Nation-Building

Adam Nagourney is not my favorite New York Times reporter. That would be Judith Miller (just kidding!) His political analysis often just echoes the latest spin put out by the Bush administration or the DLC. His article today, however, says some accurate things about Dean, so before I get to the sardonic ridicule, let us praise the following excerpts from the article: The unorthodox character of Dr. Dean's candidacy — and the nature of his support from men and women who have been drawn into politics for the first time by his candidacy — has turned Dr. Dean into a difficult target for conventional political attacks. .... What is increasingly clear, several Democrats said, is that primary voters are not likely to choose someone who is promising to run a nuanced campaign against Mr. Bush. Dr. Dean has set the tone on that, as he made clear again today. "John Ashcroft is not a patriot," he said, referring to the attorney general's advocacy of the Patriot Act. "J...

This one's hot off the email presses. *smile* Texas state volunteer coordinator Glen Maxey conveys some good news to our wonderful Texas volunteers: At the LBJ Birthday BBQ sponsored by the Hays County Democratic Party, Dean swept the first Texas straw poll organized by an official Party organization. (If you're out of state, this is the County between Austin and San Antonio where LBJ went to college and taught. For those who lived through Monday's Sleepless Tour, it's where Dean switched buses!) What's so great about this: We didn't EVEN try to pack the meeting. This was ALL local San Marcos and Hays County folks!!! Dean 62% Kucinich 12% Clark 6% Edwards 5% Undecided 4% Gephardt 4% Kerry 4% Lieberman 2% Graham 2%

AFSCME, the public employees union of over 1.4 million members, has a new Presidential Straw Poll up on its website: http://www.afscme.org/vote/index.html Head over now to vote for Howard Dean, and be sure and pass the link along to friends!

Little new information for Deanyboppers in this impressionistic first-person, all-about-me-the-journalist profile in the LA Weekly, and it's too steeped in political details to be good reading for the Dean neophyte. One bit is notable: When I ask Dean about Clark, his response is characteristically two-fold. He praises him with sincere fervor: “I know Wes Clark, he’s a very good human being, and he’s got an enormous amount of integrity.” At the same time, on the subject of Clark entering the race, he shows more than a glint of steel. “It’s going to be very hard to start late,” he says, “and think you’re going to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s going to be incredibly hard. I mean, we’ve already got 39,000 people working for us all around the country . . . I really do believe — and I think about this — I want to get this nomination, and if I don’t . . . these kids are not transferrable. I can’t just go out and say, ‘Okay, so I didn’t win the nomination, so go ahead and vote f...

Highlights: There's not a lot of magic on Howard Dean's plane. For the crowds at the rallies, it's all excitement and energy and red meat. For those of us on the plane--reporters and campaign staffers alike--it's all cramped airline seats, bag lunches, warm sodas, and uncomfortable bus rides to the rallies. When we do make it to a hotel, we only score about three or four hours of sleep before we board Dean's chartered 1960s-era 737, dubbed the "Grassroots Express." It is a grueling pace. On the plane, Dean admits the schedule is tiring. He's able to draw energy from his growing throngs of energized supporters. Unfortunately, I'm not. Still, there is some fun to be had on the Grassroots Express. As the already bedraggled press corps is being checked through security on the tarmac of Portland International Airport on Saturday after- noon, twenty four hours and four cities into into the tour, Dean stands off to the side mimicking his most distinct...

by way of Tacitus, is this article on the continuing oppression in Cuba of political dissidents: Another important Cuban economist that Fidel has sentenced to his gulag is 58-year-old Marta Beatriz Roque. This courageous woman has already done years in the slammer for authoring, with three others, a paper discussing Cuba's economic problems. She is gravely ill with a heart condition and has lost more than 40 pounds. Oscar Elias Biscet is a devout Christian and a pacifist whose work to teach Cubans about the Universal Human Rights Declaration riles Castro. He was arrested in March and no one has been allowed to see him since April. In a June 1 letter to his family he described his first 37 days in jail: "They took away all my personal belongings including my underwear and led me to a dark and dirty cell with the only ventilation consisting of the soot and petroleum smoke coming from the prison kitchen." Librado Linares lived in the province of Villa Clara and bec...

