Introduce yourself thread

[NoPasaran]

I think it might be useful if we have some idea where we're all located and what the state of the movement is.

I live in Austin. I was a latecomer to the Dean campaign but I've been active in Democracy for Texas from the start. We have a very strong group here with between one and two hundred people coming to our Meetup. We were a big part of our coordinated campaign here and we did rather well.

[Cheswick2.0]

1. I am from the North East corner of Pa

I am also a latecomer to the movement, joining in dec 2003. I was a Gore holdout, hoping he would run again. I finally took a good look at Dean when Gore endorsed him. I saw what Al did and I became a real convert.

My local meet-ups disapeared after Dean dropped out. Now we are rebuilding and have a handful of people showing up again and lots of NEW members who so far have not gotten into the monthly habit. I have high hopes for a real DFA movement here, but it seems like the character of pennsylvanians is a bit different than other places. Maybe we are just more lazy or complacent?

[patricia92243]

2. From NC. Never sent money to a candidate until Dean ran.

[NYCGirl]

53. Originally from San Francisco, now a New Yorker.

A lifelong Democrat from a family of Democrats, I was semi-active in politics for Al Gore (never much for Clinton), but Howard really got me involved.

[fudge stripe cookays]

3. Dallas. Dr. Dean changed my life.

I saw him speak in downtown Dallas in July 2003. A friend volunteering up here told us we should check it out.

And after feeling miserable and distant from our "friends" for over a year, and feeling completely isolated out in the Repug suburb that we'd moved to, seeing all these people with the same values was like getting a hit of pure oxygen after not being able to breathe for years!

We gave a donation that day (our first ever political $, but not the last!), and I signed up on every list I could to help, and jumped in right away. It took me awhile to get the hang of just DOING something if I got an idea.

I started tabling at events, I arranged events, we went to Bushwhacking parties and meetups, wrote letters to undecided voters, made some more friends, I went to Iowa in September with the Texas Rangers, saw the Dr a SECOND time, went to my first Gay Pride Parade registering voters, and the BIGGIE-- I started my OWN meetup out in Rowlett/Rockwall for the folks out east of us who couldn't drive into Dallas as easily. A friend and I drove out the boonies every few weeks and hung flyers wherever we could get away with it. And we had decent showings.

We'd never had political stickers on our car before, but put on about 6 of them, and enjoyed the reactions.

I saw Dr. Dean again in Dallas in December, and actually suggested Richard Morrison to him as a formidable candidate to throw his support towards. He sounded very impressed by the idea of taking DeLay out. And eventually he did back Morrison.

Then, I went to Iowa again in January and canvassed in 8 degrees with a silly orange hat on. I was AT the ballroom the night of "The Scream." Most of us didn't even know what had happened since we were on a bus for hours afterward. It came as a complete shock to us later.

Because of Dr. Dean and DFT, I went to my first precinct convention, my first county convention, AND my first state convention. I had such a blast I can't wait to go again.

I talked to complete strangers about politics. I wore either an anti-Bush or pro-Dean shirt or button just about everywhere I went. I got in trouble at work for talking politics.

Hmmmm...I think that's it. I may think of more later!
Fudge

[drfemoe]

15. I was literally in tears

that night.

As a former soundboard fill-in, I KNEW it was a sound mix and not a 'real' event! MOST DUers eventually figured out the media had perpetrated another rape, although that night some were a bit nasty. :cry:

I was AT the ballroom the night of "The Scream." Most of us didn't even know what had happened since we were on a bus for hours afterward.

How exciting for you. Thanks for sharing your DFA experiences!

[fudge stripe cookays]

16. You're welcome!

When I have some dumbass talk to me about how out of control Dean was that night, I blow them away by saying casually, "Were you there that night?"

When they say 'well, of course not,' I say, "Well, I WAS, and you don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

The look on most of their faces is priceless. They just don't get it.

FSC

[Eloriel]

58. What a GREAT testimonial

Just fabulous. Dean had that effect on a lot of people.

I'd given to a few campaigns before (2 or 3), but NOT with the enthusiasm and zeal I had (and still have) for Dean.

I'm in Georgia and got involved a little bit with the Georgia for Dean organization (terrific people, just terrific), but live pretty far outside Atlanta and wasn't up to trying to organize in my rural county. When I was ready to start gearing up for it a little, it was during the primaries and you know how that went. :-(

In all my 56 years, I have NEVER felt this way about a politician, and probably never will. Had I been involved and aware of politics at the time, I might've felt this way about JFK and/or RFK, but I'm not really sure. All I know is Dean's got everything I could want in a politician: honesty, integrity, a fighting spirit, and he's ALWAYS right. He's also very intuitive and gets a lot of things right before he's even had a chance to consciously think things through (tho he does absorb a lot of info about things prior to that, as a rule).

Politically (and figuratively) speaking, I'd follow him just about anywhere.

[liberalnurse]

4. The grassroots progressive movement

is the answer.......Dean is the Founding Father......I think this group help swing the pendulum back the other way.

