Nation-Building

DFA has created a new site for meetup hosts to work out logisitics, share ideas, and poll our resources. Check out the new Forum for America . UPDATE (Aziz): Also, don't forget that the Unofficial Dean Forum has an special sections devoted to grassroots planning and organizing media response . I guess that we should start calling the original Dean Forum the "U-forum" and the new one the "O-forum" :)

Howard Dean made his late night debut tonight. What did you think? I am not entirely convinced that it was his element or that he won over many supporters, but I certainly don't think he lost any. It was almost void of any substance in the conversation, but that must be attributed to Leno. Your thoughts?

The video feed form LA is up and running at websoapbox. I know HD is pretty riveting, but try not to forget to swing the bat while he's speaking. You have the power. Let's break that last bat.

An audio report from Julian Borger for Guardian Unlimited states regarding the source of the Plame leak that "... several of the journalists are saying privately 'yes, it was Karl Rove who I talked to.' Now, the thing is that the journalists are not going to name Karl Rove publicly because you don't name your sources and to do so would discredit them as journalists so the White House is safe for the time being but Karl Rove's name is very much out there." Further, Paul Hogan reminded me of another pesky detail: it is a felony to have knowledge of a felony and not report it. In fact, it is considered aiding and abetting. So, we ask again: What does Bush know, and if he indeed knows who did this, how long has he known it? Who else in this administration knows the identity of the leaker? And, have these individuals also committed a crime by refusing to come forward and report the felonious official?

Well, we have our first double-winner: Ambassador Joe Wilson -- who won the award a few weeks ago -- and by logical extension, his spouse, CIA Agent Valerie Plame . There is simply no way to give Dean Nation's Backbone Award to anyone other than Plame and Wilson this week. Today, the Department of Justice (haha) finally launched a criminal investigation into the felony leak of Plame's identity. Despite some reports to the contrary, she was an undercover agent, but now that cover is blown. Then- President George H.W. Bush at the 1999 dedication ceremony for the George Bush Center for Intelligence (ironically named considering his son, eh?) stated: "I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources," the former president said at the time. "They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors." As regards Wilson and Plame, this isn't just about political backbone, this is about courage under f...

It's that time again. The good folks behind Dilbert are taking votes for the 2003 Weasel Awards. Pop over there and cast your vote. Hat tip to Deb McCarver in Nashville.

So... this is what brought down the O-blog a little while ago (hat tip to Jeff in WA). =) They got Slashdotted! Check out the thread about Deanspace. It seems the Slashdot community is pretty impressed with the idea. As one poster over there said: I wonder if RMS thought he'd see a US presidential candidate releasing stuff under the GPL when he founded GNU 20 years ago! That's a gnu-candidate thank you. For those unfamiliar with Slashdot, they are probably the biggest online tech community. They've been around for ages, and even pioneered their own CMS (content management system, which is what Deanspace is) called Slash. They are a one stop source for all news that is geek, and they have a very vibrant community. Check 'em out.

If you don't believe in dirty politics, if you don't believe in dishonesty, if you don't believe in special interests controlling our political system, now is the time to take a swing at that bat . If you believe in a new American politics, if you believe in Howard Dean, if you believe in yourself and this community, and if you want to take your country back, take a swing at the bat . Now is the time. Not tomorrow, not next week, now . Hat tip to Chris in Philly for the zonkboard link.

Good morning everybody! (yea, I know it's the middle of the afternoon but cut me some slack here okay?) I wanted to direct everyone over to the shiny, spankin' new BlogForTexas.com , where Texans have started posting their stories about our trip to Iowa over the weekend. Be sure to check out the photo gallery, as more images are being added every few hours. I've gotta say that was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Iowans are an amazing, progressive bunch of people, and they were incredibly hospitable. They also take their "first in the nation" responsibility very seriously. We really feel that we did some great work over the weekend, and we can't stop now. As you can see, we're down to the last bat. Right now we stand at $14,127,460 with 178,135 contributors with less than ten hours to go. I know we can do this. I believe in Howard Dean, I believe in this community, and I believe we have the power to take our country back...