Tacitus defends Dean: A phrase I thought I'd never write, there. But seriously, what's the big deal in shifting some positions during a race? The positions in question, according to Jim VandeHei's WaPo piece , don't even seem to be particularly central ones: The Cuba embargo? The Social Security retirement age? Don't get me wrong, I care about the former (it's a moral litmus test of American foreign policy), and rather less about the latter; but neither are driving questions of the age. God help me for sounding like Atrios, but this does seem like a press-concocted issue. It's hardly an endorsement, and his assertion that Dean has never been a straight-shooter is probably based on misinformation than anything else, but it's still a nice gesture. It would be nice to have a debate with a principled conservative about trade issue, the Cuba embargo, and other topics. Tacitus' comment boards are reknowned for their civility, research, and int...

The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei is jumping on the bandwagon of Dean's opponents, charging that now that Dean is the "frontrunner" he is changing his positions on the issues. The article specifically cites three key items: 1) the public financing issue; 2) Social Security; and 3) the trade embargo in Cuba. I think it's fair to say that most of us realize this has the fingerprints of rival campaigns all over it. They're trying to tear into Dean's straight-talking image. "He has sold himself as the straight-shooting candidate, the truth-teller, the one who will say what's hard and unpopular," said Jim Jordan, campaign manager for presidential candidate Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.). "In truth, he's a very crafty politician, very calculating." Thanks, Jim. We know you think he's crafty (he's leading you guys by 21 points in NH!). It serves to remind the other campaigns AND the pundits, that Dean has not made ...

WASHINGTON--President Bush's campaign--expected to dwarf Democratic hopefuls by raising $200 million or more for the primaries, with no GOP rival--is appealing for donations by portraying Bush as a fund-raising underdog who won't have enough cash to defend himself against Democratic attacks. ''Democrats and their allies will have more money to spend attacking the president during the nomination battle than we will have to defend him,'' campaign chairman Marc Racicot wrote in the fund-raising e-mail sent Wednesday night. ''If you need more convincing the president needs your help, consider what the Democrats are saying. The race is just starting, but their rhetoric is already red-hot.'' NOTE: Oh, Please. What a load of crap is this! -- and ya --- get worried, Mark, worry Dude, worry, Dude. (Thanks to Wayne Alvarez (again) in Santa Barbara, CA for the link.)

We've got a few additions to the Deanroll this week. First, there's Expats4Dean . They're working hard to publicise Dean meetups being held abroad, and I'm told they'll be helping Americans abroad obtain their absentee ballots. Second, we've got a Song for America . You might have seen Bryan's post over on the O-Blog comments section, but if not, there you go. Oh, and there's also People-Powered Howard , sent in by Marcus Ehrlander. And I was cleaning out my email box (currently I have over 1100 messages in there) and found an old email with a link I need to plug. Please allow me to apologize for not posting One Student, One Vote for Dean earlier than today. Next, I'd like to spotlight the First Primary Blog . They bill themselves as "news, views, rumors, humor and analysis ahead of the nations first primary". We've also got The Moderate Republican , who is affiliated with Republicans for Dean . And now for a humorous link....

The Democrats' unhappiness is even more evident when contrasted with the positive feelings Republicans have for their party. Fully 57% of Republicans believe the GOP is doing an excellent or good job of advocating traditional party positions like cutting taxes and promoting conservative social values. In May 2002, 55% of Republicans gave the party high marks for standing up for core principles. Among Democrats, liberals have become especially unhappy with the party's performance in standing up for traditional principles, and this has led to a large ideological gap within the party over this issue. In May 2001, near the beginning of Bush's term, roughly the same numbers of liberal and conservative Democrats expressed satisfaction with how well the party was doing in this area (48% of liberals, 45% of conservatives). But today, just 31% of liberal Democrats say the party has done an excellent or good job of advocating traditional positions. [...] Since July, former Ver...

Slate covers the draft-dodger allegation today. I think William and Ben did a pretty good job of presenting Dean's side of the case, so I won't go on the attack here. The story in a nutshell is that Dean received a 1-Y deferrment, meaning that he could only be called up as a last resort recruit. Dean's unfused vertebrae prevent him from running long distances, especially while packing a heavy load (military gear can weigh upwards of 50 pounds). Obviously this condition - which is congenital - would prevent him from participating in combat operations. The bottom line is that the US Government gave him that classification. Dean's family didn't pull any strings. It is what it is and it's a non-story as far as I'm concerned. And if this is the "worst of Howard Dean" then I think we're doing pretty good. But what pundits keep bringing up is the ski trip and Dean's summer job pouring concrete. Let's be frank here. None of that matt...

