Thursday, December 09, 2004
People, Not Money
THE YEAR IN REVIEW
It's about people, not just money
By Gov. Howard Dean M.D.
People ask me all the time about raising money online. In a 10-candidate field, my presidential campaign raised more than $27 million on the Web. And since the end of the campaign, the thriving online fundraising continued with our new organization, Democracy for America.
But the truth is that online success is about more than money. And it’s about more than technology. It’s about your commitment to the people who support you.
In a practical sense, using the Internet isn’t even about getting votes. Its strength is in building a richer democracy by bringing more people into the process.
We learned over the past two years that a campaign website can be more than a clearinghouse for basic information. It can become a hub for turning committed supporters into true stakeholders.
When approached the right way, the Web can help campaigns and other organizations accomplish two important things: mobilizing volunteers in new ways and communicating without the expense of television or the filter of the press.
Continue reading this article from .
December 9, 2004 at 03:41 PM in Democratic Party, DFA | Permalink | Comments (0)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Transcript of Dean Speech
Update: Here's a link to a REAL audio version.
From :
Governor Dean's GWU Speech Transcript
Remarks made by Governor Howard Dean on the Future of the Democratic Party. Given at The George Washington University on December 8, 2004.
Thank you for that introduction. It's a pleasure to be here.
Let me tell you what my plan for this Party is:
We're going to win in Mississippi
...and Alabama
...and Idaho
...and South Carolina.
Four years ago, the President won 49 percent of the vote. The Republican Party treated it like it was a mandate, and we let them get away with it.
Fifty one percent is not a mandate either. And this time we're not going to let them get away with it.
Our challenge today is not to re-hash what has happened, but to look forward, to make the Democratic Party a 50-state party again, and, most importantly, to win.
To win the White House and a majority in Congress, yes. But also to do the real work that will make these victories possible -- to put Democratic ideas and Democratic candidates in every office -- whether it be Secretary of State, supervisor of elections, county commissioner or school board member.
Here in Washington, it seems that after every losing election, there's a consensus reached among decision-makers in the Democratic Party is that the way to win is to be more like Republicans.
I suppose you could call that philosophy: if you didn't beat 'em, join them.
I'm not one for making predictions -- but if we accept that philosophy this time around, another Democrat will be standing here in four years giving this same speech. we cannot win by being "Republican-lite." We've tried it; it doesn't work.
The question is not whether we move left or right. It's not about our direction. What we need to start focusing on... is the destination.
There are some practical elements to the destination.
The destination of the Democratic Party requires that it be financially viable, able to raise money not only from big donors but small contributors, not only through dinners and telephone solicitations and direct mail, but also through the Internet and person-to-person outreach.
The destination of the Democratic Party means making it a party that can communicate with its supporters and with all Americans. Politics is at its best when we create and inspire a sense of community. The tools that were pioneered in my campaign -- like blogs, and meetups, and streaming video -- are just a start. We must use all of the power and potential of technology as part of an aggressive outreach to meet and include voters, to work with the state parties, and to influence media coverage.
The most practical destination is winning elective office. And we must do that at every level of government. The way we will rebuild the Democratic Party is not from consultants down, but from the ground up.
We have some successes to build on. We raised more money than the RNC, and we did so by attracting thousands of new small donors. This is the first time in my memory that the DNC is not coming out of a national campaign in debt. We trained tens of thousands of new activists. We put together the most sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation our Party has ever had. We registered millions of new voters, including a record number of minority and young voters. And we saw those new voters overwhelmingly vote Democrat.
Now we need to build on our successes while transforming the Democratic Party into a grassroots organization that can win in 50 states.
I have seen all the doomsday predictions that the Democratic Party could shrink to become a regional Party. A Party of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest.
We cannot be a Party that seeks the presidency by running an 18-state campaign. We cannot be a party that cedes a single state, a single District, a single precinct, nor should we cede a single voter.
As many of the candidates supported by my organization Democracy for America showed -- people in places that we've too long ignored are hungry for an alternative; they're hungry for new ideas and new candidates, and they're willing to elect Democrats.
Since we started Dean for America last March, we raised over $5 million, mostly from small donors. That money was given to 748 candidates in 46 states and at every level of government.
We helped a Democratic governor get elected in Montana and a Democratic mayor get elected in Salt Lake County, Utah.