[MoonAndSun]

5. I have supported Dr. Dean since I first saw him on the television

denouncing * and his rush to war in Iraq. He was one of the only Dems who had the guts to stand up to * at this point in time and it made me feel good that there was someone out there voicing what I felt.


I will always be a Dean supporter, I may not agree with all of his views (but I do agree with most of them) but I will always respect him for speaking truth to power.

[Eloriel]

59. Do you remember what it was, the first time you saw him?

One of the early appearances I saw was the forum in Iowa, set up by Sen. Harkin -- those Town Meetings.

And then there was that remarkable, miraculous, scintillating "What I wanna know" speech at the Convention in California, when I burst into tears hearing him say, "I want my country back!"

Wow. If I'd not already been a Dean supporter, that speech ALONE would have done it, and probably for all time. :evilgrin:

[FarLeftRage]

6. I'm from Upstate New York

and I live about 40 miles from Vermont. I have followed Howard Dean's career from the very beginning. I saw his political rise start in 1991, after took he over the Governor's job and right up to now. I had the good fortune of visiting his campaign headquarters in Sept. 2003. I can only see good things for the future from DFA and Howard Dean and that's why I will continue to support him.

[Philostopher]

7. Southwestern Ohio, here.

Showed up for the second or third Dean For America Meetup around here -- liberalnurse was there, too (hey, lady!). I was surprised at the diversity of people -- we had everybody from Republicans to people who considered themselves Greens; college students through middle-class tech workers. Older Dems who were tired of what they felt was 'enabling' by Democrats, and who'd admired Harry Truman's occasionally tactless but always pragmatic honesty.

We attended for a long time, but unfortunately I work kind of late, so getting to the Meetups was tough. I had a night class, too, and do again, so actually getting to the meetings may be a real challenge. Still, I plan to keep donating and doing what I can. The Democratic Party in our area is a mess -- the guy in charge of it doesn't seem to be at all devoted to keeping himself informed, or informing anybody else, from reports I've had from others in the area. I think groups like DFA can really help at that level, though -- they did almost as much, if not more, for our local congressional candidate through the Dean Dozen (she also was on the DailyKos list) than the Dem Party did.

And a Dem did get elected here, the county went (if thinly) to Kerry, and a Democratic-endorsed judge won over an incumbent for a juvenile court slot. We're 'barely blue' here, and I think that's pretty amazing, as inept and apathetic as the county Democratic Party folks are -- I want to think it might not take more than some pushing to make us a lot more blue!

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. MrsGrumpy checking in!

S/E Michigan is where I reside. I started going to Dean Meetups around February of 2003, but had already donated to Howard. It was a wonderful, hopeful couple of years. I truly felt as if someone was finally listening and speaking for us, the workers, the parents, the children.... I was never so depressed as when the campaign ended...the voice ended. I will fight to my drawing breath to see the Democratic Party become something we can all believe in again, the party that welcomes all, and works for all.

Nice to meet you all.

Laura

[chocolateeater]

9. Northern Kentucky.

Dean was the first politician I ever sent money to.

[LSdemocrat]

10. I'm from St. Louis, Missouri

I'm a first-year law student, and I have been a Dean supporter since 2002.

[Eloriel]

60. Hiya!

I grew up in Collinsville, IL. Spent a lot of time in St. Louis. Haven't been back for too many years now, since my family is all gone.

[RogueTrooper]

11. London Calling

Longtime supporter of Howard Dean. I joined his DFA's mailing list in 02 ( the day he announced his run for President ). Although I did not become a commited supporter until some months later.

[madfloridian]

12. Checking in.

Tried to get some folks from the blog to take part. Hard to get them to come here. Wonder why? Guess the attacks took their toll. A lot banned as well and can't come back. Some send best wishes, but no thanks. Can't say I blame them. :shrug:

[drfemoe]

21. 'attacks'?? ... on the INTERNET??? . imagine /n/t ...

[drfemoe]

13. Hiya!

I'm in DFW. Relocating to Austin very soon :bounce: to stay for a LONG time!
(Was there for three days this week :D )

Dean-o-mite all the way!

[sonias]

14. My name is Sonia and I am a DFT member

from Austin, TX. The fighting blue core of Austin, TX. We're the reason the frigging repukes re-districted Texas. They hate that the capitol of Texas is progressive/liberal. We'll I got news for them, we're not drinking their kool-aid. We are smarter than most of the state and we vote Democratic.

Sonia

[fudge stripe cookays]

17. I've met her!

And she ain't just whistling Dixie!

FSC :D

[sonias]

19. Hey FSC!

I was stuck at a non-profit board retreat this weekend and just got home. So no TX RenFest for me, and I knew you had to bow out too. Hope it went well for those DUers that went. It got cold this weekend.

And the local DFT crew was also having a leaders camp out this weekend at Krause Springs which I imagine has got to be pretty damn cold this weekend too. Hope they have lots of firewood for tonight too.