Kos has some good news on the labor front. He thinks it is possible that the SEIU would endorse Dean. The SEIU is the largest, most diverse union in the country. And they're organizing like crazy. He also raises the possibility of a CWA endorsement of Dean and an AFSCME endorsement of Kerry (although that gets talked up a little less). These events would be huge, not just because of what the SEIU and CWA could to help Dean's campaign, but because it would remove the spected of the AFL-CIO endorsing Gephardt in October. In addition, such an endorsement would be a powerful signal that Dean can unite the party. These unions are diverse and if they're willing to join the Dean movement, it would be yet another sign that Dean is the candidate who can take the Dems to victory next year.

Well, I think us and the DDF have yet another task at hand. From yesterday's Hardball with Chris Matthews and punditry from Howard Fineman: MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about the unnamed Democrat. It looks to me like in all polling we’ve seen today, pouring in the door, Howard Dean has, as John Zogby said on the show last night, the great pollster-and he is great-said he’s got a ticket to Boston (for) the Democratic convention. Is it that good for Dean right now? FINEMAN: Well, I, too, don’t see the ceiling on Dean yet. OK? MATTHEWS: But he’s still growing. FINEMAN: But he’s still growing. And it’s still a growth stock. But the thing is, it is still not Labor Day. And September, October, November, December, January before the voting begins. As the frontrunner, it’s a whole different dynamic and people are going to be taking pot shots. And what’s happening now is what’s left of the Democratic Party ( NOTE: Fineman sucks up to Matthews on the show every week, and seem...

Okay, this last week I was asking "blog or food? blog or food?" and I chose to eat. Apologies, but to be honest, the only person worthy of a Backbone Award was not my personal favorite pick -- and I've been doing 12-hour-days on a last-minute contract job, and it simply did not happen. So, I'm thinking: Backbone is only awarded when fully warranted by Dean National enthusiasm, and your nominations and votes make all the difference. Does someone deserve it this week? Nominate away...as Yoda would say "Do -- or do not. There is no try."

CSPAN: New York Rally, Bryant Park

Jim Henley, libertarian stalwart, writes of the libertarian fear that a vote for Dean is a vote for higher taxes and a bigger federal government: Of course, a vote for Bush is also a vote for greater federal spending and a bigger federal government. Taxes are, for the moment, lower. How long will that continue with a budget deficit approaching half a trillion dollars ? Not long, I think, which is why I opposed so many of the Bush policies (and non-policies) that have contributed to the deficit. A vainglorious war, a complete lack of spending restraint, the elimination of not a single substantial federal program in three years, expansion of existing entitlements - well, it adds up. And steel tariffs. And catfish import bans. And yadda yadda yadda. Two factors are at work here: the issues on which conservatives and libertarians have never agreed have become more salient, and on the issues where conservatives and libertarians traditionally have agreed - taxes, trade, federalism - c...

Briefing for FTZF from Not Geniuses follows: Talking Points This is where it gets good. Today is "Unstable Stewardship Friday" and we're taking the Bushies to task for their anti-environmental policies: Bush's EPA is claiming that they can't regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act Mike Leavitt, Bush's nominee for EPA Chief, is refusing to state his views on environmental issues out of respect to the Senate . We thought maybe he was just taking cues from Bush's judicial nominees who realized that it is best for rabid partisans to keep mum. Oh yeah, and when he was elected Governor, he fired 75 government employees who worked for a state agency that had caught his family breaking the law . Not that there's anything wrong with, um, spiteful retribution by elected officials. The Bush Administration is particularly fond of leaving nuclear waste near major supplies of drinking water, recently asking Congress to overturn a court ruling barr...

The National Review Online has launched a blistering attack against Howard Dean. But all it shows is how scared they're getting. The Dean Defense Forces are all over it, and I suggest you go check it out. The poll numbers that we found while rebutting the argument make it supremely obvious how extreme this Administration is and how mainstream Howard Dean is. Click on the title to go to the Dean Defense Forces rebuttal.

It's not statistically significant, but we're still up, and there's no denying that. Dean 25 Gep 21 Kerr-dog 16 Lieberman 12 Edwards 6 Clark 3 Graham 1 Kucinich 1 Braun 0 Sharpton 0 Apparently, that leaves 17% undecided. This race is not as clearly tiered as NH and it is still relatively open.

