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Anyone wanting to improve their campaign skills has an excellent opportunity this weekend, June 11-12. Democracy for America (DFA), the organization founded by Howard Dean following his run for the Presidency, will hold a Campaign Academy at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester this Saturday and Sunday.
The training is two full days and covers areas like field, communications, and fundraising. It is really practical, nuts and bolts stuff, presented by experienced professionals. This will be the only DFA training in the Granite State during the 2011-2012 election cycle. Howard Dean and Carol Shea-Porter will speak there.
The cost of the training is $70 ($35 for low income or student) if you register ahead of time ($10 more if you register on site). As part of the training, you will receive DFA's newly updated campaign manual, an excellent resource.
For more detail and to sign up, go to
http://www.democracyforamerica...
Any regular reader of Blue Hampshire knows how important the 2012 elections will be. The better prepared we are to wage effective campaigns, the better off we'll be. Please consider taking this training.
By now it should be crystal clear to every progressive, liberal and Democrat living in New Hampshire that we absolutely must win the 2012 elections, from top to bottom. Think about another two years of "Speaker O'Brien" - how about two more years of "Speaker Boehner" or "Congressman Bass" or "Congressman Guinta"? How does "President Romney" sound?
Do I have your attention now?
We need to approach winning the 2012 elections with the utmost seriousness. The consequences of losing are truly scary, a 21st century version of the Dark Ages. Backed by billionaires like the Koch brothers, Republican leaders across the country are intent on repealing practically all the social progress since the late 19th century and letting corporations run amok. And they're playing for keeps.
One thing we can do to get ready is to improve our campaign skills. While many things go into winning elections, a good campaign is a must. In short, campaigns matter.
We soon will have an opportunity to get some excellent training in this area. Democracy for America (DFA), the organization founded by Howard Dean following his run for the Presidency, will hold a Campaign Academy at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester the weekend of June 11-12.
The training is two full days and covers areas like field, communications, and fundraising. It is really practical, nuts and bolts stuff, presented by experienced professionals. This will be the only DFA training in the Granite State the 2011-2012 election cycle. Howard Dean and Carol Shea-Porter will speak there.
The cost of the training is $70 ($35 for low income or student) if you register ahead of time ($10 more if you register on site). As part of the training, you will receive DFA's newly updated campaign manual, an excellent resource.
For more detail and to sign up, go to
http://www.democracyforamerica...
Now is the time to step up. If we do not do everything in our power to win next year, to turn back this reactionary Republican onslaught, history will judge us harshly. If we allow them to wipe out the gains that our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents fought so hard for, shame on us.
Howard Dean will speak at the Campaign Academy being held the weekend of June 11-12 at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. The former Vermont governor, Presidential candidate, DNC Chair and all-round hell raiser will appear at the campaign training offered by the organization that he founded, Democracy for America (DFA).
DFA's Campaign Academy is serious training in how to run effective and winning campaigns to elect candidates and promote issues. It lasts two days (Saturday and Sunday) and covers areas like field, communications, and fundraising. It is really nuts and bolts stuff. This will be the only such training that DFA offers in New Hampshire in the 2011-2012 election cycle.
The cost for the training is $70 ($35 for low income or student) if you register ahead of time, $10 more if you register on site the day of the training. As part of the training, you will receive DFA's newly updated campaign manual, an excellent resource.
For more detail and to sign up, go to
http://www.democracyforamerica...
I'm posting this article as a call to arms to the NH progressive community. Suggested candidates, policies and tactics are just that; it is intended more to stimulate debate and action than as a finished blueprint.
The quadrennial NH presidential primary presents a perhaps once-in-a-generation, last-chance opportunity to redirect our nation's political center back towards the progressive populism and sanity that is in its heart and best interest, but has been distracted by the 30-yr right-wing campaign of 'divide and conquer'.
CW holds that the NH primary on the Democratic side will be uneventful, but if 3-6 outspoken, celebrated populist progressives can be persuaded to emerge, preferably including viable contenders, the results could be explosive. The NH presidential primary is an outsized PR megaphone that receives global and rapt attention for a whole year at a critical and formative time.
Imagine the impact of the announcements of one candidacy after another other several weeks apart in the Spring following the foundation of a few months of multiple concurrent progressive issue and information campaigns. Imagine high-profile, cultural and celebrity campaign events. Imagine the first-round of candidate debates - they could be made very difficult for President Obama to get away with ducking them.