Next time you DFW/DFT members have a meetup, try and get the Texas Clean Up Texas Politics reform on your agenda. We have got to lobby hard for continued Texas Finance Reform.

Check out the platform here
Diverse Coalition of Organizations To Push Four Bipartisan Political Reforms in Coming Legislative Session
http://www.cleanuptexaspolitics.com/press_release

Thanks TX neighbor
Sonia

[JNelson6563]

18. Northwest Michigan here!

After Dean's candidacy came to an end I abandoned the meet-ups. I am heavily involved in my local Dem party and do my work through there. I hope Dean chairs DNC. If he does I will use all my influence to get everyone here to join or renew.

Glad we've got this forum and glad to see all you Dean supporters! :hi:

Julie

[Strawman]

20. Dean motivated me

Howard Dean was the first political candidate I ever gave any money to. I sent him $25 in November 2002 and got a signed letter back from him that is still up on my fridge. I went to a few Dean meetups in the Detroit area, wrote some letters to people in Iowa, put up my first yard sign for Dean, voted for Howard online in the MI primary and got recruited into being a precinct delegaten and attended the Democratic party county convention. Shortly after that and after watching a couple of the primary debates, I decided that I thought John Kerry would make a better candidate and ultimately a better President for a number of reasons, but I never stopped liking Dean. I don't have alot of time to volunteer since I work and go to grad school full time but I went to some Kerry Meetups, sent him some money, did some phone banking and took the day off and worked as a precinct captian on election day. I don't think I would have been inspired enough to do any of that stuff if it wasn't for Howard Dean, Joe Trippi and the Dean Meetups. He gave alot of people like me a sense of empowerment and a sense that change is really possible and showed us how we could make it happen. This election is over, but I think the Dean campaign lives and I think DFA lives. I'd like to get back involved in DFA even if I can't make many of the meetups.

[WI_DEM]

22. I'm from Madison, Wisconsin and strongly for Dean in '04

and volunteered for his campaign as well as donated. I think the Dems missed the boat by not nominating him this year. Kerry lost because he didn't have a clear position on Iraq. Iraq was always going to be the big issue. People didn't know where Kerry stood. People would have known where Dean stood. Iraq would have been his issue from day one. He also would have spoken out about the Iraqi prison scandal which, for some reason, Kerry ignored. I have been WI_DEM for some time, but my former screen name was CMT, and some of you may remember me by that. No I wasn't kicked off DU and came back with a new screen name, I just thought a change was good.

[JNelson6563]

30. I remember CMT!

Glad to see you are still around! :hi:

Julie

[Eloriel]

61. Kerry wasn't a great candidate, IMO, but he didn't lose --

Really, he didn't. Between the vote fraud and the vote suppression, his election was stolen too:

VOTE FRAUD Links - a DU Compendium
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=201&topic_id=1984#

VOTE FRAUD Links Compendium - Thread #2
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=201x3223

ALSO SEE: VOTE FRAUD? What can we do? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2701028#

********SEND THESE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND MEDIA TOO *********
Best Fraud Summary I've seen!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x57214
Link: http://www.bopnews.com
Updated Version: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=61029

NEW Berkeley Study: http://ucdata.berkeley.edu (scroll down)
and: http://ucdata.berkeley.edu/new_web/VOTE2004/index.html

[mdmc]

23. Hey Dean folk!

mdmc checkin in
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1861583

[mdmc]

64. just a wee

:kick:
for my link

[quaker bill]

24. Orlando Florida here

We have an active and growing DFA group.

I was a Dean supporter fairly early on. I still voted for him in Florida even though it mattered little at that point. I felt I had finally found a candidate that shared many of my views and had the common sense, verbal skills, and resume needed to be elected.

I worked for Kerry once he had the nomination through election day. The Kerry sticker came off my truck November 3. While I needed to do whatever I could to replace Bush, I was never convinced that Kerry was electable.

I did not feel that I gave all I had to give to elect Gore in 2000, although I did work on that campaign. I knew that I could not live with a clear conscience for the next 4 years unless I did everything I could to replace Bush this time.

Now I am back to my usual work of attempting to build a progressive movement. I have been engaged in progressive causes beginning as a child and all of my adult life. That work was still going to be there, regardless of the outcome.

I have two kids that will be of draftable age during this term. I have worked to help both build a case for CO status and will continue. Our Quaker meeting has trained for draft counseling and we fully expect that the skills will be used. I have been called to take on the leadership role there over the next several years. We will spend much of it reaching out to the larger community.

[Lorien]

29. Also in Orlando

and I feel much the same as quaker bill (worked hard for Kerry, though I wasn't inspired by his candidacy), though I'm not a member of the local DFA group; I'll need to look into that!

[Duncan Grant]

25. 9_S_F checking in.