Wow, the news is just pouring in today! We've gotten another endorsement, this time from former 6th District Congressman Berkley Bedell. He'll formally announce his support at a Labor Day event this weekend. "I believe that Gov. Howard Dean understands the issues and values we face here in Iowa," said Bedell. "He comes from a state where he balanced the budget, protected the environment and created jobs." A Spirit Lake native, Bedell represented the 6th District from 1974 to 1986. In addition, while we were in San Antonio we picked up endorsements from two of the Killer Ds! I couldn't find a news article that mentioned the first one, but the honorable Ruth McClendon Jones of San Antonio gave her endorsement at La Villita. Also endorsing was State Representative Mike Villarreal. Mike gave a fantastic speech that contained some really good digs at Bush: Do you want someone in the attorney general's office that doesn't scare you?" ...

Op-ed by Robert Reeves on Hillary Clinton's possible entry into the race for the Dem nod: Not for the record, though, Hillary and her advisers, including her husband the ex-president, her money men and pollsters, will meet shortly after Labor Day -- Sept. 6, I hear -- to discuss whether she should go for it. It is a decision that has to be made earlier rather than later because of November and December filing deadlines for the early primary elections that will almost certainly (and very quickly) identify the 2004 Democratic nominee. [...] And polling could drive Hillary's decision, beginning with Bush's popularity ratings. On her own side, Democratic polls right now show Kerry, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, former House majority leader Richard Gephardt and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as the Democratic leaders, each of them with 15 or 20 percent of the Democratic vote nationally. Throw Hillary's name into those polls and she gets between 37 percent of the vote (ABC New...

Via the O-Blog , a reference to the Get Local site. It's a rally for Dean at the next Presidential debate. New Mexico, you can do it! There are already 45 registered participants. Let's see if we can get some more people signed up today. This rally will coincide with the next Presidential debate, to be held on September 4 in Albuquerque. Venue and time are TBA. If you are in the Albuquerque area and want to receive updates, sign up here .

This is HUGE news. At a news conference this morning, 136 labor activists held a news conference. They endorsed Howard Dean. Tom Gillespie, president of the Iowa State Building and Trades Council, was among them. On Monday, ads will appear in the Des Moines Register. Part of the ad states that Dean is "the only candidate who will stand up for what we believe and isn't afraid of what Washington thinks." "If we can afford to rebuild Iraq, then we can afford to rebuild our country," Gillespie said. In response, Gephardt is already mischaracterising Dean's support of NAFTA. What Gephardt left out was Dean oft-repeated support for renegotiating those treaties to support worker and environmental protections in other countries. We are pushing hard in Iowa, folks. Look out for Gephardt's third-quarter numbers. I predict that if Dick doesn't make a strong financial showing, that the AFL-CIO will hold off on their expected endorsement. I also say t...

Since Trippi has revealed this strategy, it should be okay for me to talk about something I learned on the Grassroots Express. At the end of September, grassroots volunteers from across the country will descend on Iowa to participate in Dean Corps activities and canvass for Dean. If I'm lucky I will get to go to Iowa, although I've told our state coordinator that I've been really blessed lately and would gladly bow out to give someone else the chance to participate. The Iowa trip is designed to build word of mouth and is specifically part of phase 2. We'll be doing some serious outreach events designed to maximise the effect of the volunteers we've organised online. We'll also be trying to reach the people who don't have net access and who may not have heard of Howard Dean. Basically, we'll be ambassadors to all those Iowa caucus voters. Those of us flying in from Texas are calling ourselves the Bushwackers. *smile* If I get to go, I'll repo...

Speaking to reporters during a four-day national campaign swing, Dean said he supports rolling back the embargo in order to encourage human-rights advancements -- but citing Fidel Castro's recent crackdowns on dissidents, says that in recent months he has become convinced that ``we can't do it right now.'' Dean called Cuba a ''political question,'' and said that recent developments on the island would prevent him from his goal of ``constructive engagement of Cuba.'' ''If you would have asked me six months ago, I would have said we should begin to ease the embargo in return for human-rights concessions,'' he said, responding to a question from a Herald reporter at a dinner Sunday night in Seattle. ``But you can't do it now because Castro has just locked up a huge number of human-rights activists and put them in prison and [held] show trials. You can't reward that kind of behavior if what you want to do is link human-r...

