The Dean Connection – NY Times Sunday magazine cover story (7 pages)

[pruner]

The (mostly) young people behind Howard Dean's campaign — the brokenhearted, the techno-utopians, the formerly apolitical — come together because they like the candidate. But they also come together because they like one another.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/magazine/07DEAN.html

[Cha]

1. Kicker!

Too much ...I love hearing the personal stories of Deanomites!

[Demobrat]

2. I'll be sure to buy it this week.

Thanks.

[madfloridian]

3. I like this part.

SNIP..."Part of Dean's appeal is that he behaves in recognizably human ways. He talks with real emotion and seems to respond to events (if sometimes poorly) as they come. In this election season, Dean's responsive, even angry, voice has had political resonance. Many Dean supporters objected not just to the war in Iraq itself, but also to the Bush administration's failure to even maintain the appearance of listening to the massive protests and U.N. resolutions. By contrast, responsiveness is the essential sound of the Dean campaign. It is embodied not only in Dean himself, but also in the blog, which creates the impression of a constant dialogue between supporters and campaign staff, and in the organizing on the ground.

The campaign sees political involvement in the way ''Bowling Alone'' does, as related to participation in civic organizations -- to people getting together socially. People at all levels of the Dean campaign will tell you that its purpose is not just to elect Howard Dean president. Just as significant, they say, the point is to give people something to believe in, and to connect those people to one another. The point is to get them out of their houses and bring them together at barbecues, rallies and voting booths....."

I had not thought of this, but we have made great new friends through the campaign. Several new people rode to meet-up with us Wednesday. I had never met them before, but they visited for a while. We have lots of house parties and dinners.

We work hard for Dean, but we will have friendships we did not have before. Even if Dean is not the nominee, my hubby and I have had a great experience.

Though we are called names and made fun of here at the forum, it is amazing to me how many people in our group are just entering into politics. They have felt at home with our group. We have a large number of the gay and lesbian community, and they are making their voices heard. Our area has tended to squelch anything like this, very conservative. We have a lot of independents as well.

[Scott Lee]

4. Awesome story.

I hope America's paying attention. This is retooling how it's all done.

[NashVegas]

5. Oh Jeez

Two pages in, and while I expect the gist of the article is to say 'Dean's people are FREAKS,' I can't help giggling over 'Howards for Howard.'

[pruner]

6. I laughed at that too…

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. It's our neverending love for Kool Aid that brings us together.

[DrFunkenstein]

8. Yet Another Process Story

How interesting. It's kind of like what Dean plans to do as President, except not.

[dsc]

9. a few of us tried posting things like that

I got 0 responses for my thread while the other person got fewer than 20 on two threads. Don't blame us for not trying that again.