...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Wednesday, July 02, 2003
      ( 8:55 AM )
 
A Campaign for the People

Howard Dean's interview this morning on NPR was very well done. It was great to listen to his concise, well-thought out answers and to hear the conviction in his voice. It wasn't very long, but in the short amount of time, he was able to articulate a vision for the country and even plans for how to change the things that have led us into the quagmire that we are in right now with the economy, foreign relations, health care, and even equal rights for all people.

Also, it was very cool to read this article in the American Prospect that shows how it's Dean's message that is creating not only the buzz for his campaign, but drawing in hundreds and thousands of supporters each day:

When the history of this past week in the Democratic
primaries is written, the relative impact of MoveOn.org, Meetup.com
and "smartmobbing" technology on Dean's ability to raise such
an unexpected sum will all feature prominently.

But reading the threads on the message boards at BlogforAmerica.com
-- the official Web log of the Dean campaign, where donors
discuss their reasons for giving and for backing Dean -- it quickly
becomes obvious that the single most important factor in Dean's
stunning fundraising numbers is the most old-fashioned weapon
in any campaign's arsenal: message.

Dean has been able to build a following and raise the bar on
per-quarter fundraising not by working his friendships with
wealthy trial lawyers, relying on decades of contacts with the
rich and powerful, or building the best Internet-based campaign
American politics has yet seen. He's done it by steadfastly
promoting a pugnacious, optimistic, forward-looking message
and by coupling it with a campaign organization smart enough
to let his supporters help him. In the post-McCain-Feingold world,
the Democratic Party has struggled to figure out how to attract
small-sum donors: In the last election cycle, 64 percent of donations
less than $200 went to Republicans, according to the Center for
Responsive Politics, while Democrats grew fat and sick on big
money from those who gave more than $1 million. Dean has cracked
the nut and done what six months ago looked to be impossible: He
has figured out how to compete based on donations the size of the
fat cats' monthly Starbucks expenditures.

Welcome to Dean's world. We all will live in it.

On Dean's blog, the message-board threads have acted
as constant, ongoing, real-time focus groups for everything
the governor says and does. The campaign takes it all in. Plenty
of ideas adopted by the campaign start out on the threads of
the Dean blogs, say Dean campaign aides, and the Dean for
America Internet team is constantly updating and modifying the
site in response to the posts. To follow the blog is to watch the
campaign unfold in real time with a startling level of intimacy
and transparency; it is to enter a freewheeling, unending
conversation where thousands and thousands of Dean's
supporters chew over every aspect of his campaign and
strategy, message and image, policies and past record.

[...]

For Dean's supporters, the most important part of
the Dean message is that it makes them feel that they have
the power to control their own destiny:

"[E]ating is much less important this month than making
sure that the people are heard," wrote small-money
donor Stephanie on the comment thread. "I hope this lets
the other candidates understand that the status-quo isn't
acceptable anymore. We the people want to be heard in our
government. We have the power as individuals to make a
difference finally we have the opportunity."

[...]

Most of all, these people seemed to be supporting
Dean because other people they know and trust are supporting
Dean. The Internet campaign magnifies the voices of friends
and relatives above the voices of the famous or the powerful.

If you haven't looked into the Dean campaign yet, I encourage you to do so, and to go to the Meet-up in your town tonight. It's worth a little effort for each of us to get behind someone who not only listens to us, but who gives us the power to take the
white house back.

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