Apparently Lieberman realized that insulting the entire Democratic primary electorate was not a good strategy (way to go Al and Bruce!), so he is now attacking Dean for his stance on gun control. The full story is up at DeanDefense.org (click the title). But we just wanted to highlight that if you don't think Dean has independent cred, think again. Lieberman is now attacking him for not kowtowing enough to interest groups.

There's a short piece in The American Prospect about the Falls Church rally which is positive overall, but makes a gross misstatement of Dean's intentions: But Dean did make a subtle jab at Bill Clinton and Al Gore. "If you make me the Democratic nominee," Dean said, "I'll make you proud to vote Democratic again." OK, it's true that many of us were unhappy with Clinton's personal behavior (which we didn't fully know about in either the 1992 or 1996 elections), but as a president, Clinton's record is much stronger than Bush's has been. And while Gore may not have been Mr. Excitement, enough Democrats did vote for him in 2000 to put him in the White House. Mary Lynn Jones has read far too much into the statement. It's beyond bizarre that she sees this at a dig at Clinton and Gore - and no Dean supporter needs a lesson in how Bush's presidency compares to 1992-2000. The idea that Dean's simple statement of defiance...

... and avoid the flip-flop charge, courtesy Liberal Oasis: The reality is, George Bush is planning to game the system. Bush Inc. has said the campaign won’t abide by spending caps during the primary, but will during the general election. (The Federal Election Commission distributes matching funds for the primary, and a straight-up grant for each eligible major-party candidate in the general election.) The Bush plan sounds innocuous, since he doesn’t face anyone significant in the primary. But the trick is the primary period doesn’t end until the candidate is officially nominated. And the RNC pushed the nomination all the way to Sept. 2, past the traditional August date for the incumbent party. Since Bush is aiming to raise upwards of $200M for the "primary," he can dump all of that during the winter, spring and summer. Then, scoop up about $74M of taxpayer cash in the general election grant. That’s a blatant bastardization of the system (though it produc...

New Hampshire is ours: Zogby International, an independent firm, is scheduled to release Wednesday a poll showing Dr. Dean leading in New Hampshire with 38 percent of the vote to 17 percent for Senator John Kerry. Remember, Kerry's official candidacy announcement is being held in South Carolina. He's already effectively conceded NH.

The Washington Post goes into more detail about Dean's expected fundraising: But he is also spending money faster than any other candidate. Trippi said Dean will spend $1 million on new ads in key early primary states, including Wisconsin, New Mexico and Washington. By running ads so early in the process, Dean is hoping to build on the buzz surrounding his campaign and generate more money and supporters before rival campaigns get rolling. The other candidates are mostly holding back until after Labor Day, the unofficial start to the heavy campaigning season. ... Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), who many leading Democrats consider Dean's toughest challengers for the nomination, will not come close to matching Dean this quarter, according to their campaign aides. "We're not going to raise that -- that's for sure," said Steve Elmendorf, a top Gephardt adviser. But, "at the end of the day, money isn't everything....

The events of the past few days were sure to have roused Bush from his slumber, and shaken the other Democratic candidates out of their stupor. They all are now realizing that Dean is the man to beat! And the NYT summarizes just what kind of phenomenon that they face: ive months before the first ballot is cast and 15 months before the last will be counted, Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, spent the past four days being ferried from rally to rally in a chartered jet as though in the heat of a head-to-head national campaign rather than in the nascent chapter of a long-shot bid in a crowded field. He hit states like Oregon that have little to do with nominations but could be crucial in a general election and all but ignored his Democratic rivals as he roused rabid audiences against their Republican nemesis, George W. Bush. The staggering, seemingly spontaneous crowds turning up to meet him — about 10,000 in Seattle on Sunday and a similar number in Bryant Park in Manhattan ...

President Bush: Dean Nation has spoken . And now it's Dean's turn, in Bryant Park. I recommend you listen carefully - for your next President has some things he needs to say to you. For all of us.

ONLY $10,000 LEFT !!!! Dean takes the stage in 20 minutes. Can Dean Nation help raise $500 a minute ? I think we can . NOW is the time - let's push that Bat to $1M and beyond. We may not be i Bryant Park but Dean will hear Dean Nation ROAR nonetheless!!!!

link above goes to CSPAN's website live feed - starting right now!

there will be a live webcast , and CSPAN is scheduled to start at 9:30 PM ET (right about now!) ... There are 5,000 people registered to attend, but I think we know that's going to be a massive understatement. The crowd already numbers 6,000 and is still growing! Dean has already picked the endorsement of Rep Nadler - now he just added Representative Major Owens (D-Brooklyn) today. Owens' statement: "To win in November 2004 we need a real Democrat. Howard Dean will arouse the complacent and energize the weary. Governor Dean is the long awaited champion for working families because Governor Dean understands that a government that can spend one billion dollars a week in Iraq can certainly appropriate the funds necessary to fund adequate schools and provide health care for all families.