I'm on the line and waiting for Governor Dean to join what we all believe will be the largest conference call in world history, and will likely break the Guinness world record! The Governor just joined the call, consider this call -- and this thread -- open! And, don't forget to give to the bat!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 28, 2003 Governor Dean Calls For White House Cooperation in Justice Probe Says Ashcroft Must Allow Independent Investigation by IG DES MOINES--Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., issued the following statement today: "Today's report in the Washington Post of alleged criminal wrongdoing by members of the White House staff is deeply troubling. The suggestion that the White House may have revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent in retaliation against the woman's husband not only is highly disturbing and illegal, but may have grave national security implications. See the rest of the press release HERE .

From Dean for America... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2003 Governor Dean Calls for a New Partnership with America's Families: "We Must Meet the Long Term Care Needs of Our Aging Population" DES MOINES, IA--Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., unveiled his plan for long-term elder care today. From his prepared remarks: "Our leaders can no longer ignore America's aging population. In 25 years, nearly one in five Americans will be over 65. The number of people over eighty will swell by nearly one third. Age has many benefits, but it also brings increased risk of chronic illness and accompanying disability," Governor Dean said. Explaining that a year in a nursing home can easily consume the entire annual income of the average American family, Governor Dean argued that the country is "ill-prepared" to meet the challenge of an aging America. "I propose a new partnership to take on the challeng...

We have collectively raised $21,000 for Dean - but we have not yet met our September fund-raising goal of $25,000. Remember, the 3rd Quarter ends in 3 days and the campaign still has to raise $2.5 million to reach its goal. We must do our part ! Remember, by pooling our donations we at Dean Nation have taken the lead among all Dean Teams and spoken with one voice - and $21,000 - of our resolve to see Dean win the nomination and defeat Bush . Doesn't the Plame affair make you angry? Bush 43's white house has broken a law signed by Bush 41 - deliberately blowing the cover of a CIA agent to fulfill a petty vendetta. They place their political gain and their school-yard bully ethics above the national interest, above the law, above morality and basic human decency. And Howard Dean is the only one who can defeat them. But we must help Dean raise dollars - and in so doing, again excercise our power as the grassroots, the voice of the People, who are the true engi...

Turns out that the campaign issued a statement just last night on the Plame Affair: Governor Dean Calls For Accountability BURLINGTON -- In response to news that the CIA has asked for a Justice Department investigation into allegations that the White House revealed the identity of one of its undercover employees in violation of federal law and in retaliation against the woman's husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Governor Howard Dean issued the following statement: "I applaud the CIA's request that the Justice Department investigate the Plame affair. I urge the Justice Department to investigate the matter swiftly and objectively, without the taint of partisan politics that have so plagued this Administration's conduct of foreign policy. But this investigation should not be necessary. Those responsible should resign immediately. "President Bush came into office promising to bring honor and integrity to the White House. Instead, the President ...

To be honest, the Dean campaign missed the boat with their press release calling for Rumsfeld's resignation . It's a matter of timing - and Iraq has been temporarily eclipsed in importance by the Valerie Plame affair. the BIG Story was not buried as I pessimistically expected, but was actually picked up over the weekend by the Washington Post and the New York Times (which nicely renders moot Billmon's fears that MSNBC's original lead would be left hanging in the wind). This story illustrates why the blogsphere is so essential - there is a wealth of inference from the WaPo and the NYT stories that I would not have picked up on from reading them cold. But the major lefty bloggers, with combined experience in journalism and politics, are able to really shed light on the shorthand and the subtext. The major new revelation was by the Washington Post: A senior administration official said two top White House officials called at least six Washington journalists ...

Todd at Independents for Dean beat me to saying why Clark is not as strong a candidate as we expected. Here's a part of what he wrote: I have been intrigued by Clark, but have come to the conclusion that Dean has better odds of beating Bush than Clark does. Why? Clark is a "resume candidate". But so is Kerry, and that hasn't worked so well for him, has it? Clark's support is currently more abstract than real: "Pollsters note former Gen. Clark leads only in surveys where he is named by his military title." This support depends on the linking of "credibility" and "strength" with the title "General". However, it is clear that Clark has many enemies within the Pentagon. This doesn't mean anything, due to the normal internal politics of the place, but you can bet the Bush/Rove campaign will trot out four star generals to smear him, using their $200 million war chest. This will have success. Thus, Clark can't depend on ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2003 Governor Dean Calls For Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz To Resign 'Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz Must Go' To Restore Credibility WASHINGTON--This afternoon, Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., called for the resignations of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Following his comments, Dean for America announced that it was launching a petition drive to demonstrate the national support for the resignations of Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz. The petition is available at www.deanforamerica.com/mustgo . In making his statement, Governor Dean cited the "long line of problematic statements from the highest levels of the Administration, from the discredited line in the President's State of the Union address regarding Iraq's supposed attempts to acquire uranium from Niger to the Vice President's claim that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear program to Secretary Rumsf...

