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| Unity Project |
| 02.25.04 (9:48 pm) [edit] |
The DNC announces:
“On March 24, the Democratic Party is hosting a special Unity Meetup to celebrate Democratic unity as we move forward toward our goal of beating George W. Bush and the Republicans in November.
“Join your fellow Democrats from more than 250 cities and various Democratic presidential campaign Meetups as we stand together behind our nominee with our eyes fixed firmly on the White House!”
Well, okay. Maybe…But what exactly does the DNC mean by “Unity?” I certainly plan to vote for our candidate. If that’s all they mean by “Unity,” then I’m in. I’m a precinct committeeman, so I’ll certainly fulfill my obligation to that job.
But I’m a Dean, Kucinich, Nader progressive so my sense of “Unity” does not include swallowing DNC centrism whole. I’m willing to “Unify” with the party, but I would like to see some evidence that the party establishment is willing to “Unify” with me…on issues of policy and platform.
I want some evidence that after we elect Kerry or Edwards the whole game won’t just drift back to the same old routine of cozy accommodation to the way things have been…a too comfortable relation with corporate America, and a failure to fulfill a role as rigorous critic of Republican conservatism.
Therefore, as a first step toward “Unity,” I propose that every Meetup write a one paragraph statement of what they believe the policies and positions of the Democratic Party should be. Take one issue the party should address, or a policy the candidate should actively support, and post it to the Open Thread on the DNC blog and send a copy to Terry McAuliffe.
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| Turning Grassroots energy in fundamental change (a.k.a. Mission Impossible) |
| 02.24.04 (4:58 am) [edit] |
It is well and good to desire to change the Party, but how best can we do that? First, we must understand the source of power in the Party. This deceptively simple answer is, "butts in chairs." If Deaniacs want power in the Democratic party, they have to become the party. How? By becoming officers; from precinct committeemen right up to DNC delegates and beyond.
Here's how. There is no short-cut to this process. Just one office does not equal power, only hundreds of offices across the country does. Dean supporters will have to make long-term, even life-long, commitments to be involved in party activities and politics on a day-to-day basis.
The very base of party organization is still local clubs. Generally, there are a few officially recognized and often party-funded clubs in a town, city, or county. This is where party politics begins and ends for most people. From the ranks of these club's members are often drawn party officials and public office candidates. The members are often well-known in the community, know everyone else, and are thereby able to affect or direct the votes of many party faithful.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate existing local clubs, or establish your own clubs. Recruit for your club vigorously (many party clubs are insular and do not put any premium on recruitment), train and educate your members, and work to elect Grassroots activists into county and state level party positions.
It will be a lot of work. It may be years in the making, but once Deaniacs dominate the structures at the base of the party, almost certainly converting some of the old-guard along the way, it is nearly inevitable that leaders from our ranks, and sympathetic to our aims, will rise higher into the structure. While taking control, we can begin to change and reform institutional rules and culture to prevent the party and, most importantly, ourselves from becoming hide-bound and corrupted once again.
The problem with the Democratic party now is not that it has too much power, but that it has too little. It can't resist the influence of special interests and big donors. It is a hollowed-out shell, not a vital organization. So use meetups, blogs, online databases, and other internet tools to organize and recruit for meetings and issue caucuses, but work toward making those groups and their structures permanent. Secure funding for them, adopt governing structures which incentivize openness and inclusiveness, rather than 'inside baseball'. We cannot plan an invasion of the party with ad hoc encounters, passing acquaintances, and a few emails. We must build permanent structures and firm alliances in order to launch an assault on the party's heights.
If we work hard, build well, and recruit fervently, perhaps one of you reading this will be DNC chairman in four or eight years. But more importantly, you will be a chairman heading a party that can effectively control the flow of money and volunteers to candidates. That will ensure that only candidates who embrace our party's values and our policy goals will receive our party's support, and freeze out the entrepreneurs seeking to use their party affiliation to sell out the people's interests. By strengthening the party with the power of committed grassroots activists, we can ensure the election of the sort of public servants we want; ones who serve the public, not just their own ambitions.