The campaign has raised $981,000 dollars. Only $20,000 more to go! If every visitor to Dean Nation visiting the site right this moment gave $25 we could push it over the top. Remember Bush raked in $1M by hosting a $500 a plate dinner. But the grassroots numbered 17,000. Bush might raise 20 times as much money but we have 20 times as many people who speak with one voice - the voice of Howard Dean - and who want their country back. Be a part of the Perfect Storm. Join the 5,000 in Portland, the 3,500 in San Antonio and Chicago, the 15,000 in Settle. Join the tens of thousands who are rallying with Dean right now in New York! Give what you can. Dean Nation, we can do this! we must do this! and we will!

Hey everyone! First, a big shout out to Dean National Ben in Redmond (pictured below with me)!! It was great meeting you. As you may have guessed, our net access in Seattle was not, er, what it was supposed to be. The report Scott linked to was sent in via a really nice gentleman at Starbucks named Steve. I'm going to file a longer DN exclusive report as soon as I finish processing all the events, but for now I'd like to address the size of the crowd. Having experienced the Dallas rally, I figured the press would lowball our numbers. Reports said between 8000-10000 people were there. I am here to tell you that I wouldn't be suprised if it was at least 15,000. In fact, I overheard a reporter at the rally state just that. He was having a conversation with someone and he said something about having covered these types of events for two decades, and he said there were easily 15,000 people in attendance. Plus, I have it on good authority that when Al Gore came to Se...

Dean's campaign is shaking up the field AGAIN. Just announced on CNN is the Dean campaign's plan to launch a new ad in six early voting states: South Carolina, Washington, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and Arizona! An excerpt: "... Dean's aggressive move this week will force the rest of the nine-candidate field to reconsider their strategy as they try to determine how to keep pace with Dean's fund-raising and organizational strengths. Trippi announced the ad buy at the end of Dean's four-day "Sleepless Summer" tour that drew thousands of supporters, a measure of the candidate's grass-roots support. The ads will be similar to the ones airing in Austin, Texas, in which Dean promises to "take the country back" and urges voters to log onto his Web site. Dean has been leaps and bounds ahead of his rivals in using the Internet to boost his candidacy. " Props to everyone who helped out with the success of the Sleepless Sum...

What draws us to Dean is his unabashed embrace of being a liberal. His genuine anger at the misuse of our country and the way that public discourse has been hijacked by the right. Not a single mainline candidate other than Dean can express this passion, this primal anger the way Dean can. and has, repeatedly, on the trail. But Clinton can. At a recent conference/political powwow in Aspen: Clinton kept referring to the media as (contrary to Kinsley’s view) the “supine” media, pointing out that when Bush insulted Helen Thomas (who, by asking a rough question in the infamous prewar press conference had, Clinton said, “committed the sin of journalism”), no “young journalists” stood up and walked out. The media, the supine media, was going to have to “go to the meat locker and take out its brains and critical skills.” Everybody seemed to love this. Clinton was not just the beloved former president, but he had become some sort of sassy oracle. There was a party on the second ...

Cause apparently our friends in LA did just that. I applaud them. I'm so lazy I haven't even bothered to sign up for the official email list (I'm joking people, I even gave money three times). 5,000. That's a new alarm clock, just by their actions. Anyways, they got the full story over at Dean Majority (that thing we will become, instead of the Dean Significant Voting Force that we are now). Our strategy holds, onward! Update Matt doesn't read so well late at night. It's really, um, 500 volunteers. Which is still awesome. 5000 did seem like a lot. So it's really 1/10 of an alarm clock. Um, yeah, sorry.