Continuing the trend of groundbreaking moves within the Democratic primary, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is launching a spanish-language ad campaign to attract more support from the latino community in America - an extremely important consituency in the coming election. Two things are important about this outreach effort. First, we all need to do our best to make this the most inclusive, diverse campaign in America in 2004. That means all of us need to reach out. Second, the ad features Dean himself doing all the talking (he learned spanish working one summer working alongside Cuban co-workers). It's important that the message is coming from Dean himself. One thing I've been struck by is Gov. Dean's willingness to talk openly about controversial issues in this campaign - including civil unions and race. The point he's beginning to make, quite persuasively, is that the Bush Administration is "dividing and conquering" this country based on fear (both of outsiders...

So, did anyone show some Backbone this week? If so, who, and why? And, who should get the Spineless Fruitcake ? When possible, please provide relevant news links with your nominees. You can now check out all past awardees-- thanks Anna! -- on the lower-left sidebar! Winners (and losers) posted by Monday.

One of our members at Mass for Dean, Gabriel Ben-Yosef, took some excellent pictures of prepping for the Sept. 23 rally and the rally itself . All pics are copyrighted. Enjoy!

Liberal Oasis delves into Lexis-Nexis and finds that the record shows clearly that: Dean opposed the '95 budget that led to the government shutdown: "What they're interested in is cutting the budget and making sure that somebody else gets the blame,"-- Star Tribune 10/27/95 Dean was critical of the lack of health care issues in the GOP budget: "It helps to balance the budget but does nothing to move toward universal coverage in the private system. . . . The Republicans are missing a wonderful opportunity to expand coverage, not reduce it" -- Washington Post 7/11/95 Dean criticized the GOP version of welfare reform (note that Dean successfully implemented welfare reform in Vermont): "When Americans elected the new majority ... they voted to do things in a new way, but I don't think they voted to starve children."" -- Tikkun 5/95 Dean was strongly against cuts in Medicare: "This will bankrupt the state. It will guarantee that...

Chris Suellentrop puts the debate Dean pile-on into perspective: But the real story of the debate turned out to be the same as the old story: Let's all gang up to try to stop Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor continues to be attacked from the right by his opponents, who are using the same tactics that the GOP would surely use against him in a general election: 1) He's a flip-flopping politician who will say anything to get elected; 2) He's weak and inexperienced on national security; 3) He's going to raise taxes on average Americans. As a result, Dean is facing several candidates who are serving as the functional equivalents of stand-ins for Bush. Kerry is using the "tax families" that Bush used to great effect in the 2000 election to show how changes in tax rates affect specific American families. Lieberman is at least as hawkish as Bush on terrorism and Iraq, and probably more of a free-trader. And now Clark comes along as the candidate who pos...

full transcript is at the link above. Note that the debate opened with a question to Clark for his Democratic loyalties, and an invitation for Dean to critique Clark. Dean demurred and shifted the topic to Bush. Excerpts below are the attacks on Dean from Kerry and Gephardt: KERRY : We Democrats fought hard to put those tax cuts in place, Ron. Those represent the efforts of Democrats to try to reach the middle class of America. The 10 percent bracket wasn't George Bush's idea. It was our idea. It was in keeping with the spirit of our party to try to help the average American get ahead in a country where increasingly average Americans are getting stomped on, where there's an unfairness in the workplace, where corporate executives, as we've seen, are walking away with millions and sticking the average American with the bill. I think Governor Dean is absolutely wrong. And he's wrong on his facts. The fact is that 32 million American couples get about $1,000 out ...

From the Dean Campaign... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2003 John Kerry Should Heed His Own Advice At virtually the same time John Kerry sent out a fundraising email to supporters vowing to fight back against the politics of personal destruction, he failed to take his own high-minded advice. At the moment in the debate when Kerry had a chance to take the high road and join with Sen. Edwards in calling for the candidates to focus on their own plans and visions and not criticize each other, Sen. Kerry instead joined Dick Gephardt and resorted to the politics of the past by seconding the ridiculous comparison of Gov. Dean to Newt Gingrich. Despite stating in his email, "I have taken the high road in this campaign," John Kerry continues to distort Gov. Dean's record and attack him at every turn. John Kerry will soon learn that he is right that these tactics turn good people away from the process. That is why more than 425,000 people have joined Gov....