I first saw Howard Dean on C-Span in November or December 2002 and he was speaking to a very small group of people in New Hampshire, answering questions about Iraq and civil unions. He was inspiring! Clearly a man of intellect and integrity, I loved him because he seemed to be willing to fight for the values of the Democratic party! Here was a man who had the courage of his convictions. :thumbsup:

I bought a "Dean for America" shirt from cafepress.com in February 2003, convinced that Howard Dean would be the next President of the United States. I showed up to the first MeetUp in San Francisco (March 2003) wearing that shirt; I was quite the cheerleader! I still have a picture of Howard Dean on the refrigerator. :D

The rest of the story you know because it's so similar for most of us: an energized campaign, people power, the bat, GD: Primary '04, the endorsements, the momentum, Iowa, DFA,...

Honestly, I was heartbroken after the primaries and it took months for me to work up any enthusiasm for Kerry. Politics is definitely a 'contact' sport (that can rough you up a bit) but I'm a lot more seasoned now.

Lurking at the DFA board was difficult. I intended to get involved there but I just had to bind my wounds for a few months - there was never any doubt that I would support the Democratic candidate and I needed the break. Ultimately, my husband and I finished the campaign in Akron, Ohio - knocking on doors in the rain on 11/2/04 - making sure people had an opportunity to vote (which is a wonderful story that I'll save for later...).

Long story short: I'm a passionate, smart guy who has the courage of his convictions. And - I'm still inspired by Howard Dean. :hi:

[lojasmo]

26. Rochester, Minnesota

Just gearing for the return of DFA to Minnesota.

Time to move the democratic party.

[Kipepeo]

27. Dean was the first political candidate I ever donated to

I have never been so inspired.

I was even writing cheesy-ass hand-written letters to undecided voters during the primaries.

I havn't been to a meet-up though.

[redsoxliberal]

37. Same situation here!

[Gnscih]

28. From Maine

I had not even considered the White House as a possibility for the Dems until Dean started campaigning. Or the viability of an internet candidacy. I believed Dean tapped a very deep vein, and I believe democracy in America can stay alive as long as we exercise our right to practice it.

[mzmolly]

31. I'm in the Twin Cities area and the meetups are still going on monthly.

:hi:

[TeacherCreature]

32. I am in Central PA and am glad to see this forum is up and running!!!!!

Let's take our country back--from the GOP and it's DLC ennablers too.

[BurtWorm]

33. New York City Dean guy here

I voted for Dean in the Moveon.org primary for lack of a more inspiring candidate. But I wasn't hardcore Dean until I saw him at Bryant Park in August 2003. I started donating right after that, and I kept donating even after it was clear he was folding. In fact I never donated to Kerry or the DNC this election cycle--mainly for lack of funds--but I did continue diving to DFA because I strongly believe in the principles of democracy from the grassroots and in fighting entrenched Republicanism (in both parties ;) ). Our local Democratic club voted overwhelmingly to endorse Dean, and then a week later, Iowa happened. :cry:

[Capn Sunshine]

34. Southern California -Ventura County

Although I am very active in LA as wll due to my business location.
Im a fourth generation Dem, my family has a tradition of party activism and Govvie service. My grandfather worked for FDR ; my Uncle and Aunt for Kennedy. I have worked for every dem campaign at state and national since 1970. I was very active in the anti-Vietnam war movement; I was SDS , and SMC. I was media coordinator for the coalition of Southern California anti-war groups.I worked for Clinton Gore in 92 and 96. I skipped Gore-Lieberman to my everlasting regret. I was, along with Al Gore and Howard Dean among others, a charter member of the DLC. We've kinda grown apart. I have worked for Howard Dean since Dec. of 2002. I'm still with DFA on the Southern CA Council and Rapid Response Team of our Statewide DFA Many of you are members of one of the progressive DFA oriented websites I admin. Interesting the way this site is buried BTW. If it hadn't been for Jnelson I would have never known about it.

Am I hired?

[JNelson6563]

35. The job is yours!

Welcome Cap'n! Great to see you! :hi:

Julie

[redsoxliberal]

36. Boston, Massachusetts

Dean got me into politics... I was more aware than many, and almost all in my age group (I'm now 15.) Dean made me an avid democrat.

Great to meet all of you.

[CitySky]

90. hi redsoxliberal

How about makin' that, WORLD CHAMPION Red Sox? :)

Yeah, fellow Sox fan here. Lived in Boston 5 1/2 years and caught the fever. What. A. Year.

[ProfessorPlum]

38. Hey everybody

Stumped door to door for Dean in Delaware. Didn't manage to win one delegate here, though. But have been very impressed with the good doctor.

I was able to shake his hand at a Dean event in Philadelphia in May of 2003. Great speech, great candidate.

I really hope he can get in the DNC and shake them up a bit.

[mrgorth]

44. Who are you?

I stumped in Delaware and was at the same meeting as you. My name is Mark. I'm about 6'1", dark hair, green eyes.

[ProfessorPlum]

78. Hey Mark

I stumped in DE too, in some places between Newark and Wilmington. Were you at the Mixto appearance?

[hippiechick]

39. Indiana here ...

Stepped waaaaaaay to the side before the first primary because of in-fighting in among our local groups (big sigh).

