My First Dean Meet-up

[slinkerwink]

It was near the end of summer, and I had returned home from my congressional internship in Washington D.C. I felt so disheartened after asking several Democrat leaders and my own Congressman why they couldn't stand up to Bush. Several of them said it was political suicide and challenging a popular wartime President was tauntamount to being a traitor. However, changes were beginning in Congress. The Republicans who once had been gloating about the "Iraq victory" no longer looked so triumphant, and I heard murmurs of worry about what that would do to Bush's chances of re-election.

In Washington, I saw a system where the lobbyists controlled politicians, not the people. In Congress, however, there were a few good Congresspeople such as Paul Simon and Sheila Jackson-Lee. I heard her give an impassioned speech on the floor of the House when I was sitting next to my Congressman. I had admired her for a long time, since I'm from Texas----she is what truly represents Texas, not a mealy-mouthed Republican named Bush.

Home was in New York City. I'd logged onto the internet, checking out several Democratic candidates because I wanted somebody with balls of steel to step up to the plate and beat Bush. I logged onto the Dean website, and I liked what I saw far. I finally felt hope. Here was a guy that was actually taking it to Bush. I hadn't heard the same thing out of the other presidential Democrats.

I said to myself, "This guy's got backbone." But he was still an asterik in the polls, and I thought whether I should support Kerry. Then the reports of Dean raising $7 million dollars came out, and his steady rise in the polls. What really sold me on Dean was his June 23rd announcement speech which I had watched over the internet. He completely denounced the Bush administration and the Republicans in Congress. I decided to give him my total support, and attended one of the numerous Meet-ups in New York City.

There must've been over 200 people at City Bar and Grill in upper Manhattan. There was still some organizational confusion but I felt hope among the people there. They finally had found someone that voiced what they felt about the Democrat party, and hope that this man could beat Bush. I felt the Meet-up feeling so jazzed and ever since then, I've been involved in my Dean organization at college to help Dean get nominated in Massachussetts.

That is how I came to support Dean.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

1. Great Post!

:thumbsup:

DTH

[slinkerwink]

2. thanks!

this is for Walt Starr who asked why there weren't more positive first-hand posts about Dean.

[MoonAndSun]

5. I have a kinda first hand report on Dean, thru my daughter

who is a student at Arizona State University. When the candidates were here in Phoenix in October for the debates, Dean held a rally on the campus and my daughter was there along with quite a big crowd, many college students. She said she was really impressed with him and she was so excited when she got to shake his hand. We are both Dean supporters now!

[slinkerwink]

7. that's great!

:-)

[Eloriel]

37. Oh! We need to get ole Walt over to the blog --

But he's probably right that there ought to be more here ay DU. Thanks for yours.

[DancingBear]

3. Good for you!

Nice to see you this involved at your age, but remember, as bad as it is now (attacks, etc.) - the GE is even worse!

:)

[slinkerwink]

6. thanks!

:hi:

[jmaier]

4. Nice

Thank you. I wish that there were more first hand Meetup experience posts here versus all of the endless, generall ill-informed "analysis" and I include MY OWN!

[slinkerwink]

8. heh, I've made a few ill-formed analyses sometimes out of passion

:-p as has everyone else.

[Patriot_Spear]

9. Great Post! Of course, you're still just a zombified Deaniac....

But so am I!

Keep up the great Work!

[slinkerwink]

10. heh, thanks!

I'll be canvassing in NH also during J-Term.

[Patriot_Spear]

12. I just got appointed to head up my local RR Team...!

WoooHoooo- I ready to go!

[slinkerwink]

14. that's great!

[slinkerwink]

16. when?

[Patriot_Spear]

17. Today

I'm supposed to work up a game plan by Monday; organize the volunteers and have everything in place by the next Meet-up. No Sweat.

[slinkerwink]

19. what area are you in?

[Patriot_Spear]

20. South Eastern US...

why do you ask?

[slinkerwink]

21. just checking to see if it's a primary state like SC

;-)

[Patriot_Spear]

23. Nope. Sorry.

Because my my job and my schedule- I tend to be online quite a bit while keeping up with the local area news. I get published frequently in my local paper, and I've even had a couple of LTTE in the Washington Post and the NY Times.

It seemed like a perfect job for my particular strengths.

[musiclawyer]

11. Courage.....

Like I've said all along, a common thing you hear from Deanies is how they were awed by such "balls, bravado, courage" whatever you want to call it thast came out of Dean''s mouth in those dark months. It's like someone finally said out loud what we'de been thinking. That he's not quite polished, and reinvents himself and is somewhat of a wild card is part of the appeal. We see a little of ourselves in him, hence the intense loyalty. There's this almost archetypical vision that some Dean supporter friends of mine have expressed that "if" he gets the chance to go one on one with Bush's with on national tv, he'll cause Bush to self destruct. I tend to feel that any of the candidates can make bush look lousy in a debate. But don't you get this nagging feeling that fireworks would happen if both of them were in the same room?