I'll post more in this space shortly, but let's get some comments going! For those who missed Dean knocking it out of the park -- rebroadcast on MSNBC at 8 p.m. EDT - 5:00 p.m. PDT.

Governor Dean is in New York today for the Democratic National Committee debate, cosponsored by the Wall Street Journal and CNBC. The debate, which will be shown on CNBC at 4 p.m. and rebroadcast on MSNBC at 8 p.m., will focus on the economy. Does anyone know if the debate will be webcast or broadcast on radio? If so, please let us know! update from anna : You can listen online via NY public radio. Click here (listen link is top left, says fresh air right now). Right now fresh air is on, but they'll play the debate right afterwards. update again : My mistake. It's billed as being played live, but it's not. Nevermind. Someone out there have some public radio links? Someone has to be broadcasting the debate online...

EJ Dionne writing in the Washington Post: The analytical mistake is to assume that the anti-Bush feeling, which is there, leads straight to the fever swamps of radicalism. In fact, the dislike of Bush among Democrats is more personal and partisan than it is ideological. Democrats are not, in fact, moving to the far left. ... To beat Bush, they are willing to back a general whose views on many issues are unknown -- and who appears to have voted for Ronald Reagan. Whether they are right or wrong about Clark, pure ideologues don't do stuff like that. They back Dennis Kucinich. Nor can former Vermont governor Howard Dean be seen as some kind of leftist. Yes, he won many left-wing hearts by opposing Bush on Iraq. But Dean has been a moderate, even conservative, Democrat on many issues, including Medicare and Social Security. Rep. Dick Gephardt is going at Dean hard on these questions. If the rebellion in the Democratic Party were primarily ideological, closet centrist Dean ...

I've noticed that certain chattering heads have been making an interesting distinction: Clark is the national frontrunner (based on national polls) but Dean is still the frontrunner (based on polls in New hampshire and Iowa). Here's why. First, there is little doubt that Dean will be tops in fundraising for the third quarter. It's already being reported that Dean will easily beat Bill Clinton's 1995 record (10.3 mil) for a Democrat in a single quarter, and this was as a sitting President. If, indeed, Dean takes in 12-16 mil it will be 6-8 times as much as Clark will bring in, and we will likely raise at least double what Clark raises in the same two-week period since he's entered the race. You can help Dean with this effort by giving to THE BAT now! However, that's not the only reason to be optimistic. Dean's unprecedented grassroots army -- yes, that means you who are reading this! -- is formidable. And, Dean still leads in New Hampshire and Io...

Tuesday September 30, Gov Dean will be at Union Station. There are appearances scheduled by Martin Sheen, Rob Reiner, CA State Senator Sheila Kuehl, LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti, Patton Oswalt and award-winning spoken-word poet Adam In-Q. To signup for the event, click the link above.

Tuesday night, Local 119 union boss Dennis Rivera hosted a Dean fundraiser that raked in at least $30,000 (um, has that been added to the bat, DFA?). Although Rivera didn't formally endorse Dean, Dean's the only candidate Rivera's raised funds for. "We have been incredibly impressed with him (Dean) and particularly his campaign," union boss Dennis Rivera told a crowd of about 100 union members gathered at the headquarters of Local 1199, Service Employees International Union. "One of the things that Governor Dean is doing is basically campaigning dramatically hard to try and bring more people into the equation and almost changing the way that American politics (is done)." Rivera seems to understand that reaching out to disaffected democratic voters is the way to win in the general election. Sure, you can play footsie with "centrists" but there's two disadvantages in doing so. First, the centrists float back and forth between parties ...

Reviews from this morning's GMA appearance are good, according to comments on the O-blog . I didn't get to see the show since I was already at work (!), so here's a transcript: ABCNEWS' CHARLIE GIBSON: Are we any closer today to getting assistance from other nations in Iraq? GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN: I don't think so. I think the president poisoned the well and now he's going to have a hard time getting help. His father had over 100,000 troops in Iraq, and that's the right way to go about it. Now all Americans, including our soldiers, are paying the price. GIBSON: Would you cede control to the U.N. for the rebuilding effort? DEAN: I would not cede control of American troops, but I would bring in the U.N. I think ultimately both Afghanistan and Iraq have to be international reconstruction efforts. GIBSON: But that's not a popular political move in this country. and you're giving control in Iraq to countries that opposed the war in the first plac...