We helped Lori Saldana in San Diego. Lori, a Latina grassroots environmental organizer was outspent in both the primary and the general, won a seat on the state assembly.
We also helped Anita Kelly become the first African-American woman elected to her circuit court in Montgomery Alabama.
Fifteen of the candidates who we helped win last month never ran for elective office before.
And in Texas, a little known candidate who had been written off completely ran the first competitive race against Tom Delay in over a decade.
There are no red states or blue states, just American states. And if we can compete at all levels and in the most conservative parts of the country, we can win ... at any level and anywhere.
People will vote for Democratic candidates in Texas, and Alabama, and Utah if we knock on their door, introduce ourselves, and tell them what we believe.
There is another destination beyond strong finances, outreach, and campaigns.
That destination is a better, stronger, smarter, safer, healthier America.
An America where we don't turn our back on our own people.
That's the America we can only build with conviction.
When some people say we should change direction, in essence they are arguing that our basic or guiding principles can be altered or modified.
They can't.
On issue after issue, we are where the majority of the American people are.
What I want to know is at what point did it become a radical notion to stand up for what we believe?
Over fifty years ago, Harry Truman said, "We are not going to get anywhere by trimming or appeasing. And we don't need to try it."
Yet here we are still making the same mistakes.
Let me tell you something: there's only one thing Republican power brokers want more than for us to lurch to the left -- and that's for us to lurch to the right.
What they fear most is that we may really begin fighting for what we believe -- the fiscally responsible, socially progressive values for which Democrats have always stood and fought.
I'll give this to Republicans. They know the America they want. They want a government so small that, in the words of one prominent Republican, it can be drowned in a bathtub.
They want a government that runs big deficits, but is small enough to fit into your bedroom.
They want a government that is of, by, and for their special interest friends.
They want a government that preaches compassion but practices division.
They want wealth rewarded over work.
And they are willing to use any means to get there.
In going from record surpluses to record deficits, the Republican Party has relinquished the mantle of fiscal responsibility.
And now they're talking about borrowing another $2 trillion to take benefits away from our Senior Citizens.
In going from record job creation to record job loss, they have abandoned the mantle of economic responsibility.
In cutting health care, education, and community policing programs... and in failing to invest in America's inner cities, or distressed rural communities... they certainly have no desire to even claim the mantle of social responsibility.
In their refusal to embrace real electoral reform or conduct the business in government in the light of day, they are hardly the model of civic responsibility.
In their willingness to change the rules so that their indicted leaders can stay in power, they have even given up any claim on personal responsibility.
And in starting an international conflict based on misleading information, I believe they have abdicated America's moral responsibility, as well.
There is a Party of fiscal responsibility... economic responsibility.... social responsibility... civic responsibility... personal responsibility... and moral responsibility.
It's the Democratic Party.
We need to be able to say strongly, firmly, and proudly what we believe.
Because we are what we believe.
And we believe every person in America should have access to affordable health care. It is wrong that we remain the only industrialized nation in the world that does not assure health care for all of its citizens.
We believe the path to a better future goes directly through our public schools. I have nothing against private schools, parochial schools and home schooling. Parents with the means and inclination should choose whatever they believe is best for their children. But those choices must never come at the expense of what has been -- and must always be -- the great equalizer in our society -- public education.
We believe that if you put in a lifetime of work, you have earned a retirement of dignity -- not one that is put at risk by your government or unethical business practices.
The first time our nation balanced its budget, it was Andrew Jackson, father of the Democratic Party, who did it. The last time our nation balanced its budget, it was Bill Clinton who did it. I did it every year as Governor. Democrats believe in fiscal responsibility and we're the only ones who have delivered it.
We believe that every single American has a voice and that it should be heard in the halls of power everyday. And it most certainly must be heard on Election Day. Democracies around the world look to us as a model. How can we be worthy of their aspirations when we have done enough to guarantee accurate elections for our own citizens.
We believe in a strong and secure America... And we believe we will be stronger by having a moral foreign policy.
We need to embrace real political reform -- because only real reform will pry government from the grasp of the special interests who have made a mockery of reform and progress for far too long.
The pundits have said that this election was decided on the issue of moral values. I don't believe that. It is a moral value to provide health care. It is a moral value to educate our young people. The sense of community that comes from full participation in our Democracy is a moral value. Honesty is a moral value.
If this election had been decided on moral values, Democrats would have won.
It is time for the Democratic Party to start framing the debate.
