So tonight I went with my wife and 4-year-old son to our first Howard Dean meetup. It was also the first meetup ever held in our SF East Bay town. Everything about the 90-minute affair impressed us: a knowledgeable speaker, the endless stream of position papers available on the DeanforAmerica website, the bottom-up nature of this grassroots endeavor (there are few marching orders from Dean HQ, other than not to ask for checks at these gatherings). Here are some numbers:
• 106,000 people had signed up for today’s Dean meetups nationwide.
• At our meetup, 32 people turned out at a local cafe (I snapped the photo above), double the number expected. We sat with a couple of independents and a fellow who hadn’t been involved in politics since the McGovern campaign.
• Some 350,000 volunteers have signed up to help with the Dean campaign, with a goal of 1 million by June 1.
One speaker mentioned that PBS will be televising the Democratic candidates’ debates Thursday (Sept. 4) and Sept. 25, at 5 pm on the West Coast.
Some campaign sites of note:
• The Demstore, where Dean T-shirts and other candidates’ campaign trinkets are available.
• Cafepress, where political bumper stickers (GOP, too) can be had. (Flynt for Governor, anyone?)
• The Dean blog, of course, and the campaign’s main site.
• A recap of the Dean meetups, and a Deanlink page to find fellow Dean supporters in your area. (By the way, when I signed up, I spotted a name I recognized just two names down: Christian Crumlish of Oakland, the blogger behind Radio Free Blogistan, whom I met at UC Berkeley several months back. His Deanlink page is here.)
• Some local Dean sites, including SiliconValleyforDean and EastBay4Dean.
Years ago, when California Sen. Alan Cranston was running against an extremist opponent, I asked the executive editor of the Sacramento Bee if he minded if I did a little weekend campaigning for Cranston, given that my work in the features and entertainment departments had nothing to do with politics. He said, “I can’t stop you, but I’d strongly prefer if you didn’t.” (I didn’t.) Many newspapers go further, preventing anyone on their staffs from participating in public affairs.
As a now-independent journalist, it’s a breath of fresh air to be able to engage in civic affairs and the political process.
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.
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