This Salon article mainly talks about the Israel flap from two weeks ago, and the author leaves out some facts related to the issue (like Pelosi & Dean reaching agreement , for example, and what Dean really said about Hamas ). However, it ends with a note that we should all heed: No matter how many gaffes he makes, then, no one can say Dean's imploding till the money dries up. It really is that simple. It takes money to win the Presidential race. We need to fill that bat today . Not tomorrow, not next week... today .

From a Truthout article on Iraq by William Rivers Pitt: A moment will come on January 20th, 2005. It will be cold in Washington D.C. A man who is not George W. Bush will raise his hand and swear and oath to preserve, protect and defend the United States of America. The words "So help me God" will be snatched by the wind and carried across seas and mountains to the furthest corners of the planet. When that happens, all of the Earth will be joined together in the deepest and most profound exhalation of relief. When that happens, George W. Bush will have become in his absence what he completely failed to be with his presence: A uniter. Am I the only one that was misty eyed while reading this? Thanks to Debra in SF from the Zonkboard for the link.

It was a wild day in Beantown! Thanks to Anna for the timely summary (scroll down) -- I'm still catching my breath and didn't have time to post until now. First and foremost, we dodged a major bullet. A fierce thunderstorm was threatening to blow in all morning and the wind gusts were incredibly strong. All the posters and signs had to be anchored down and the tall signs at the back of the crowd had to be held up by two or four people (side note: duck tape and trash ties are beautiful things). The thunder got really loud about midway through the Governor's speech but the first drops of rain didn't start until a few moments after he finished...and the skies really opened not long after that. Whew! Mass for Dean volunteers and DFA staff arrived at Copley Square this morning around 8am to set up. Security was much tighter than at past rallies, apparently. So more volunteers were needed to corral attendees and the media, make sure everyone was where they should be,...

Sen. John Edwards has launched television ads in Iowa and is expected to soon expand them to New Hampshire. You can view them by the link above. I think they are very well done and portray Edwards in a positive light. Dean got a bump when he was the first candidate on television, but I'm not sure if Gephardt saw similar effects. This is a "must" for Edwards - he's in the single digits and hasn't showed any momentum. If he starts to climb, this could keep him in. If he doesn't, then he may soon have to consider his options. My guess is that he dumps his entire campaign war chest into an ad blitz. I only wish that he was taking this message to the people of North Carolina and seeking a second term. He's needed in the closely divided Senate.

Dean, Kerry trade barbs on baseball By KEN MAGUIRE The Associated Press BOSTON — Presidential hopefuls John Kerry and Howard Dean have been playing hardball for months over who offers Democrats the best chance at unseating President Bush. But now things are getting serious. Kerry’s camp, reacting to news that Dean will hold a rally today in the senator’s hometown, brushed back the former Vermont governor by claiming he’s a New York Yankees fan. Those are fightin’ words, especially within four months of the crucial primary in New Hampshire, a key state in Red Sox Nation. Dean, who grew up in New York, says he dumped pinstripes for Red Sox three years ago. “When you move to New England, you put your old loyalties behind you,” said Dean campaign co-chairman Steve Grossman, a Massachusetts businessman. “You’ve got to have a sense of humor about this.” The “flap” began when Kerry’s campaign said Dean’s Red Sox switch was just the latest in his quest for the presidency. ...

Reports are coming in from today's Boston rally, and by all accounts it was a raging success. Yahoo already has a report online (linked above), and the O-blog has posted a transcript of Dean's remarks. Here's the intro: “We’re here today to talk about what’s at stake in this election. Ten months from today, we’ll be coming back to Boston, not just to decide who will be the Democratic nominee, but to determine the future of our democracy. 230 years ago, right here in Boston, 50 dedicated patriots known as the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in Boston Harbor to protest a government more concerned with moneyed interests than its own people. Those 50 patriots believed that they had the power and the duty to change their government. What they did that night became known as the Boston Tea Party. It marked the beginning of the first great grassroots campaign in our history. Their action -- which they took together -- set this country on the path to freedom and democracy....