This blog will self-destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....
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| NATIONWIDE VISIBILITY EVENT on Saturday |
| 02.20.04 (3:02 pm) [edit] |
Saturday, February 21
2:00 pm Eastern
1:00 pm Central
12:00 pm Mountain
11:00 am Pacific
Gather in a busy spot in your cities and towns to thank Howard Dean and show America that you still believe in the power of American citizens to shape their government. Bring your "Thank you Howard Dean" signs.
Join fellow Dean supporters in these cities:
Chicago: Daley Plaza
New York: Bryant Park
Washington DC: Lincoln Memorial
Seattle: Westlake Mall
Austin, TX: 38th & Lamar (near Central Market)
San Francisco: City Hall (2/28 only?)
Atlanta: CNN Center (corner of Centennial Olympic Park)
Durham, NC: Brightleaf Square
Philadelphia: ?
Portsmouth: ?
Tokyo: ?
Berlin: ?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
cdmarine posted this on the DFA blog comments on Friday:
VISIBILITY EVENTS ARE
THIS SATURDAY, FEB 21
AND
NEXT SATURDAY, FEB 28
This Saturday's visibility event is to say THANK YOU to Howard Dean and to SHOW THE WORLD THAT WE'RE STILL HERE!
Next Saturday's visibility event is to remind future states that DEAN IS STILL ON THE BALLOT, and to continue to say Thank You and to show the world that we're still here!
Don't see your city up there? YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THAT. Take the reins. Send word through your regional e-mail lists. Call people!
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THIS AN EVENT TO REMEMBER!
See your city, but not your location? Ask around. Take the reins. This is just what I know from scuttlebut and rumor. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR EVENT IS.
We stood for something when it wasn't popular to stand for anything. I'm proud of that, and I'm going to stand again on Saturday, for all the world to see.
Stand with me.
We are fiercely proud, and we are Americans, and we are not going away.
PS
I want to sincerely thank all of you who have taken up this call. This started with my simple decision to stand, by myself if I had to, in Daley Square in Chicago to say "Thank You" to Howard Dean. You all are truly amazing.
Don't forget to take pictures!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by Lanya Shapiro
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| A rumination on the new DFA |
| 02.20.04 (12:45 am) [edit] |
The difficulty in transitioning DFA from a campaign to a permanent membership organization is instilling transparency and democracy into the core of the organization. In essence, these are problems of institutional culture and purpose. A political campaign, by it's very nature, must carefully control information and act from behind a screen of secrecy and misinformation. Decisions must be taken in close consultation with a small group of advisors and then transmitted confidentiality, if possible, down the chain of command. My fear is DFA will continue to operate like a political campaign, or like an organ of the party, even though circumstances and the nature of the new DFA do not warrant it.
The Dean campaign really was different than others in some ways, but the central organization was never much different than any other campaign. Joe Trippi's vaunted hub and spoke organizational map notwithstanding, the truth of the actual informational and command structures everywhere that actual campaign staff was on the ground were quite clearly heirarchical and authoritarian. Organizational structures were somewhat flattened by the communication technologies ubiquitous within the campaign, much as the traditional corporate organization has been flattened by use of those same technologies. But, despite those differences, the core culture of DFA remains essentially authoritarian.
The key difference of the Dean campaign is that the efforts of ad hoc volunteers were generally encouraged and supported, or at least tolerated. This allowed the Dean campaign to prototype, adapt, and adopt ideas from the grassroots rapidly. This was the source of the rapid and impressive innovation of the Dean campaign, and in my opinion, the area in which the energy of the grassroots was most successfully tapped.