"What I want to know, what I want to know, is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the President's unilateral intervention in Iraq?
What I want to know, is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting tax cuts which have bankrupted this country and given us the largest deficit in the history of the United States?"
The great thing about primaries is that they give people choices. Those choices then inform the future of the party and its principles. If that choice hadn't been around in 2003 after my getting kicked in the stomach, I probably would've just declared a pox on both houses and walked away, not having had much foreknowledge in what the parties stood for.
(Update by Mike: Adding Vid embed) The speech that motivated me to pay attention and get involved. Goosebumps start at the 30 second mark.
The Villagers put the Dean Scream on their top ten list of political speeches for the decade. If they understood anything about the pivotal moments in the story of how Democrats got back into power, they'd have chosen this one instead (uploaded courtesy Mike Hoefer!):
This, btw, is just about the best anti-dote to Mary Landrieuism out there.
The White House game plan on getting this awful health care bill passed and signed involves attacking those on the left, such as Howard Dean, who point out the bill's flaws.
...The clear subtext, emerging as a genuine narrative, goes something like: you arugula-chewing liberals with your laptops and your health care plans love to poke at castles in the air, while we are focused on helping real people in real trouble. You are ideologues and we are pragmatic.
(Of course, and this is beside the point, but: this narrative has nothing at all to do with reality. The progressive base that the White House is aggressively insulting in their frenzied attempt to get this lipsticked pig passed are the same everyday Americans who need help with health coverage, and who were willing to compromise on all kinds of things in the bill before it became fundamentally flawed.)
Did I say "emerging"? How about "emerged"? Who needs the Rahm message machine when Village Elites can push the faux elite narrative for you? Ron Brownstein, today:
Maybe one reason former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and so much of the digital Left can so casually dismiss the Senate health care reform bill is that they operate in an environment where so few people need to worry about access to insurance.
The 2004 presidential campaign that propelled Dean to national prominence was fueled predominantly by "wine track" Democratic activists-generally college-educated white liberals.
Various tidbits that struck me from Governor Dean's talk on Laura Knoy's show today (all transcription errors mine):
People should think of the public option as Medicare for people under sixty-five.
...There is no serious health care reform without the public option.
...Medicare is not perfect, but let's look at Medicare. They take all comers. They charge you the same whether you have a lot of illnesses or whether you don't. You don't lose your insurance anywhere you travel in America. You don't lose insurance if you're working and you lose your job. And it's reasonably priced.
...What we're insuring against is risk. And if I can be kicked off the rolls or charged twice as much or ten times as much for my insurance, it's not really insurance. It's a scam, and that's what the insurance companies have been doing.
...The genius of the public option is that it forces, without regulating insurance companies, it forces them to compete with an insurance entity that treats people right. But the insurance industry has been abysmal both to doctors and patients over the last fifteen years. You know, the right-wingers kept saying, "Oh we don't want government run health care because there's going to be a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor." Well, in ten years of practice I've never had a Medicare person call me up and say you can't do this and you can't do that.
But listen to the whole thing. There's enough straight-up common sense from him to remedy a week's worth of tradmed vapors and the frightened soundbites of some out-of-touch Senate Democrats.
The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will take place this weekend, July 17th-19th at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, VT! For more information about the event, and to purchase tickets, please visit our website at http://www.DemocracyFest.net
Full Event tickets are available for only $65 and include:
- All trainings, entertainment, and speakers on Saturday and Sunday.
- Dinner on Saturday with Sen. Mike Gravel.
- Breakfast on Sunday with Gov. Howard Dean.
- Semi-Guided Tour of Burlington and Welcome Party on Friday.
- Children under 14 free with adult ticket purchase.
- Free parking, or transportation to and from Burlington Airport.
- Priceless interaction with activists from across the nation.
Friday is Welcome to Vermont day and will include a semi-guide tour of Burlington with stops at the Leahy Echo Center, Howard Dean's Bike Path, Church Street, DFA National Headquarters, and Magic Hat Brewary, as well as two welcome parties at the Sheraton!
Saturday features speeches by Mayor Bob Kiss and Gov. Madeleine Kunin, film screening of "Dean and Me", sessions on Universal Health Care, Safe and Renewable Energy, Netroots Campaigning, Using Music in Activism, and Marriage Equality, TV Show Taping of Correcting Corrections, Dinner with Sen. Mike Gravel and Sen. Doug Racine, Comedy by Rep. Jason Lorber and Music by Bobby Kendes, Emma's Revolution, Rebecca Padula and Subway Serenade!