We have to learn to punch our way off the ropes.
We have to set the agenda.
We should not hesitate to call for reform -- reform in elections, reform in health care and education, reforms that promote ethical business practices. And, yes, we need to talk about some internal reform in the Democratic Party as well, and I'll be discussing that more specifically in the days ahead.
Reform is the hallmark of a strong Democratic Party.
Those who stand in the way of reform cannot be the focus of our attention for only four months out of every four years.
Reform is a daily battle.
And we must pursue those reforms with conviction -- every day, at all levels, in 50 states.
A little while back, at a fundraiser, a woman came up to me. She identified herself as an evangelical Christian from Texas. I asked her what you are all wondering -- why was she supporting me. She said there were two reasons. The first was that she had a child who had poly-cystic kidney disease, and what that illness made it impossible for their family to get health care.
The second thing she said was, "The other reason we're with you is because evangelical Christians are people of deep conviction, and you're a person of deep conviction. I may not agree with you on everything, but what we want more than anything else from our government is that when something happens to our family or something happens to our country -- it's that the people in office have deep conviction."
We are what we believe. And the American people know it.
And I believe that over the next two... four... ten years...
Election by election...
State by state...
Precinct by precinct...
Door by door...
Vote by vote...
We're going to lift our Party up...
And we're going to take this country back for the people who built it.
December 8, 2004 at 11:09 AM in Democratic Party, DFA | Permalink | Comments (1)
Speech Today on Future of the Democratic Party
December 8, 2004 at 08:26 AM in Democratic Party, DFA | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, December 06, 2004
Dean on the Future of the Democratic Party
t r u t h o u t | Perspective 12/6/04:
Since Election Day, there has been a lot of predictable moaning and groaning about the future of the Democratic Party. Particularly predictable are the suggestions that we need to be more like Republicans in order to win. Democrats need to learn by our previous mistakes - we have tried being "Republican-lite" and it does not work. It is a mistake to run away from the things we believe and I think we can win in the so-called Republican states by being real Democrats.
We have to realize that there are no red states and no blue states, just American states. I believe the country is still more in sync with Democratic values than Republican values. Our task is to remind ourselves and the American people of the hallmark issues that distinguish Democrats from Republicans.
For example, Democrats historically tackle economic issues with bold, common-sense policies. Our last Democratic president created 22 million new jobs in this country. In the last four years, George W. Bush oversaw the loss of over 1.5 million. Democrats balance budgets, Republicans do not. Democrats consistently try to pass legislation that would provide some kind of affordable health care, Republicans do not. Democrats believe we ought to raise the minimum wage to help the average worker keep up with the cost of living, Republicans do not. Democrats believe corporations have too much power over our daily lives; Republicans do not - and to prove it, they have given away billions of dollars of our tax money to the biggest corporations in the world over the last four years.
On each of these issues, the majority of the American people are with Democrats not Republicans. Democrats have the right beliefs to win; we just execute a poor public relations plan. And, despite the enormous improvement in our ground game, the Republicans executed a more effective strategy. Republicans are far more successful because they work in a more unified, disciplined way with local supporters, especially with their base. They also avoid the Democrats' chronic pitfall of listening to pundits from inside the Beltway.
I truly believe that Democrats can return to national dominance. But, we must not be afraid to compete in every race, in every district and in every state. We can start rebuilding the Democratic Party from the bottom up. Through my organization, Democracy for America, we have already started that process. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates, at all levels of government – from school board to U.S. Senate and we contributed to almost 750 candidates around the country.
These candidates helped return Democrats to the majority in the Vermont, North Carolina, Oregon and Colorado State Houses; as well as the Senate in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. These candidates included more women than men, 25 percent were African American and there were members of nearly every other minority group, including American Indians. Nearly ten percent of the victors were from the gay and lesbian community, which included wins in places like Idaho and Missouri. And, 15 of the candidates we endorsed that won never ran for office before.
Democrats can win by simply being Democrats. Reinventing ourselves as Republicans is the death knell of our party. We need to get back to basics and start listening to people from outside Washington. Only then can we save the greatest nation on the face of the earth from the twin Republican perils of enormous deficits and constant misadventures abroad.
December 6, 2004 at 07:51 PM in Democratic Party, DFA | Permalink | Comments (0)
Note New Time
That's 10 AM Mountain Time.