[slinkerwink]

13. YES!

and it would electrify the whole goddamned country to see a corrupt politican like Bush be brought down to his knees!

[tameszu]

15. Very cool!

You should have invited me, though--then maybe I would've been a Deanie. =)

Also, make sure you remember to always call it the Democratic Party, not the Democrat Party, as the Freepers would put...

Cheers!

P.S.: Too bad about Paul Simon =(

[slinkerwink]

18. kick for some Dean positivity

[Zomby Woof]

22. you're a good sport

You have held your own in some tough battles on here, and you'll thank me for it later when you are a veteran campaigner. ;-)

I do like knowing that everyone who gets involved is casting off the shroud of apathy, and we ALL want what is best for the nation. You have shown you are tenacious, and maybe most importantly, have a sense of humor. Don't ever go into politics without it.

The dust will clear, soon enough, and you will look back on all this as just part of the fun. :toast:

[slinkerwink]

25. thanks!

;-)

[HuckleB]

24. Gracias!

I first came to know Dean through visiting friends in Vermont. They are far more "liberal" than Dean, and disagreed with him on many issues, but they still showed a great deal of respect and admiration for the job he did in a state with a constituency that is so widely split. Thus, I actually read what little was noted about the early days of the campaign online and in our local paper here in Portland. Over time, I began to "wish this guy actually had a chance." I liked his policy stands. I liked his energy. I liked his history. Still, I didn't expect much. No name. No resources. No way. Or so I thought.

My wife followed the story at the same time as I, and the success Dean began to show through the Internet energized her about a politician like nothing I've seen before in our 14 years together. She insisted we donate money to the Dean campaign! Now! I looked at the bank account and gave her a worried look, but she was not deterred.

Since then we've seen him speak on a trip through Portland, and met more and more supporters informally. Since June, some of us have discussed Dean and other candidates, sharing stories and opinion pieces, via an E-mail circle. Despite my voiced support for Dean, having read everything I could lay my eyes on about him, both good and bad, I remained undecided in the back of my mind. I knew the field was strong, and that it was only fair and right for me to spend just as much time getting to know the other candidates. Thus, only in the past few weeks, after much time spent doing just that, has my support for Dean been solidified in my mind as something more than an interim thing, with the possibility of permanency down the road. My admiration for most of the field vying for the nomination remains strong, still no one has been able to eclipse Dean in my mind, to this point.

Well, that's the short version of my history as a "Dean supporter," for what it's worth.

Cheers!

[slinkerwink]

26. cheers to you too!

[HFishbine]

27. And

tens of thousand of other people were sitting in their neighborhood pubs wathcing the same speach, feeling the same way. People talk about how anger is not going to win this election. What they don't understand is that Dean gave people a ray of hope for the first time in years.

[Willy Mugobeer]

28. I had a similar experience.

March, in northern California. I'd seen bits and snippets of Dean on CNN here and there...he seemed interesting to me as a stright shooter...so I heard about this "meetup" thing and decided to check it out.

They played the CA Democratic Convention speech. "What I want to know is, what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the president's unilateral intervention in Iraq." That's the quote, word for word, I'll remember it for the rest of my life. Even though nobody knew who the hell this guy was at the time, I resolved that THIS was the positive channel into which I would redirect all my anger and hate towards Bush.

We formed a "media" committee that night, and started laying plans for a letter-writing campaign to get his name recognition up. :-) That didn't last long.

But the rest of the committees are going strong now and we don't have much doubt at this point we're going to win, both the nomination and the general election.

[slinkerwink]

30. welcome to the Dean campaign!

;-)

[Cha]

29. Okay ...I had a great expericence today

with someone who signed my petition to get Dean on the New York
Primary ballot. She called her mother to see what her exact "resident address" was and she told her she was signing a Dean petition and her mother said I want to sign it, too. And her Mom also told her that her Aunt, who is a stockbrocker in the City, had sent money to Dean! So we were all excited!~ :D

My friend also told me that she thought it was so cool that Al Gore endorsed Dean!

[slinkerwink]

31. sounds like a great experience!

[Cha]

34. Yeah! And I told her about this cartoon, too, and she

cracked up! Cause she used to be a hippie!
http://www.rjmatson.com/frames_N.htm

[slinkerwink]

35. lol

[calimary]

39. I saw a lady driving up to the ATM in the village today, with a Dean

sticker on her car. We exchanged several pleasantries and a sense of sisterhood. I see that in a lot of other Deanies.

Let me say yet again, I remain dedicated to supporting WHOEVER or WHOMEVER is our standard-bearer against bush. For myself, I'm hoping it's Dean because it just seems to me from all I've read, seen, heard and watched that he's the best bet.

And anger? You want anger? You want to laugh and smirk or denounce the anger? I suspect those who do - will do so at their peril, especially next November. Howard Dean appeals to me like Howard Beale appealed to everybody in the movie "Network" - and everybody who saw that movie, also. His signature line: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

I think we've got a HUGE tsunami of anger that's going to roar like many lions and tigers next year, and work to our advantage - IF WE LET IT! It's a power to be harnessed, and I think Howard Dean can do it. He's already done it impressively enough to this point. I think it's worth noting.