Sunday features Breakfast with Howard Dean, sessions on Building Grassroots Power to Win Legislative Change, Organizing Your Campaign and Keeping it Organized, Women in Politics, Significance of Unions, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Buying Local, and Peak Oil and Politics, and commencements speeches by Charlie Grapski and Senate Pro Tem Peter Shumlin!
Both Saturday and Sunday will also include Yoga with Sen. Hinda Miller, Book Signings, a Children's Activities Area, Silent Auction, Video Lounge, and a Tabling Area with over 30 sponsoring organizations and businesses!
Check out our full schedule as it develops (yes, we are still adding some last minute speakers!) at http://www.DemocracyFest.net/s...
Our block of reduced rate hotel rooms at the Sheraton is sold out. However, there are still rooms available at their prevailing rate (call 802-865-6600). There are also many more affordable hotels, motels and campgrounds in the area.
DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal/progressive activists which features trainings, speakers and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it! Prior DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Over 4,000 activists have been trained to help on campaigns and make a difference in their communities.
We had a great time in New Hampshire in 2007 and this year it's just a short drive across the border! The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will be held July 17th-19th at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, VT!
Full event tickets are only $55 until July 1st and include all speakers, trainings and entertainment, plus dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Ticket price increases to $65 on July 1st, so get your ticket today! http://www.DemocracyFest.net
Gov. Howard Dean will join other exciting speakers and trainers including Gov. Madeleine Kunin, Sen. Mike Gravel, Sen. Doug Racine, Sen. Hinda Miller, Mayor Bob Kiss, Rep. Michael Fisher, Rep. David Zuckerman, Rep. Sandy Haas, and Dr. Deb Richter. Plus there will be entertainment by musicians Rebecca Padula, Bobby Kendes, Subway Serenade and Axiomatic, comedy by Rep. Jason Lorber, film screenings, book signings, many tabling organizations and vendors, silent auction, children's' activities area, and much more!
For more information about the event, and to get your tickets, please go to http://www.DemocracyFest.net
DemocracyFest is a political festival for liberal/progressive activists which features trainings, speakers and entertainment; teaching people how to make a difference and have fun doing it! Prior DemocracyFests have been held in Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Over 4,000 activists have been trained to help on campaigns and make a difference in their communities.
The 6th Annual DemocracyFest will be held this summer, July 17-19, in Burlington, VT!
More information about the event can be found at http://www.DemocracyFest.net
The good doctor, who got the ball rolling with civil unions in 2000, offers an update:
"Sure," said Dean when asked if he would have signed the same-sex marriage bill. "Look, things have changed. There were a lot of things I didn't know. I was the first in the nation. I believe that equal right under the law is for everyone. Each state has the right to make up its mind about how they want to do equal rights under the law. We chose civil unions because we were the first state in the country. Marriage never would have passed. Even I wasn't really ready for that."
..."This is changing," said Dean. "You know, gay people are seen as people first and then as gay or lesbian later, that's the way it should be. The same as African Americans. The same as Hispanics. The same as everybody who is a member of a minority group. We have to see our humanity first and then whatever category we fall into afterward."
Let's see our humanity first in New Hampshire and sign HB436.
(Andrew's Goldwater comparison is worth pondering. - promoted by elwood)
I understand where President Obama was coming from today so i'm not angry, but I have to admit that I am disappointed in his pick of Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy Ann DeParle over Howard Dean for HHS.
Too partisan, too much of a lightning rod, yada yada yada...
Now watch this and tell me if he isn't a great spokesperson to the American people for health care reform under an Obama Administration (in addition to being, you know, an expert on the issue both as a physician and former governor)?
Just sayin'. The guy isn't employed and HHS isn't filled.
Just when I was getting depressed over this post from Bowers on the scaling back of Howard Dean's 50-state strategy, this good news pops up in my in-box.
Our own Ray Buckley has been elected president of the Association of Democratic State Chairs. From the email release, boldface mine:
"I am humbled and honored to accept this position," said Buckley. "As president of the Association of State Democratic Chairs, I will lead the fight to continue the 50-state State Partnership Program, which dedicates resources and staff to every state Democratic Party across the country. I'm excited to work with Chairman Kaine on his agenda to both maintain and create Democratic majorities at a state and national level.
Congrats, Ray. And anything you can do to keep the spirit of the 50-state strategy alive and well for the next cycle is much appreciated.