From yesterday's Meet the Press discussion moderated by Tim Russert with Ron Brownstein of The Los Angeles Times and Roger Simon of U.S. News and World Report: MR. RUSSERT: Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, has been telling people, Roger Simon, that, you know, “The conventional wisdom said that the Democratic candidate had to support the president on the war in order to reinforce his national security credentials. But, ladies and gentlemen, come next November, I will be the only Democrat who will have the rationale to oppose the president, because by opposing the war in Iraq I was right and all the other Democrats were wrong.” MR. SIMON: Well, Howard Dean has clearly shown himself not only to be far more in tune with his party than some of the other Democrats, but perhaps, if these poll results are correct, the nation as a whole. Dean said the strategy of supporting Bush on Iraq, getting national security off the table and fighting George Bush on do...

Anna has been having trouble with net access, so head over to the O-blog for her first few reports. Hopefully she will get access soon to update Dean Nation! Excerpts: I spent most of today walking around and speaking with my fellow Dean supporters. Their reasons for supporting Dean were diverse - the economy, the reconstruction of Iraq, equal rights for all, and health care. It's the same thing I read every day on this blog in the comments section. People are passionate in their support for Dean. They are impressed with his forthrightness and his willingness to take the fight directly to those responsible for the mess we're in today. They are ready to stand up against George W Bush and his destructive, reckless policies. People are tired of waiting for something to change, so they're taking action. ... As for Dean's speech, as usual, I bawled like a little baby. There's just something about seeing him live that touches me in my bones. I saw the same thing...

even Republicans are saying we need more troops in Iraq! Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), returning from a trip to Iraq, called on Bush to send "at least another division" — which could mean an additional 17,000 troops. "We are in a very serious situation ... a race against time," McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We need to spend a whole lot more money to get services back to the people. We need to get the electricity going, the fuel, the water. And unless we get that done and get it done pretty soon, we could face a very [serious] situation." But it's not just McCain on the R side - via Liberal Oasis , even South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham sounded sour notes: …I would agree with the idea we need more. Not necessarily more combat troops, but more people to help get Afghanistan and Iraq into decent shape so that we can turn the corner on what's happening over here w...

BLITZER: Let's move on and talk about General Wesley Clark. He may or may not, in the coming days, decide to become number 10, the tenth Democratic hopeful for the White House. You have high regard for him. Would you consider him as a potential running mate? DEAN: Yes. There would be a great many people, of course, that would be considered as potential running mates. And I must say, I think it's much too early to discuss potential running mates. I mean, we're five months from the time the first official vote and delegate-selection process takes place, so I find it very premature. But I think Wes Clark, he is somebody I keep in close touch with. He's a terrific person, very bright, very capable, very thoughtful. Our views coincide on a number of matters, and he is a -- I certainly can't say enough good things about him. It'd be tough to run against him. BLITZER: Well, if he decides to run, would you be disappointed that he throws his hat in the rin...

Can you believe that number? 15,000!!! I expect we'll hear from Anna shortly -- her first posts are on the O-blog now!

From the campaign... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AUGUST 24, 2003 CONGRESSMAN JERROLD NADLER ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT OF GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN, M.D., FOR PRESIDENT NEW YORK -- As Governor Howard Dean, Democratic candidate for President, prepares to descend into New York for a massive rally on Tuesday at Bryant Park at 9pm, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) is joining Governor Dean's campaign to win the White House, the campaign announced today. Said Rep. Nadler, "I have decided to support Governor Dean because I believe he is the Democrat with the best chance of defeating George Bush. Howard Dean is motivating huge numbers of Democrats to re-engage in the political process -- Democrats frustrated by the backwards policies of the Bush Administration and angered by the failure of parts of our party to lead in opposing those policies and in promoting a progressive Democratic vision for our country. He is also bringing thousands of new voters into the process -- people who h...

Keep the coffee pots on and your eyes wide open for all the action at Blog for America as the Sleepless Summer Tour is now in full swing! After an amazing kick-off rally with 4,500 in Falls Church, Virginia the campaign has just arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to a crowd of 800! According to O-blog reports, Dean said to the crowd: "I got off the plane, and I could not believe that on a night that the Green Bay Packers were playing, 800 people turned out for a rally." The crowd went wild! UPDATE: 450 rally in Boise for Dean! Click here for all the O-blog posts from the Sleepless Summer Tour! UPDATE: Dean National Victor Henzi just sent us a link to some great, up close and personal, photos of Howard Dean from the Milwaukee Rally! Thanks, Victor! UPDATE: What a crowd! 5,000 (revised estimate from 4,000) rally in Portland for Dean! Dean just said on the Webcast: "Hi to everybody on the Web! Say Hi to Portland!" Kissing hands and shaking babi...