My Dean experience - the first Meetup I attended was back in February in Santa Monica, which had been hovering on the verge of cancellation until almost the meeting hour, because they didn't think they'd have the minimum of four people. By the time we'd assembled, we were ten. I wondered if that was a harbinger of things to come. I think I turned out to be correct. The last couple of Dean Meetups I attended were in a small-ish local tavern where you almost couldn't get in the door.

Gore's on board, now, too, which is a plus, I think. I am hoping, with many blessings to everyone else of opposing views, that we can all stop the temptation to stay splintered. As I wrote to the Dem-CA groups a few minutes ago -

"I worry about sending a candidate up against
Duh-bya who's as shot full of holes as many out there
are trying to make Dean into. A sieve will NOT help us
bail out the boat.

Those who would continue to denounce Dean and feel
compelled to repeat how "unelectable" he may be, or
how ideologically impure he may be, could very well be
kicking the legs out from under him instead of helping
him gird his loins for battle. I know you all mean
well. I know you mean this from the heart, because you
share one thing with this admitted Deanie - it is
PRIORITY ONE to defeat bush. We are only playing into
Karl Rove's hands when we bicker like this and beat
ourselves up. Just remember, when we all knock each
other down, the republi-CONS will find it that much
easier to step on our carcasses on their way back to
OUR White House.

A plea for unity here."

Many blessings. That goes double for everybody here at DU, whether or not they've decided to tag along as The Doctor makes his rounds. We've got a LONG way to go - hopefully shoulder-to-shoulder in LOCKSTEP together. But I think we're starting from a position of strength.

[calimary]

38. I saw a lady driving up to the ATM in the village today, with a Dean

sticker on her car. We exchanged several pleasantries and a sense of sisterhood. I see that in a lot of other Deanies.

Let me say yet again, I remain dedicated to supporting WHOEVER or WHOMEVER is our standard-bearer against bush. For myself, I'm hoping it's Dean because it just seems to me from all I've read, seen, heard and watched that he's the best bet.

And anger? You want anger? You want to laugh and smirk or denounce the anger? I suspect those who do - will do so at their peril, especially next November. Howard Dean appeals to me like Howard Beale appealed to everybody in the movie "Network" - and everybody who saw that movie, also. His signature line: "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

I think we've got a HUGE tsunami of anger that's going to roar like many lions and tigers next year, and work to our advantage - IF WE LET IT! It's a power to be harnessed, and I think Howard Dean can do it. He's already done it impressively enough to this point. I think it's worth noting.

My Dean experience - the first Meetup I attended was back in February in Santa Monica, which had been hovering on the verge of cancellation until almost the meeting hour, because they didn't think they'd have the minimum of four people. By the time we'd assembled, we were ten. I wondered if that was a harbinger of things to come. I think I turned out to be correct. The last couple of Dean Meetups I attended were in a small-ish local tavern where you almost couldn't get in the door.

Gore's on board, now, too, which is a plus, I think. I am hoping, with many blessings to everyone else of opposing views, that we can all stop the temptation to stay splintered. As I wrote to the Dem-CA groups a few minutes ago -

"I worry about sending a candidate up against
Duh-bya who's as shot full of holes as many out there
are trying to make Dean into. A sieve will NOT help us
bail out the boat.

Those who would continue to denounce Dean and feel
compelled to repeat how "unelectable" he may be, or
how ideologically impure he may be, could very well be
kicking the legs out from under him instead of helping
him gird his loins for battle. I know you all mean
well. I know you mean this from the heart, because you
share one thing with this admitted Deanie - it is
PRIORITY ONE to defeat bush. We are only playing into
Karl Rove's hands when we bicker like this and beat
ourselves up. Just remember, when we all knock each
other down, the republi-CONS will find it that much
easier to step on our carcasses on their way back to
OUR White House.

A plea for unity here."

[liberalmuse]

32. Thanks, slinkerwink...

for your awesome story about how you came to support Dean, and thus for creating this positive thread where others felt free to share their awesome stories. It is so nice to see a completely positive thread on Dean for a change!

[slinkerwink]

33. thanks, no problem!

[ozone_man]

36. You are the life of the party at DU,

and it sounds like where ever you are. Have fun throughout the campaign.

Is there another meetup before Iowa?

[RetroLounge]

40. Thanks slinkerwink

I've been to two Dean Meetups and have come away energized and raring to go. Definitely positive experiences, and I loved meeting such a great cross section of people.

I saw Dean speak in Milwaukee, which totally convinced me. He was saying the things I had been thinking and felt the way I had been feeling. He gave voice to my thoughts!

Last Monday I spent the evening working the phones for Dean for Wisconsin. It was a great experience!

on edit: spelling

[slinkerwink]

41. no problem!

[Joe Lieberman]

42. Sounds cool

:cry:

[LuminousX]

43. And here I thought the Meet-ups were just about the Hook-ups