December 6, 2004 at 12:51 PM in Democratic Party, DFA, Events | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Dean to Speak Wednesday on the Future of the Democratic Party
From Democracy for America's Blog for America:
Over the past month, as he always has, Governor Dean has been listening to what Democrats, independents, and regular people across the country have to say.
On Wednesday, December 8, at The George Washington University, Governor Dean will speak about a vision for the future of our party.
He'll be speaking at the Jack Morton Auditorium in the Media and Public Affairs building at
11 AM (9 AM MST).UPDATE: The time of the speech has been changed to 12 Noon (10 AM MST) on the same day, this Wednesday.We'll be streaming the speech live here on the blog and at democracyforamerica.com.
More details to come over the next 24 hours ...
Posted by Joe Rospars at 12:04 AM
Could this possibly be Dean's announcement that he's officially running for DNC Chair?
December 5, 2004 at 10:26 PM in Democratic Party, DFA, Events | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Howard Dean on DFA, the DNC and Tomorrow's Meetup
Democracy for America (DFA) has released a video of Howard Dean in conjunction with our DFA-DFNM Meetups tomorrow. Dr. Dean speaks to us about the status of the Democratic Party and where it needs to move to win, his views on the possibility of running for DNC Chair and how we can help DFA grow and be successful in future. Click here to view a Windows or Quicktime video clip.
DFA has also annouced it's working with Toys for Tots to collect toys and distribute them to needy children in the community this holiday season. For more information about this program in New Mexico, click here.
In December, DFA is also encouraging Meetup groups to plan DFACorps activities for the holiday season. On December 11th and 12th, they are planning a National Weekend of Action where DFA groups around the country will participate in a variety of community service activities. We'll be discussing ideas for this soon. Any suggestions?
November 30, 2004 at 02:58 PM in Democratic Party, DFA, MeetUp | Permalink | Comments (6)
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
DFACorps: Phone Cards for Veterans
From the Democracy for America :
Last week, we asked for your feedback on Democracy for America, as well as your ideas for the future of our organization. One suggestion that arose several times in the feedback thread was bringing back DeanCorps. We think this is a fantastic idea—DeanCorps was very well received during the campaign and it will help our local communities while once again demonstrating the power of the DFA grassroots community.
We're pleased to be able to introduce several DFACorps initiatives in the coming weeks. The first, culled directly from your suggestions, is to collect phone cards for wounded veterans spending the holidays in VA hospitals. These honored soldiers are often left without the means to make long-distance calls home to their families. These men and women have provided so much for us—it's a small gesture of thanks to offer them a voice at the other end of the line.
Democracy for America will be collecting phone cards from across the nation and distributing them to veterans hospitals in need. In addition, each phone card donation sent into the DFA offices will be matched by Democracy for America. Your $10 card will immediately become $20 worth of phone time! This is a great holiday activity for your local Meetup group to participate in. Please join in our effort to make this time brighter for an injured veteran. Send your phone cards (any denomination) to:
Democracy for America
PO Box 8313
Burlington, VT 05402
Note: Be careful which phone cards you buy. Some have very short life-spans once you start to use them. The Post Office sells cards that have a good reputation.
November 24, 2004 at 11:19 AM in DFA | Permalink | Comments (4)
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
HAPPY 56th, HOWARD DEAN!
Our own Page S. created a diary at Daily Kos where everyone who has the power (You've Got the Power!) can write Howard Dean a birthday wish on his 56th birthday today. Click here.
If you want to reminisce about the presidential candidate who almost was, check out Howard Dean-iabilia.
Was it really just a year ago that these buttons were around?
November 17, 2004 at 01:06 PM in DFA | Permalink | Comments (2)
Monday, August 09, 2004
Dean Hosts Topic-A: Your Thoughts?
Did anyone else watch Howard Dean guest host on Topic-A last night on CNBC? His guests included Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, Tavis Smiley, Bev Harris of Black Box Voting and comedian Margaret Cho and I thought he did an excellent job. What did you think?
You can stream or download Quicktime video of the show here:
Blog for Alaska
Investigative journalist Greg Palast was featured on the DFA Summer Book Club blog yesterday, discussing his book, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: An Investigative Reporter Exposes the Truth About Globalization, Corporate Cons, and High-Finance Fraudsters" with bloggers. Check it out at:
August 9, 2004 at 11:23 AM in DFA | Permalink | Comments (6)