Still love and adore Howard Dean and would be willing to get involved & do some real work again now that the local fame and glory hounds have moved on to other high-profile issues.


:hippie:

[Atlant]

40. Hello!

Just checking in...

Atlant

[Cheswick2.0]

65. Hi Atlant!!

:hi:

[Voltaire]

41. Indianapolis Here

I started supporting Dean before supporting Dean was COOL! Went to Iowa (yep I was at the "I Have A Scream" Speech) and also worked for him in Michigan. I was then, am now, and always will be a Dean Democrat. I would prefer that he NOT take the DNC Chairmanship if it comes to that because I believe he can make more impact with DFA. I hope he announces for the Presidency instead, early rather than late. Whatever he chooses, I am with him. He's the only Democrat that has a clue as to where to take this party.

[PassingFair]

42. PassingFair, Present!

Have been a Deaniac since I can't remember when...Called up my brother-in-law in Vermont and said "Whattya think about Dean for President?"
"Our HOWARD?", he said "NO WAY". Two weeks later, he was calling me to ask how I had heard about it, and his best friends (lawyers, all) were actively campaigning and asking friends and families for donations. Went to the first Dean meet-up here in Michigan.
It was like crawling from the wreckage and meeting Red Cross workers with coffee and donuts! Before that night, no one would talk. After 9/11, people had trouble just making eye contact.
My husband downloaded a speech by Dean in California (SanFrancisco, I think) where I first heard him say I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK! and I was completely floored. I cried.
I made Mrs. Grumpy come over and watch, she cried, then we got BUSY.
Until Dean I had never been more than a lip-service dem. Until Dean I never even thought of donating time or money. Now I regularly do both.
AND I am a precinct delegate here in S.E. Michigan. If Dean wants to head up the DNC (and I think it's a GRAND idea), then I will do everything I can to see that come about.
Anyone else coming to the County Convention tonight in Sterling Heights?
If so, please PM me. I'm going. I'll be the one with the Democracy for America pin and the smarmy, lobbyist-like smile.
P.S. Thanks for starting this group. We have the power, if we choose to band together and wield it. GO DEAN

[DinahMoeHum]

43. Just north of NYC metro area. . .

and I remember when the first Dean Meetup I went to in March 2003 had 10 of us in a sports bar. By the end of the year, there were so many of us that we split into 3 Dean Meetup groups within our own county. Also, in the summer of 2003, the Westchester County Dems had their annual barbecue, and Dean won handily in the straw poll. Kerry was a distant second.

Many of us remained after Dean conceded to Kerry to become Democracy For America.

:kick:

[mrgorth]

45. Bucks County, PA

About an hour north of Philly. Supported Dean as much as possible than fought to bring down the shrub the only way left. I still think a Dean/Clark ticket was the way to go even if Clark was sent in to siphon support from him.

[seg4527]

46. i'm steve

I'm 18, living in PA, starting college in January in Minneapolis, and have been a supporter of Howard Dean since the startof his campaign. I'm not currently active, although I'm paying close attention, and hoping to become active in the not too distant future.

[PassingFair]

47. Where the %^$$&*&% is Eloriel?

paging Eloriel...this room is not full without you.

[TSIAS]

48. Hi everybody

I'm a Dean supporter from West Palm Beach, Fla. I was proud to cast my first primary ballot for Dr. Dean back in March. The thrill of my political life was meeting Dean at an event last August in FL.

I was a supporter of Dean's since January of 2003. I hope he remains a force, whether it is by chairing the DNC or running for President.

:hi:

Taylor

[Miami Liberal]

49. Born and raised

in Miami Florida, I have lived here all my life which is almost 30 years now. I have been a democrat since the age of 18 and was first inspired by Bill Clinton in the 90's, the only other politician to do this has been Howard Dean. Unfortunately, I have never seen him give a speech in person but I hope I will be able to in the future. I fully support Dr. Dean and what he stands for, he is a breath of fresh air in the Democratic party.

[mandyky]

50. Diehard Deaniac in Richmond, KY

The 2003 Winter Meeting Speech sold me on Howard Dean. Everything Dean has said has turned out to be so. I'd follow Dean anywhere.

Hopefully, Dean will run again in 08.

[demnan]

51. I'm in Northern Virginia

Dean had quite a following up in Arlington where I used to live. A lot of us got absorbed by the Democratic party. I respected Kerry, but I never liked him as much as I do Dean. I'm not sure how people feel down here in Prince William County. We shall see.

[Kolesar]

52. Deaniac from Cleveland

Funny story: the Democrats had just had a bad 2002 midterm election and I felt a need to do something. I loved Howard Dean's message, especially his speaking out against the war. I decided to donate $50 at his website on December 31, just to get it in before the end of the year. You see, in Ohio you can take political donations off your taxes. Well, I found out a short time later that the tax credit only applies for state offices, and I would get no tax credit. Oh well, I guess I did it for love of my country!!

[bullimiami]

54. another floridian

another miamian. northeast dade county.
our DFA still meets but I have been mia working on the kerry campaign.
i have posted on our meetup page and will probably start back with them this month.

here is the info for anyone else interested you can find it at meetup.com :: Dade County Democracy for America Meetup Group




Thai Orchid Restaurant
317 Miracle Mile
Coral Gables , FL 33134
(305) 448 - 7703
Joe Morales


When:
Wednesday, December 1, 2004 at 7:00 PM
first wed of every month.

[rasputin1952]

55. Well, Hi everybody...

As the Moderator of this forum I guess I should chime in.

A few of you know me already, and basically my purpose is to keep this forum as user friendly as possible. This is your place, you have it to discuss whatever you want without fear of people coming in here and disrupting your forum...:)

I'll pop in from time to time, not to bother any one, but to see if there are any glitches in the system.

I only ask one thing, if you have a problem, please notify me via the alert function, or by PM. Don't fret if I don't answer immediately, I am going through a pharaceutical course, and it takes a good deal of my time. I take both DU and this course very seriously, I don't want to make mistakes in either...:)

In any case, feel free to PM me with any concerns or questions, also, please don't forget about ATA, if any of your questions aren't answered adequately.

It is a pleasure to be be here with you. I see alot of names of familiar people.

Now, I'll get out of your hair....:)

:hi:

[redsoxliberal]

56. hey, I have a question... are you a Deaniac?

:D

[rasputin1952]

57. LOL...That is a good Question...

I liked Dean, then again I liked all of the Dem candidates. I know that sounds like a copout, but when I looked at the field, I found many things about each candidate I liked and a few things in each one I didn'r like. I can tell you this, I would have gone w/Dean before Kerry. I think Dean did a wonderful job motivating the grass roots element of the Dem party, and I think his honesty and his credentials were impecable. If you really want to know who I wanted to see win the nomination, even though there was no realistic chance of it happening, it was Carol Mosely Braun. I think she was the brightest and most poised of the lot; she had three things going against her, she was black, she was intelligent and she was female. Sad but true.

In a nut shell there you have it. I have absolutely nothing against Dean, Sharpton, Kucinich, Kerry, Clark, Braun, or anybody else, (except the bush cabal). I am here only make sure you all can discuss what ever you wish w/o being harrassed by anyone else. Most of the time, you won't even know I'm around unless you call for help if you need it to get someone off your board if they are harassing you...:)

[a new day]

62. Seattle

Chose Dean in June 2003. Stayed with him through the county convention. Still sorry he got bashed, even sorrier now.

This group is a great idea.

[Lugnut]

63. NE PA here

I'm in the Hazleton area. I was a Deaniac the first time I heard the good doctor speak. Most of my immediate family members voted for Dr. Dean in the PA primary even though he was out of the running by then. Dr. Dean was who I supported and I would've been a hypocrite to do otherwise.

[Cheswick2.0]

66. Hey I did GOTV with ACT in Hazleton on election day!

I could have used your help during the lead up.

[Lugnut]

68. I'm disabled

So it's very difficult for me to get around. My sister did work with the local Kerry campaign office on behalf of both of us. I recruited my daughter to pass out bumper stickers and buttons on her college campus and helped some nursing home residents get their absentee ballots submitted in time.

[Cheswick2.0]

69. well good job

I am sorry I was just being friendly. I didn't mean to put you on the spot.
I could certainly have used your advice. They had us trying to canvas Butler Township. I could have saved myself weeks of work if I had been able to tell the main office it was impossible. But I didn't realize until I sent people out on election day. Someone else had driven it but they didn't do a very good analysis.

[Lugnut]

71. I'm sorry to hear that

Butler Twp is and has always been a very Repub area. This was currently evidenced by all the Bush/Cheney signs although I did see a few Kerry/Edwards signs here and there.

Normally my tiny precinct goes strongly Democratic but it didn't on Nov 2. It really shocked me. The only explanation I can come up with is that there are a large number of hunters who live here. My husband mentioned that the NRA's propaganda came up in some conversations he had with some locals. When you tell some of these poorly informed locals that their guns will be taken away by John Kerry and John Edwards that's about as far and their brain power takes them. It's frustrating.

[IndianaGreen]

67. Indianapolis

I had the privilege of being with hippiechick, Voltaire, and Kephra when Howard Dean was the keynote speaker at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner early last year when Dean was in the low single digits.

Although I ended up voting for Dennis Kucinich in the May Indiana primary, Dean had already dropped out, the issues that Dean and Kucinich fought for were our issues then, are our issues today, and will be our issues tomorrow.

[dragonlady]

70. Milwaukee area

I went to my first meetup in April 2003. My husband and I attended every meetup and worked very hard for Dean right through the Wisconsin primary. Our daughter spent 10 days in Iowa. It was a cruel blow when he lost, but I took comfort from something my daughter said, that from that campaign we learned how to be leaders. And nobody can take that away from us.