However, there naturally continued to be a very few key decisionmakers who could authorize the adoption of innovations and ideas. At a certain point, I would place it at 2-3 months before Iowa, the grassroots began to notice, and complain about, a notable resistance and non-responsiveness to any new imputs. The core decisionmaking group became overwhelmed by the sheer mass of information presented them and the multiple demands on their time and attention. I think that anyone in that central group would agree with the assessment that they became distracted from the task of accepting and processing feedback from the grassroots. Zephyr Teachout has indicated that this was certainly the case in the internet group. Creating effective mechanisms to actively solicit and process membership ideas and opinions into usable information may not have saved the Dean campaign, but it will certainly be central to success as a permanent grassroots organization; and beyond reading hundreds of blog comments, such a mechanism isn't present at DFA. People have put up with the frustration this has caused because of the overriding nature of the goal of DFA. But they aren't likely to stand for not being consulted about the goals of the new DFA. If new goals of the organization are thrust at them without any attempt at consultation, many will leave. If there is no on-going effort to include the membership in forming the aims of the organization, DFA may fail.
Thus, I conclude that in order for DFA to transition to a permanent grassroots organization significant changes to the management culture and, likely, the personnel will be required if DFA is to survive. The grassroots will not tolerate non-transparent or non-democratic decisionmaking in the long term. Many of the most influential and capable members of the grassroots are already moving toward forming their own groups to directly implement their goals. It is not neccesarily a bad thing, but it removes from DFA the energies and interest of some very effective people. DFA must retain and cultivate leadership and initiative within the membership to remain effective. I point to MoveOn as a model because they have been able to maintain a high level of member satisfaction and involvement because of the high level of participatory decisionmaking they have been able to incorporate into their operations. MoveOn's organizers have created a communication strategy and a managerial culture that work for the grassroots. DFA learned valuable lessons from MoveOn about communication, now DFA needs to adopt the management culture of MoveOn, or even improve upon it.
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| Protest Bush's War on America! |
| 02.18.04 (3:06 pm) [edit] |
Let's bring together the Grassroots in your area, and across the nation, to accomplish an important goal and focus the roots on a vital purpose in a difficult time. The roots need direct action offline, a massive effort to get people active en mass.
United for Peace and Justice is calling for a global day of action on March 20th, the anniversary of the Iraq war. They are already organizing in New York and serveral other major cities for a huge turnout against the Iraq War. Millions will be marching around the globe. Make your community a part of the greatest protest against a President in history.
This is a perfect opportunity to keep the grassroots vital. We can forge new ties, recruit new members, and show that we can put feet on the street by turning out a massive protest against everything Bush stands for. We have the tools; let's use them. We have the people, let's motivate them.
Let's put people's energy back to work doing what we are supposed to be doing, kicking Bush's butt out of the Oval. Now that Dean is no longer a candidate, many Dean supporters might drift off, give up, or simply sit idle. A frame is starting to form in the media that the Dean roots are weak. We must do something to head such a notion off at the pass. Taking a key role in building the greatest citizen protest the world has ever known is a great way to do it.
We shouldn't let politically marginal groups like ANSWER take the lead in organizational duties for this protest. We should control the agenda. We must select the speakers and the themes. Only we can focus this protest correctly - on Bush's entire Presidency. We should denounce his entire agenda as a War on America. We must focus this protest exactly where the mainstream of this nation wants it: on the radical agenda of a President without a mandate. We can pull mainstream organizations and citizens into protest in numbers the nation has never seen, and force the media to take notice.
Seek out and lay plans with sympathetic and Dean endorsing Congressmen and candidates, the Democratic party, unions, peace groups, other campaigns, and other membership based organizations who can contribute numbers and organizers. You, the leaders of the Dean movement must all step up and become visible leaders your own communities. Make your presence felt, tie together new consituencies, make the GOP tremble as we march to victory in November. You still have the power!
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| Spontanious "Unseen Dean" Radio spot available for download |
| 02.17.04 (5:07 pm) [edit] |
Geri Weis-Corbley and Lanya Shapiro were invited to write a radio spot for air on WNOV radio in Milwaukee. The add promoted the availability of "Howard Dean Unseen" video tapes for people to pick up at the station. This is another fine example of taking back the media to get our message out to the voters.