Here's a taste of the analysis over at Kos Gallup has Bush at *50* The Gallup poll has always been friendly to Bush. Nothing ideological or nefarious. But whatever methodology they used always gave Bush some of his highest numbers amongst the various polling outfits. So it's amazing to see a 9-point drop in Bush's approval numbers over the past three weeks. That's no typo. The floor is collapsing under the Bush presidency. Sep 19-21 Approve: 50 Disapprove: 47 Sep 8-10 Approve: 52 Disapprove: 43 Aug 25-26 Approve: 59 Disapprove: 37 Aug 4-5 Approve: 60 Disapprove: 36 Meanwhile, Clark jumps ahead to a major national lead: (Sep 8-10 results in parenthesis) Clark 21 (9) Undecided 17 (20) Dean 12 (13) Kerry 12 (11) Lieberman 11 (12) Gephardt 9 (15) It may be early, but I think it's safe to annoint Clark the frontrunner, allowing Dean to ease back into his original role as the insurgent. Ironically, Clark's ent...

All veep speculation aside, we Dean supporters do have a challenge to face with respect to Clark's candidacy: the "resume" meme. Eric Alterman gives a perfect example of a pundit fascinated by Clark's curriculum vitae : So Clark is in. Everybody I’ve spoken with in the past few weeks figures that if he turns out to be a decent candidate, he’s definitely the guy with the best chance to save this country from the catastrophe that is Mr. Bush. That’s a big if, I know, but here’s my question. What are you Deanies gonna do? Let’s all admit that, in the abstract, a decorated general, Southerner, and Rhodes Scholar has a better chance to be elected president of the United States during an age of terrorism than the governor of a hippie state, born and raised in upper-class Manhattan (and with a Jewish wife and kids to boot), who has no military or foreign policy experience. Of course, its had to argue with the implicit explicit assumption that it is now only a questio...

Try out that URL above and you'll be redirected to our Dean Nation Team page ! The campaign is rewarding the best DeanTeams with direct links to acknowledge just how integral we are to the "war effort" :) And while you're checking out the new link, don't forget to FEED the BAT !

Back's Back! -- and for those who think us too Dean-centric please note that this week's Dean Nation Backbone Award goes to a big supporter of one of our chief rivals, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy -- and boy, does he deserve it. Dean supporters know quite well how difficult it can be to stand up and tell the truth, right? Well, check out this excerpt by AP writer Steve LeBlanc from The Washington Post: The case for going to war against Iraq was a fraud "made up in Texas" to give Republicans a political boost, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said today. In an interview, Kennedy also said the Bush administration has failed to account for nearly half of the $4 billion the war is costing each month. He said he believes much of the unaccounted-for money is being used to bribe foreign leaders to send in troops. He called the Bush administration's Iraq policy "adrift." Kennedy expressed doubts about how serious a threat Saddam Hussein pos...

As you can see, the bat is back! Time to step up to the plate and take a swing, folks. There's lots of fundraising challenges happening this week, and I'd like to hilight the one we're doing down here in Texas. In honor of this weekend's Iowa trip by Dean's Texas Rangers, Dean for Texas is taking part in the Texas challenge. This is how the challenge works: we're divided into counties and each county's goal is proportionate to the number of democratic primary voters. The winning county will get lots of kudos as well as some fun prizes. So, if you're a Texan, please consider making your donation via your county link. For example, if you live in Bexar county, go to http://deanforamerica.com/bexarcountytexas . For each county, just switch the name to match your county. We're trying to raise at least $100,000 toward the bat challenge. Take a swing at the bat. And if you're not a Texan, please consider making your contribution via the DN...

Josh Marshall, Beltway Typing Head and Talking Points Memo maven has joined DC's hottest new band: The Split Ends. To wit: Dean's political draw today seems to be the fact that he didn't allow himself to be fooled by arguments about Iraq's WMD. Thus this line Thursday at a speech to the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce in New Hampshire ... The most important piece of foreign policy is judgment. The other four fellas who supported the (Iraq war) resolution all now say they were misled by the White House. If you were misled by the president and you were in Washington, what kind of experience is that if I could have figured it out in Vermont. But what about what Dean said on Face The Nation a couple weeks before the war resolution vote, when asked what the president would have to do to prove that there was an immediate threat justifying war ... I don't think he really has to prove anything. I think that most Americans, including myself, will take the president...