Meetup attendance had been falling off, whether because people were busy working on campaigns or just lost interest. In October we had only about 6 attending. Last month's meetup, the day after the election when we were all still in shock, had only 10 people. As of today, with a week and a half to go, we have 21 yes and 20 maybe responses. That's very encouraging. We are still going to take our country back--it just may take a little longer.

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

72. Just starting to get active with DFA in Pittsburgh

Once I get some other local battles out of the way, mostly with the school district, I can work more with DFA.

Dr Batsen D Belfry

[PassingFair]

73. Welcome, Dr. Belfry

n/t

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

74. Thanks PassingFair

for your welcome.

Nice place we have here!

Dr Batsen D Belfry

[SEpatriot]

75. Misplaced Southerner

Currently living in Alabama, but my wife and I (and son) plan to move to the Northeast in the next couple of years. Fell in love with Boston and Maine.

Dean is the real populist in the party today. We need this grassroots movement more than ever!!

[ImADeanDem]

76. Hello from HOWARD County, Maryland!

I am the chair of our county DFA group, Democracy for Howard County. During the Dean campaign, our Meetups were usually around 40-50 people. Things "fell off" a lot after we switched over to DFA 2.0 -- we still have about 140 people on our email list (a yahoogroup), but usually only have about 20 or 25 people at Meetups. Interestingly, a "silver lining" to this horrible election is that it seems to have really galvanized people to action. We had 8 brand new people at our November 3rd Meetup, and have had several other new people "join" our group via the Meetup.com site since then.

In the months leading up to the election, we were mainly focused on the Presidential election. (There were no seriously contested local races.) We did some local voter registration and GOTV stuff, but since Maryland is a solidly blue state (our Rep. Governor is an anomoly that we will hopefully never repeat!), we also did lots of trips to WV and PA to do canvassing there. These trips were coordinated with other Maryland DFA groups, as well as with Driving Votes and ACT. Oh, we also did some work (letter writing, visibility events, etc.) on the e-voting issue before it became clear that it was too late to have any changes made in time for November 2nd. But that is something we definitely intend to focus on going forward.

Now we are starting to look forward to 2006 -- in addition to ousting the Repuke Governor, we want to identify or recruit progressive candidates to run for state Delegate and County Council. We are also considering running a slate of candidates for the Democratic Central Committee, which is currently very "establishment." And in addition to supporting particular candidates, we also want to be active on specific issues -- the biggies we've identified so far are healthcare and the e-voting issue (MD is one of only 2 states that is already using paperless machines statewide -- BAD NEWS!). We're going to try to brainstorm and prioritize other issues to focus on at our December Meetup.

I guess that pretty much sums up the status of our local DFA group. Oh, the other thing going on is that we are trying to figure out what kind of statewide DFA group we should have, and how it should interact with the local groups -- i.e., should there be a statewide "umbrella" group that pretty much controls local subgroups, or do we want fairly autonomous local groups that coordinate with each other from time to time? We have a meeting coming up in December to discuss this further -- I'd love any thoughts you all may have on this, particularly if you can share your experience with how your local and state groups interact, and what works or doesn't work about it.

[PassingFair]

77. Welcome

... to the fold. With a name like yours, who wouldn't like you!
Awaiting my first post-election meet up. I was just too downhearted on Nov. 3 to go....
Now I'm back on full-speed ahead mode. Got sworn in to my county's executive committee last week. And plan to push progressive candidates and issues every chance I get.

[janx]

79. I live in Colorado, and I first became aware of Dean when

I was posting on a very nice, small Dem message board. It was a long time ago; at the time, Dean only had the home page part of his web site constructed. (At least I think it was that small then.)

I'd never heard of the guy and someone suggested that I might like him--this person knew my opinions about politics pretty well.

I believe that Brian ExPat was posting on that board at that time, too. Speaking of whom--where is Bri?

[Zensea]

80. I'm in NYC

I saw Dean on C-Span sometime in early 2003, where he was at some small meeting of citizens in the Midwest (maybe even at a bookstore) and was struck by how he actually seemed to be answering the questions that were being put to him without some weird spin, so I started paying attention to him immediately.
I knew he might go far if he stuck at it and I also knew even then he might get shot/shut down.

So I kept paying attention and here we are all today.

I also have had the pleasure of seeing him speak twice in New York -- once at Bryant Park rally last summer and once at the announcement for DFA at the New School. Having seen him in person, I have no doubt about his sincerity.

Think I'll add I come from a long line of Democrats, but the kind that kick at things. My father voted for Henry Wallace in 1948, my mother worked as a volunteer for Adlai Stevenson when she was 16. I worked as a volunteer for McGovern when I was 16. I'd somewhat drifted away from politics until recently, being more concerned with the political dimension and path of art, than politics in itself. Dean's candidacy and the seriousness of these times have reinvigorated my interest and engagement in politics.

[liberalnurse]

81. I live in Dayton, Ohio.

I am from Pittsburgh, Pa. I became a Dean supporter in November 02. I did as college paper on Civil Unions for my Cultural Anthropology class.....I'm straight.....Now get this; I attended Indiana Wesleyan University....a Christian School.