You can download the radio spot here:
http://politics.postilion.org...
Keep the faith!
-nic
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| Give us your Feedback: What do you want ? How are you feeling? |
| 02.17.04 (3:22 am) [edit] |
(by Richard Hoefer)
[b]Hello Dean Supporters everywhere --[/b]
The "National Grassroots" is an association of grassroots organizations continuing Howard Dean's mission to:
[b](1)[/b] Take back the White House
[b](2) [/b]Remove special interest money and influence from our election and governance processes
[b](3)[/b] Revitalize the Democratic Party
This NG association grew out of the Yahoo Group "Dean Leaders" -- 400+ Organizers & Leaders of various Dean grassroot groups across the country -- since the Primaries began in 2004. Read our [b]Mission[/b] here: http://www.deanport.com/natio... . See some of our recent success stories of innovative GOTV strategies here: http://www.www.deanport.com/n... .
[b]This thread is to "check your pulse" and find out how you're doing out there? [/b]How is your state mobilizing for a Howard Dean win in upcoming primaries? Are you confused about conflicting media reports about "Dean is still in"... "No, Dean is out" ?
The Governor is thankfully marching to his own beat -- and to the rhythm of the Grassroots activated by his messages of transformation and collective "people power". There are Dean Supporters among us who say "now is the time to unite behind ...." -- but it is my impression that this is a very minority view. One thing seems clear: whatever the fate of Gov. Dean's run for the Presidency, his message and calls to action to prevent the Democratic Party from falling asleep again, and further to bring the party into alignment with the current views of the people -- views which are not frozen in time since the "centrist" movement was invented to better compete with the GOP -- are deeply felt by his hundreds of thousands of active supporters across America.
[b]NG is working hard to enable us all to "Be the Media" [/b]through alternative video publishing systems -- including the web, VHS tape direct distribution, and national town hall meetings connected live via webcam and telephone hookups. We will never again allow the corporate media to intentionally derail the candidacy of a man of integrity who's running upstream against the entire entrenched Beltway Model of top-down power concentration.
[b]Let's hear your feedback -- [/b]on all matters of importance to you right now at this critical juncture.
[b]And if you like what you see us doing [/b]with this new NG association to leverage the collective power of individual grassroot organizations coast to coast, then sign up with us here: http://www.deanport.com/natio...
[b]Last note:[/b] This is our temporary blog while we finish evaluating the best of breed communication tools to serve you in better ways. If you're confused about the Commenting system here, check out this HELP illustration: http://www.deanport.com/natio...
rh+
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| Dean: Founder of Rootism |
| 02.16.04 (10:54 am) [edit] |
I can't say, as I write this, whether Dean can still capture the Democratic nomination and, defeating Bush, become our President. I hope so. But I know that many supporters are engaged in the pastimes of underdogs and longshots; looking for scenarios that could still lead to victory, attempting to figure our what went wrong. and tasting the bitterness of failure. It appears that miscalculation in IA and NH, combined with the media's "Goreing" of Dean, may have derailed the "Greatest Grassroots Movement of our Generation."
But Dean's message will live on. In the rhetorical posturing of the remaining Democratic contenders, on the lips of savvy contenders for public offices, in the arsenals of the Democratic party leadership and union organizers, and in the hearts of root organizers across the country, Dean's message remains strong. It is a message of common sense at a time in our national life when sense is sadly uncommon.
Dean's message is already becoming the very heart of the Democratic agenda. Regardless of his eventual success or failure, Dean put his physician's finger smack on the pulse of the American mainstream and applied the defibrillator paddles to the heart of a dying Democratic party. The patient is still in intensive care, but the signs point to a full recovery for the vital center of American politics. Dean's political DNA is a blend of the best of moderate Democratic and Republican views. Some see Dean's message as balancing Bush by pulling the Democratic party further left, but that reflects a fundamental ignorance of what Dean actually advocates. Dean's spirited delivery sometimes causes observers to assume his message is radical; but considered at normal volume, it is common-sensical, humanistic, and centrist; drawing approval from liberals, independents, and moderates alike.
