BS: DEAN's New Organization

Subject: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Alice
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 09:07 AM

This week Howard Dean will formally announce the continuation of his grassroots organization as a new organization (with web site and blog, of course) to continue influencing the dialogue of the campaign and the character of the Democratic party. Here is his most recent email to the 640,000 supporters who signed up for his campaign organization.

More on this thread to come after the Thursday announcement.

---------------------
First, I want to thank you for your support and hard work during the campaign. You stuck with me to the end and
for that I will always be grateful.

Although we did not win the Presidency we did make progress in our goal to change this country. Not only did
we set the dialogue for the campaign, but together we built a national grassroots movement that is over 640,000
people strong.

On March 18, I will announce our plans to build a new organization, using our nationwide grassroots network, to
continue our work to transform the Democratic Party and to change America.

We are determined to keep this organization as vibrant as it was throughout our campaign. There are a lot of ways
to make change. We are leaving one track, but we are going on another track that will take back America for ordinary people again.

I will make the announcement in three cities:

Thursday, March 18, 2004

Seattle, Washington: 9:30am at the Westin Hotel, Cascade Ballroom, 1900 5th Avenue

San Francisco, California: 6:00pm at The Palace Hotel, Ralston Room, 2 New Montgomery Street

Friday, March 19, 2004

New York, New York: 11:30am at The New School, Tishman Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street

In addition to the formal announcement, we will be launching a new website, and of course, a blog.

I hope you will join me at the announcement, and most importantly, join me in continuing to be a part of the
organization that we built.

Together, we can take this country back.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 09:44 AM

This oughtta be interesting. Maybe some kind of grassroots PAC to beat up on the Establishment? Hmmmmmm?

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 10:30 AM

Looking forward to it!

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 10:35 AM

I'm hoping that it remains independent of the party establishment, so it can be truly a reformist movement. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Johnny in OKC
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 12:54 PM

What does he mean, "Although we did not win the Presidency..." ?
He didn't even win the nomination. Although he did have more
delegates than Kerry, at the time he dropped out.

I voted for Dean, and I don't understand why he quit. I don't
know how he is going to "transform the Democratic Party", or why.

Now I guess I will have to vote for Kerry, whether I like
it or not. I don't have much hope in his winning.

I wish I could just forget about all this and do my music.

Love, Johnny in OKC

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 01:09 PM

If you already know how you are going to vote, why not ignore all the election stuff until it really matters--the last few weeks before the election.

Music is a good contribution too!

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Johnny in OKC
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 01:29 PM

Guest - that's the best "political"
advice I have heard in a long time.

Love, Johnny

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 03:16 PM

Actually, GUEST, despite your well known antagonism, I hope you can see through your problems enough to understand what Dr. Dean is really doing. You see, he is working through the party to change it. Instead of jumping to an independent who has no chance of winning, and only costs vital votes, he is determined to change from within. I have great admiration for this, and have hopes that he may be the first "outsider who draws new voters" to really make a difference. Now if only my brothers and sisters in the labor movement, who vote Republican over the issue of guns even though every thing else in the platform and voting record says they should be voting Democratic, could only understand this. I have said it before and I will say it again. Real change occurs from within. Dr. Dean gets this, and has gained my admiration over it.

This man appears to be very committed. We are lucky to have him.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 04:36 PM

Thanks Johnny! I mean, it IS going to be along 8 months! I've also decided to follow my own advice, and ignore anyone who tells me how I MUST vote. Elections bring out the zealots, the holier-than-thou, the died in the wool party members--I'm not too keen on any of them.

Because there are so many zealots out there for either Bush or Kerry, I've decided to avoid them all, and tune out now that the primaries are over. People are already pretty entrenched in their positions, which means no one is listening to anyone, and if you don't mouth the party line, they shout you down anyway.

So why bother?

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 04:38 PM

Big Mick, don't you have some twee Irish Bard (tm) duties to attend to for tomorrow?

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 04 - 06:44 PM

Despite your pledge to tune out, you can't. It's because you know that your arguments don't hold water.

Big Mick
Irish Bard (tm)

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Nerd
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 10:02 AM

Johnny in OKC,

I too was a Dean supporter. Just one correction; at the time he dropped out, he did not have more delegates than Kerry. He DID have more than Edwards, so he was second overall.

I think the reason he dropped out was that he was being vilified by the media as a potential party-splitter, and he could see from the direction things were going that he would not win. Therefore, in order to be able to create a new movement and have any hope of it not being trashed in the media, he had to get out of the race. It's sad, and I DO wish he had stayed in a bit longer, but I don't think the outcome for the party would have been any different.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: DougR
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 12:33 PM

Dean fought the good fight. I think the power brokers of the Democratic Party (Senator Kennedy, etc.)got very scared that he was going to get the nomination. I wish he would have. It would have been a much better political race, and the choices would have been much clearer.
DougR

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 02:45 PM

Don't worry your silly heads about reform of the party, media bias, etc. The Anybody But Bush leaguers have it all under control.

