New! Dean Aircraft Ride Board for Volunteers & Pilots

[tsipple]

Pilots for Dean now has a second rideboard for Dean campaign volunteers, this one for aircraft service. (For car ride sharing, Generation Dean`s Rideboard is the official web site.) Pilots can post their availabilities to fly with Dean volunteers to various campaign events, and volunteers needing rides are welcome to contact pilots.

For years, the GOP has solicited and received air service from corporate contributors who provide access to their business jets. The Pilots for Dean rideboard is a democratic response to that largess, to take our country back from fat-cat corporate interests and contributors. To our knowledge, this grassroots aircraft rideboard is the first of its kind. It provides extra speed and reach to help Dean volunteers connect and talk with voters.

Both FEC and FAA rules govern when and how volunteer pilots can fly with Dean volunteers, and a summary of those rules is available at Pilots for Dean. Pilots for Dean and Dean for America do not take any responsibility for the rules summary or for any flight. Any liabilities are between individual pilots and their passenger(s). Pilots for Dean is not affiliated with the Dean campaign except as an independent, grassroots supporting organization.

To visit the Pilots for Dean rideboard, go to the main Pilots for Dean web page and click on the "Flying for Dean" link.

[ShaneGR]

1. Hmmmm, small planes

The idea is cool and I'm sure it will be a great help. I have a problem with small planes though. Democrats and small planes do not work very well.

[tsipple]

3. Pilots are volunteers too (and not candidates)

Not everyone will be comfortable aboard an airplane. (Many people won't be comfortable sharing car rides, for that matter.) Transportation is not risk-free.

It's worth noting that the pilots involved are Dean volunteers and will be working at any events, along with their passengers. These are not political candidates who are pressed for time, and no pilot should feel pressured to fly in bad weather. People get in trouble when they feel pressure to make a deadline, such as a campaign appearance. Flying is just not like that. There are times when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Finally, an airplane accident is automatically newsworthy, and a car accident is (unfortunately) not. And there are many famous people who died in car accidents, including Grace Kelly, Princess Diana, and James Dean. We also know about politicians who got into career-limiting car accidents, such as Bill Janklow and, perhaps most famously, Ted Kennedy. So it is important to have some perspective here.

[Eloriel]

2. Way cool! n/t

[tsipple]

4. Rides Now On Offer

Volunteer pilots are now available from both Chicago and Seattle, with more to come no doubt.

[Pastiche423]

5. He keeps getting better and better!

And if I hadn't retired my passenger wings in January 2001, I'd be 1st in line. ;-)

[karlschneider]

6. I'll check around and see if some of my friends will consider loaning

their planes, I don't own one any more but would be happy to do the driving from the TUL area. (commercial/instrument/multi/8000 hrs)
Thanks for the links

[tsipple]

8. Rental OK, Too

So you might post availability from the Tulsa area, if you like.

[karlschneider]

9. Will do.

K

[clar]

7. Good for all of you

This is so neat, and so in the spirit of the campaign.

[tsipple]

10. Pilots for Dean "Passenger Guide" Now Posted

Check it out at the web site! Comments welcome.