Dean's message is inclusive of all people of goodwill and tolerant of all viewpoints willing to enter into negotiation and compromise. It is implacably hostile to ideological extremes which seek to force their patent nostrums down society's throat. More than any other politician in the past several generations, Dean has brought to bear common sense on our public discourse.
The core compatibility of Dean's message with mainstream political values, and the vital web of relationships that the Dean movement has forged on- and off-line, are why the Dean movement will leave a legacy in American politics, while the effects of earlier insurgent campaigns have faded quickly. The ability of Dean's message to reawaken citizens from their media induced stupor is why the Dean Presidential campaign is only the beginning of our journey. The movement Dean built will cascade though the electorate even without a President Dean to guide it, because the movement was never primarily about him. As Dean often pointed out, in what many took to be the false modesty of political speech, the power to change America was never in his hands, but in ours. In the end, the literal truth of his fungibility may be why he did not surge onward from Iowa to take the nomination. The message he has injected into the Democratic party is so potent it doesn't need him personally to carry it forward. Like a virus transmitted though the vector of the Presidential nomination campaign, the entire slate of Democratic candidates have been made carriers. The electorate has been made its natural reservoir where it will grow and mutate, and from which it will re-emerge again and again. Dean's message has become the rhetorical tool that politicians and activists will use to shift the balance of power back to the center, putting Democrats and moderate Republicans back into their rightful place at the heart of American politics, shoving the radicals of the hard right back to the margins.
Progress toward a stable grassroots organization based on Dean's message could be hindered and slowed, even stopped, if the Dean movement is not quickly and decisively repurposed if Dean is forced to drop out. The purposes to which the Dean network are put are less important than that it simply be put to a purpose. The fundraising network can be used ad hoc by office seekers and organizations willing to affirm the network's values. The communication and scheduling infrastructure can be used to revitalize the growth of new party structures, clubs, and institutions. The far-flung network of rootist blogs and websites will form a new news and information system for the party that connects us to the genuine voices of people. The network of informal associations, affinity groups, and task oriented teams will create new tools and invent new systems to help the roots compete with the parasites. Already, signs of self-governance and coordination are emerging from the roots, by the roots, and for the roots, and that is as it should be. People worry about central authority and coordination far too much. The roots are attracted to success and truth; we will choose our own leadership based on proof, not promises.
Unfortunately, many among us, disappointed over Dean's fall from front-runner to former front-runner, feel marginalized, slighted, and fed up with the system. Some are even planning to stand clear of politics: not voting, not working for candidates, and certainly not working for or donating to the nominee. Nothing could be more of a disservice to Dean's legacy, or more counter-productive to the goal of revitalizing citizen-centered politics. The only way for us to affect real change in politics is through the Democratic party. No third party, no independent movement, no separate organization can provide us the power and influence that the party can. Dean supporters must stay active in Democratic party politics in their hometowns, counties, and states, or we will become irrelevant. That includes backing the nominee, even if he is not of our choosing. We have to work with the party, and no one will trust a player who picks up their pieces and storms away because the game is not going their way.
Our numbers, and our shared ideals and goals, make us mutually supporting and potentially very powerful within the party, but only if we stay in the game. The point is to build a movement for real change within the party. We cannot expect to win every round. We can build a political movement rooted in our real lives; in our clubs, our business and professional associations, our churches, and our neighborhoods. We can only do that using the ubiquity and legitimacy of the Democratic party. Don't let the friends you've made and the neighbors you've met in this campaign fade away. Hold fast to them, and work together to become the party, and then reform the party. Together, we will fulfill the promise of America.
We can take back our party, our government, and our America. We are this nation's future. We are the rising tide. You just have to keep believing, and act on that belief.
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| We are Democracy at It's Finest!! |
| 02.15.04 (10:23 pm) [edit] |
Hello!
I would like to say a couple things.