Just vote for Kerry in November, and everything will be just fine.

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Alice
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 10:26 PM

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

------------
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

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Amos
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 10:44 PM

Thanks to Tanner -- a nice tale fromt he trenches, indeed!


A

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Mar 04 - 10:44 PM

Gotta agree with you there, Dougie....

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: LadyJean
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 12:09 AM

THOUGH THEY BELTED YOU AND FLAYED YOU, BY THE LIVING GOD WHO MADE YOU, YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN KERRY HOWARD DEAN.

                            With appologies to Rudyard Kipling
                            And none at all to Mr. Kerry

Subject: RE: BS: DEAN's New Organization
From: Alice
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 08:28 PM

Democracy For America, the name of the organization announced today:

Click here

Governor Dean Launches "Democracy for America"

SEATTLE--In a speech here today, former Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., announced that he was launching a new political organization, "Democracy for America," to support progressive causes and candidates and continue the grassroots activism that powered his presidential campaign.

"We will begin with this proposition. In 2004, to start taking back America, we must take back the White House. We must expose and defeat George W. Bush and his radical agenda. Our new enterprise will help in every way possible. We intend to focus on key battleground states, mobilizing our national network of supporters and the groundbreaking organizing tools we developed during our campaign. We will help some with support through our political action committee. I will travel to speak on behalf of candidates. We will put to work our national grassroots network and organizing tools to help candidates win," Dean said.

In his remarks here today at the Westin Hotel's Cascade Ballroom, Dean laid out the four founding principles for Democracy for America: (1) a commitment to a strong, sustained grassroots involvement in democracy; (2) a commitment to promoting an America where candidates and office holders tell the truth about policy choices and stand up for what they believe; (3) a commitment to fighting against the influence and agenda of the two pillars of George W. Bush's Washington: the far right wing and their radical, divisive policies, and the selfish special interests who for too long have dominated politics; and (4) a commitment to fighting for progressive policies, like health care for all, investment in children, equal rights under the law, fiscal responsibility, and a national security policy that makes America stronger by advancing progressive values.

"It's clear that George W. Bush is a failed president. On George Bush's watch, America has lost three million jobs, including many good manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas. There are solutions to this challenge. But George W. Bush shuns the labor and environmental standards that would make global trade work better and protect more American jobs," Dean said, in remarks as prepared for delivery.

"The first round of Bush television ads was widely condemned for seeking to exploit the 9-11 tragedy. But what was also troubling was the effort in these ads to blame the weak economy on someone else-maybe President Clinton, but not George W. Bush. He's been President for three years and two months, and yet the weak economy is someone else's fault. That's not leadership; it's abdication," he continued.

"I will do everything I can to help John Kerry beat George W. Bush in 2004, to revitalize grassroots democracy, and to move America in a better direction," Dean said. "To defeat George W. Bush, we must stand up strong for our principles, not paper over our differences with the most radical Administration in our lifetime. To win, we must aggressively expose the ways in which George W. Bush's policies benefit the privileged and the most extreme ideologues. To win, we must confidently advance a policy agenda rooted in hope and real American values--opportunity, integrity, and community."

Dean explained that Democracy for America would have five goals:

1. Recruit and encourage progressive candidates to run for office at every level. We will help them find the resources to campaign successfully with small donations from grassroots supporters, to begin to break the stranglehold special interests have on the political process.

2. Raise funds for Congressional candidates for whom financial support could be the key to winning, and whose election will be key to winning back a House of Representatives that has become the tool of the Republican right wing.

3. Develop strategic partnerships with other progressive organizations to maximize resources for candidate recruitment, training, and organization.

4. Build relationships with other political initiatives to focus on the failed, destructive policies of the Bush administration.

5. Harness the power of the Internet to enlarge and support our grassroots organization committed to taking back America from special interests that control the right wing leadership of our Congress and the White House.

Dean explained that he also hoped to encourage supporters to continue their efforts through Dean Corps, the former campaign's grassroots community service effort, and to get involved in local politics. He also thanked the more than 600,000 Americans who had supported his presidential bid, saying, "We may not have won the nomination. But you changed the debate in 2004. You toughened the Democratic message and readied this Party to challenge George W. Bush. And you have changed politics forever, showing that a campaign that is truly powered by ordinary Americans can emerge from nowhere and build support."

The complete text of the governor's remarks, as well as more information and the ability to sign-up for Democracy for America's email list is at www.democracyforamerica.com.