Dean National rgilly posted this link to some pictures from the rally in Falls Church, VA earlier today. According to most reports , at least 4500 people showed up for the rally. Not bad considering organisers were expecting about 3000. *wink* Way to go Virginia for Dean ! The Sleepless Summer tour is getting some widespread press coverage already. Right now it's one of the top stories on CNN , and news outlets in Iowa , New York , San Antonio, TX , Vermont , Oregon , and Washington . If you haven't signed up to attend the tour in your area, do it now . And if you haven't made a donation towards the $1 million dollar goal, there's no time like the present . Let's keep the momentum going, Dean Nationals!

You may not agree with everything in this Tapped item about the O-blog (I don't) but parts of it are quite funny: It's like watching a reality TV show with a very chatty audience -- and even has the same weird mix of edited-for-consumption real moments and self-consciously authentic presentations, like Trippi's recent stump speech, delivered while standing on a stump. Hey, that must mean we all have featured roles on the hottest show on the Web! The post is riddled with links, so rather than reprint much of it here, why not just read it yourself? (Thanks to Meg on the ZonkBoard for the link.)

Liberal Oasis has an interesting post that calls for Democrats to be bold about injecting themselves into religious debate, such as the Ten Commandments circus in Alabama. And concludes that Dean may well be the natural candidate to take the mantle: it’s safe to say that it’s perceived disputes over values that sets the Dems back in rural areas and the South. (It can’t be because the South hates big government, as they benefit more from federal government largesse than supposedly liberal New York and California .) And if Dems want to claim stable majority status, it can’t cede an entire section of the country. So how can Dems bridge the cultural divide? Creatively, and boldly, step into hot-button controversies, like the current one in Alabama over displaying the 10 Commandments in a government building . Now, this is generally the last thing politicians want to do, for good reason. There’s not a lot of room for win-win compromises with polarizing social issues. M...

when it's multiplied by 6,154 people, of course. The Million Dollar Summer will easily reach its goal by Tuesday, if we keep banding together and taking our country back, one dollar at a time.

There's a lot of information in this comprehensive WaPo story about Dean's momentum and the campaign's adaptation to "front runner" status. Dean is expanding his message beyond the red-meat partisan base, which is essential if he aims to win not just the nomination but also the general election itself: Yet to win the nomination and defeat Bush, Dean will likely need to broaden his appeal to attract southern Democrats, who tend to be more conservative; independents, who often swing between the two parties, and even Fox News watchers and Journal editorial page readers, who tend to be Republicans. Dean is increasingly reaching out to these audiences, which brought him to a bipartisan breakfast at the Queen City Rotary Club meeting here early Thursday morning. The 250 Democratic activists who listened to Dean bash Bush repeatedly the night before in a supporter's back yard might not have recognized the tame policy wonk detailing his positions on the economy ...

This is an E-mail I got from a Kucinich supporter -- they've been sending this letter to everyone they can think of. I find it a bit insulting but, at least they're trying. Anyway, the Kucinich supporters comments and letter are reproduced below, my comments are in bold. Enjoy. I am hoping that you will reconsider supporting Dean on your site, and begin supporting Dennis Kucinich. Here are a couple of reasons why: I appreciate your input, but I hope you'll reconsider supporting Dennis. 1) He want to set up universal healthcare with a single payer plan, similar to Canada's, and the one that a respected doctor's organization just recommended to the current administration. Single payer is simply unfeasible in this country, at this time. First off, we simply don't have the money for it, and the Bush Tax Cuts won't provide it. Second, people don't trust it -- it doesn't have overwhelming support and without that (even with it) it won...

Today, I've had a particularly amusing back-n-forth e-mail exchange with a Freeper. Usually I ignore them, but this time I'm glad I didn't. In one of the e-mails he/she stated "I was in Vegas last weekend, and odds at Harrah's for Dean to win the Iowa caucus are 25-1." And I was like, heck, where can get $1,000 bucks quick? So, I started Googling, and I found a site called Tradesports.com that trades in candidate futures. I guess there was a story about the Ireland-based site in The New York Times in July that's no longer available online, but surprisingly, I was unable to find any significant blog activity on this story (though I heard about the NY Times story from a comment at the O-blog and a couple of gaming journals ) so hey, I'm gonna call it a Dean Nation Scooplet. At the site, click "Politics" from the left column and then choose "Democratic Presidential Nominee" from the list. It's pretty cool, well worth checking ...