I cannot profess to say I have a clue what will happen after Wisconsin. I don't think anyone can. Between the media, the yahoo groups, the blog, and/or whatever source we use for our information, we have found ourselves turning in circles. One thing is clear to me- that on our own we are capable of accomplishing anything. We have conviction, we have passion, we have resources, we have talent, we have heart, we have hope, and we have purpose!
I have received emails stating, that by not standing down, our campaign is interfering with Democracy. I am sorry, but apparently we were interfering with Democracy even when we were ahead. We are now considered a "small nagging thing." I, personally, have never been so proud to be a nag. This is Democracy my friends- at it's finest! Democracy is men and women from all walks of life fighting for what they believe is right. Democracy is standing with conviction, towards the betterment of society, for equality for all, and for a more community driven way of life. Democracy is fighting corruption, fighting the media, and fighting special interests- even when it happens on our side of the isle. Democracy is standing together despite adversity, and growing stronger and better because of it. Democracy is making sure everyone knows all their options. I have been shamed by those who said I was un-American because I opposed the war. I will not be shamed again.
For the record- I, along with hundreds of Oklahomans will continue to support Howard Dean. Not because we are spoilers, but because we believe he is the best person for the job. Howard Dean woke this country up! It is our purpose to make sure we/they don't fall back asleep. We will continue to have events for Howard Dean. We will continue to work towards creating positive change. We will continue towards restoring Democracy. We will continue making right choices- as long as it takes. If and when the time arises that we need to make any changes, we have plenty of options. I am sure you have considered them all. One consideration is to stay right where you are until the next door opens. One always does, and it usually brings us to a better place.
Thanks!!
Pam Paul
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| Burn 4 Dean Burns through Wisconsin |
| 02.14.04 (9:29 pm) [edit] |
What a day for Dean in Wisconsin!!
Dean supporters went door to door distributing just a portion of the 3,500 videos (that were made over night), and hundreds of cd's & dvd's to homes in Wisconsin!!
What an awesome display of teamwork!! Dean supporters helped produce, burn, fund, ship and distribute the message of Howard Dean.
The 15 minute video is taylored for the people in Wisconsin, and reflects the message of hope, fiscal sanity, security, and community. The response from Wisconsin was great!!
Each video will have the name of the person who helped make it possible on the label How cool is that??!! What an inspiring endeavor!!
Channel 12 went along for the ride, and we of course had a National Grassroots video being shot as well!!
Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!! We Have The Power!! We Can Work Around the Media and the Special Interests!! We Can Change Our Country!! We Are Dean People afterall!!
Here's the link to the video:
http://politics.postilion.org/wislinks.html" title="http://politics.postilion.org/wislinks.html" target="_blank"http://politics.postilion.org...
thanks & spread the love!!
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| Oregon Bus Project-- engage, educate, elect |
| 02.14.04 (2:08 pm) [edit] |
Two years ago at the Multnomah County Democratic Platform Convention a group of young progressives came up with the idea of an organization that would work to engage and educate people on the issues and to elect progressives. During the planning, someone had the idea to buy a bus to travel around the state, and hence the Oregon Bus Project was born.
Throughout 2002, they cruised around Oregon in their 1978 charter bus and supported fourteen candidates throughout the state. They zoomed through Salem and Siletz, Madras and Medford, joined together to rap politely on nearly 70,000 doors, and educated voters about progressive candidates running for state legislative seats. Voters elected seven of these candidates to office - tying the Oregon Senate for the first time in more than a decade. Hundreds of Oregonians found a meaningful way to meet their neighbors and work toward change - many of them canvassed, supported a candidate, or volunteered for the first time.
Since then the Project has worked on other elections, including two Measures that would have filled the huge budget deficit the state is experiencing.
And the Project continues to grow. There's already more than a dozen trips planned around the state this summer to help increase the Democrat's majority in the state senate and move closer to a majority in the state house.
The goal of the Project is to engage people in the off election years, educate the voters all the time, and elect progressives in the election year.
It focuses around what is called the 6 E's: education, environment, equal rights, economy, election reform, and 'ealth care (without the h).