UPDATE: Meet Ray Buckley, my new hero. CNN:
WASHINGTON (CNN) - When Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, the new executive director of the Democratic National Committee, concluded her brief remarks to a meeting of state party chairs in Washington on Wednesday, she got a clear and simple reminder of what DNC members want from the committee's new leadership.
"Jen, you don't really need to hear any questions," New Hampshire party chairman Raymond Buckley told her. "We have three words for you: '50-state strategy.'"
I was tinkering with writing something about Dr. Dean's inglorious departure from a scene he did more than anyone else to create, but, more appropriately, imo, GMD's odum beat me to it, and in the Guardian, no less:
So Washington will go on without him. The question that remains is whether the lingering contempt for Dean will be enough to force a dismantling of his legacy at the Democratic National Committee. Although Obama spoke positively of the 50-state project while electioneering, the fact is that the contracts of the 50-state project organisers - more than 200 proven effective political staffers on the ground across the US - were allowed to expire after November, and there is no immediate sign that a recommitment to the programme is forthcoming. If the strategy is abandoned due to lingering resentment of Dean, it may well constitute the most self-destructive act of political narcissism by the Democratic establishment in a generation, particularly given rumours that the Republican party may itself be looking to model its own attempted return to relevance on the Dean approach.
I've seen a little pushback on the Unappreciated Howard pieces propping up since the good Doctor was left without a job, and mysteriously not invited to the Kaine announcement. And that's all well and good. The Democratic victories of the past two cycles are the product of a nation of activists, and certainly not the work of one man alone.
But I'm starting to get a little long in the tooth when it comes to blogworld, and I distinctly remember what it was like in the summer of 2003 when DFA was revolutionizing the internet and grassroots participation and what it meant to be a Democrat. When, in the space of a weekend, $10 and $20 contributions next to a pic of People-Powered Howard eating a tuna sandwich in Burlington outraised a Cheney $2K a plate fundraiser. In that act alone was the germ of everything we've accomplished since then.
Howard Dean made Barack Obama possible - twice. Once as a presidential candidate unafraid to say that a war was wrong, and a second time as a DNC chair who believed passionately that to win anywhere you have to show up everywhere.
I really don't care if he's being snubbed by Rahmbo-world, or others from the hateful 2002 DLC crowd; politics is politics is politics. Howard Dean is a big boy who can handle it, and perhaps one day he'll even snag Leahy's seat for as long as he likes it. But none of that matters much, because he's also going to go down in US history as the one who did the heavy lifting for a crushed political party at the least politically expedient time. And that defines him as one of the brightest lights during one of the darkest periods in our nation's history.
I'll remember him as the only one making sense to me after no WMD were found. I'll also remember him as the one who made it okay for me to do more than just vote. And it goes without saying that had Howard Dean not been around, I probably would not have discovered the world of political blogging. A good thought experiment: imagine the size and shape of the netroots (not to mention the staffs of political campaigns) had there been no Dean for America.
At a Manchester fundraiser for Carol Shea-Porter before the election, I got to meet Governor Dean. I told him there that I was one of those crazy Deaniacs that would have walked through fire and eaten glass for him, and thanked him for demanding that his fans work like heck for Kerry after it was over, and then subsequently for Democrats everywhere in 2006 and beyond. While he was gracious in his response, it was clear that I was probably the twentieth person he had heard virtually the same confession from that day.
If I'm not mistaken, the commerce clause of the Constitution is what enables the federal government to conduct nation-wide programs. So, I suspect that the Commerce Department is going to be central to any nationwide funding program of health care we develop.
At least that's my take on what the Representative from Pennsylvania is proposing.
According to NYT & WaPo, Governor Howard Dean is stepping down as Chairman of the DNC:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes...
He will make a great Cabinet member (HHS?).
Back from my days at Middlebury, I've long admired Gov. Dean ... his "50 state strategy" in large measure made it possible for President-elect Obama to compete in - and WIN - Indiana, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado and all those red states that turned blue last week. His speech at Carol Shea-Porter's house party in Manchester (including his story about Rahm Emanuel) also was one of my favorite '08 speeches here in NH.
Many, many Hamsters are Deaniacs from Day 1, and we're all Deaniacs now, so let's make this an open thread in honor of one visionary, progressive Democratic Party chairman!
Here's the second half of the speech Howard Dean gave at Carol Shea-Porter's house party in Manchester last Monday (the first part here). The part about restoring America's moral authority in the world, contrasted with McCain's actions on the waterboarding bill, is illuminating:
