volunteers" at Iowans for Dean HQ in June of last year, the main order of business was identification calls, crowd building, and parades. Iowans definitely know how to throw a parade, and you better show up if you want to be taken seriously. I'm not talking about a handful of major city parades, Iowans go all out for town, county, and state parades not to mention the 4th of July, Labor Day, and the State Fair.

That first day Emmet and I sat down together to do crowd building calls. "Confident and Relaxed" was our mantra. I had previously had problems keeping a smile (that can always be felt even over the phone) after hundreds of phone calls, but not today. If I had a problem understanding Emmet, you can bet that rural Iowans couldn't understand a word. It was generally a 30 second conversation. That first day Emmet barely made it past the first sentence.


"Good morning I'm calling from the How.."
"The what?"
"The Howard Dean Campaign here in De..."
"Who?"
"The Howard Dean Campaign ma'am."
"Who is this?"
"Howard Dean ma'am, he's running for President."
"Not interested."
"Shall I send you some information in the post?"
"The what?"


I thought it was hilarious but I think Emmet was less than pleased with his first day thus far. But the charm that was lost in phone conversations he could wield like a laser in person. Sometimes only able to get three of us together and a handful of supporters, we would walk with our Dean placards and banner sometimes for six parades a weekend. I began to dread walking parades if Emmet wasn't there. Holding a smile, waving, saying hello, and passing out literature for up to 45 minutes taxed me. But with Emmet there, I loved it. I guarantee only 10% of any person at the parades that heard Emmet yelling out hellos and greeting understood what he was saying... but they LOVED it! No one that heard or saw Emmet could hold back a smile, a genuine Irishman in rural Iowa.

With success as the head coordinator for the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner late in the year, Emmet went on to coordinate the Iowa Storm. Labeled "The Lovable Rogue", Emmet personified the original thinking and volunteer spirit that inspired the campaign from supporters to staff. Emmet is currently back in Dublin, Ireland working at his University and no doubt approaching St. Patrick's day back home with the same gusto he gave the campaign in Iowa. Emmet Regan... we salute you.

Posted to the Dean Blog by Tanner Brooks