Currently the Project has two parts: a state PAC (for electing) and a 501c4 (for engaging). A 501c3 is in the works for voter education and registration.
Working on the local and state level is very important, as these are the levels in which the final decisions on how money will be appropriated are made. Without progressive state legislatures, governors, and other state-wide elected officials (attorney general, secretary of state, etc.), it will be hard for us to be successful in getting things like equal rights for all, a fair tax system, etc.-- even if we have a progressive President in the White House.
While the Bus Project isn't an official part of the Democratic Party, they do often work closely together.
The Project is already expanding outside of Oregon. Plans are currently underway to form a Project in Washington state.
If you're interested in starting a Project in your state, or want more information, visit http://www.busproject.org
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| Don't MESS with the Grassroots - You ARE the power! |
| 02.14.04 (2:51 am) [edit] |
I don't know if you really know the [b]power of the grassroots at work[/b], but I can say I am really impressed.
A terrific team of people, headed by Geri Weis-Corbley and Richard Hoefer decided that people in WI needed to [i]see the Howard Dean we know and love[/i]. Not the one hyped by the media.
When they got roadblocks at DfA, well you know the Grassroots, they just rolled right around that baby! The trouble was:
1) how to get it into the hands of WI canvassers ASAP
2) funding $$$$$
On a DeanLeaders call, I heard of the funding need and the critical issue being that the funding pledges had to be in [u]within 12 hours[/u]!!! So, I decided that since I can't go to Wisconsin, and I can't fund it, we would have to go to the hearts and pocket books of the grassroots, YOU!
It was amazing, but within an hour of making the commitment to pull together a team, we were working shifts throughout the night, posting to the DfA blog, the Yahoo! Groups. And guess what? [b]You responded[/b]...not just Hometown, USA - expats from Switzerland and Japan as well as the kind assistance of TruthandHope.org. Things were rolling.
So here's the beauty part...
Our goal was 2000 DVDs and VHS tapes...and by the awesome power of YOU, [i]we doubled the number to 4000[/i]!
In addition, Burn4Dean and individuals from [b]all over the US took their time and energy[/b] to personally burn DVDs for WI and get them mailed in time for canvassers to take door to door. A BIG Thank You to each person for that effort.
One more small point and then I'm done...
I'm disabled and sometimes it is a fight working with my body and getting around obstacles in my day...
[i]Then I see the huge hurdles this campaign has faced [/i]and then I see the clarity of vision, the dedication to principles and the devotion to our man, Governor Dean - and you folks [u]inspire me to do bigger and better things [/u]each day because of it.
Be inspired, then go out and talk about Governor Dean.
Peace~
Dawn in CA
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| Burn4Dean a BIG success |
| 02.13.04 (7:06 pm) [edit] |
On behalf of the illustrious producer of the 18 minute kick-butt, video of the REAL HOWARD DEAN, Geri (who I hope is on her way to bed so she makes her flight to Wisconsin as the sun rises tomorrow) and myself (the one with the nutty idea to get volunteers to burn disks) I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who pitched in to burn and send well over 500 DVDs and VCDs to Wisconsin for volunteers to give to undecided voters.
And a very big THANKS also to everyone who chipped in to fund the production of 4000 VHS copies of Geri's great video that will be put in the hands of those 2's & 3's we need to come our way in Wisconsin.
If you made a pledge to contribute to the VHS effort and for any reason didn't get the number to call to make your contribution, it's 414-357-6477, Editran in Brown Deer Wisconsin. Please call tomorrow if you haven't already!
FYI, all things being equal, we do plan to produce updated versions of the video for CA, NY and possibly other upcoming states (keeping my fingers crossed that we'll still be very much in the game come the PA primary on April 27th). We'll get back to you in a couple of days to formulate a battle plan in advance (what a concept!) of production so we'll be ready to rock and roll.
Between now and then, head over to www.DeanPort.com/WI and keep your eyes on the prize!
Joe
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