I first met Howard Dean at the Ohio Democratic Convention in May of 03. I have it on video. I also met Terry McAuliffe and Jerry Springer there too. I had already joined the Dean Meet-Up by then and proceeded to attend various fundraisers for Dean. Ultimately, I went out and spent time in Des Moines, Iowa campaigning for Dean through the Iowa Caucus.

I know this man was the one.

[goddess40]

82. Central WI, I was a Deaniac right from the start

At the 2003 state convention we went to see Dean give a speech in the parking lot and I was hooked. I went to the convention with a fairly open mind, and left with my heart and mind devoted to Dean.
We hosted the Dean callers on primary day here in Wisconsin, during an earlier phone bank I was sick and Jim, Howard's brother, stopped by the phone bank and my mom talked him in to calling me at home. He was very kind and it was unbelievably nice of him to call.

[belle]

83. New Yorker here. Was originally enthusiastically behind Dean...

When he lost the primaries, I was disappointed, but I threw my weight behind Kerry, because I was convinced that it was all-important that we WIN THE ELECTION.

And now I'm thinking, okay, and here's another shift. I never stopped liking Dean. And I'm more and more interested in talking about reworking the party and/or the left from the ground up--clearly it has to happen. Haven't been to a DFA meeting yet, but I think I'll start.

[PassingFair]

84. Belle, go directly to a DFA website near you!

The meet-ups traditionally are held on the first Wednesday of the month. Most will take place on Wednesday, December 1 of next week!
We need to be organized and ready to act.

[mrsadm]

85. Upstate NY here!

I'm from Berkshire NY, a small rural farming community between Binghamton NY and Ithaca NY. Supported Dean ever since I heard him speak so powerfully at the CWA (Communications Workers of America) convention during the primaries. Still wish he had gotten the nomination.

[realFedUp]

86. Cool...I had no idea this forum was here...thanks

So Cal area.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

87. from washington state, attending college at Cornell in Ithaca, NY

[drm604]

88. I'm in Montgomery County PA

I went to last night's meetup in Wayne. About a dozen people showed up. I recognized a few people from Kerry meetups but there were a number of people whom I'd never met before. They were from a number of different counties. It was a little disorganized, we didn't have an official organizer yet and the venue wasn't expecting us. We now have an organizer (me!) and things should get better. We had some interesting conversations and we plan to continue to meet. We talked about running people for local offices (especially election boards) and continuing to register new voters. We also talked about getting out the vote for non-presidential elections, since many people only vote every four years. Progressives need to have more representation in local governments and especially local election boards. I was never really involved in politics before this presidential election (other than voting at every election) but I'm getting more and more involved and learning more all the time. DFA seems like it could be a very potent movement.

[Cheswick2.0]

92. Welcome

Glad to hear you went to meet-up. So when are you running for office?

Okay, just kidding....... kind of! :hi:

[CitySky]

89. Houston, TX here

I was not an early "Deaniac" but got more involved w/politics through the course of the year, and am now very grateful to Gov. Dean for what he has done and continues to do to strengthen our democracy.

Got to meet him once too, when he was here in Houston speaking at a Dem fundraiser. Said, "Governor Dean, thank you for coming here. I am a Christian, and I want to tell you that there is a lot more in the Bible about money than there is about sex!" (really it did have some relation to part of his speech, I promise.) Well anyway for some reason he thought that was really funny and threw his head back and laughed. I tried to expound on my thesis a bit more and am afraid I got somewhat incoherent -- you know those great moments in life when you look back and say, "why yes, I did drool all over myself, in fact"? Yeah. One of those. Gov. Dean was very encouraging anyway and said to me, "the Democratic party needs more people like you!" Is that what he says to all of the "special cases?" :D

The other thing that has stuck with me from his speech, and I have repeated to fellow Dems, was "Voting will get you a D. If you want an A, run for office. If you can't run for office, volunteer 3 hours a week..." and so I did. Mostly for the Morrison campaign.

:hi:

good to meet you all.

[PassingFair]

91. Welcome, City Sky!

and a BIG thank you from the frozen north for your work for Morrison. I sent him some money direct...he might not have slain the dragon, but by god, I think you guys punched a couple of holes in Delay's wings!

[RetroLounge]

93. Milwaukee Area

I'm 43 and have always voted Dem, but never worked on a campaign or donated money.

That all changed when I saw HD speak at the airport here in Milwaukee. I was blown away by hearing such honesty from a politician and I just happenned to agree with most if not all he was saying.

Bring back the bat!

RL

[PassingFair]

94. Ccccrrraaaccckkkkk!

Hello Retro! We Dean supporters are all "a flutter" in regards to the DNC Chair possibilities.
I spoke with Mark Brewer on Tuesday, and he said that Dean definately wants the job. I think the governors will vote for him.

[eridani]

95. Actually Dean was my second choice--

--after Kucinich, but locally the DFA and PDA people are starting to work with each other, the Greens and the Progressive Party. I really think Dean would be ideal as DNC chair.