New Fundraising Goal

Okay, so some people may be a little annoyed with me. This morning, I realized I was only $40 away from my goal, and I posted comments to that effect on a few blogs. But then I reached the goal, and it is only 2 PM, with 10 hours to go in the September to Remember Challenge. So I decided to up my goal just a little bit. So if you were planning to contribute but saw that I had reached my goal, now you can contribute and help me make my new goal!
- posted by Laura @ 2:17 PM |

Fundraising; Texas Rangers; Plame Scandal

Political Wire reports that Dean is expected to make the goal of $15 million and outraise all of his rivals by at least $10 million. All I can say is, wow!

Meanwhile, the campaign is going to be in the record books for last night's conference call, according to the Tri Valley Herald.

The Hampton Union has a good article about the Texas Rangers who came to New Hampshire to stump for Dean last weekend.

This is a little off-topic, but blogger David Yaseen has a really funny song about the Valerie Plame scandal.

As you can see from my bat, I am now $40 short of my personal fundraising goal, if anyone wants to help.
- posted by Laura @ 10:31 AM |

AU for Dean Conference Call

AU for Dean had a conference call tonight in MacDowell Formal Lounge. We had 51 students, and I think several of them donated. I overheard one girl saying that she had donated $10 and it was the first time she had ever made a political contribution. I thought that was pretty cool. This is the first actual campaign I have donated to, although I made a tiny donation to the DCCC and to my state Democratic Party last fall. But giving it to Dean is so much more satisfying, since most of the contributions are not that much bigger than mine and I don't feel like it is just a drop in the bucket. I know that the only way to get the bat to move up is to have large numbers of people donate in small increments, and that most of the contributions that have pushed it up have come from people like me.

So will we make $15,000,000? I hope so! I think we can definitely raise $15,000,000 total for the quarter, since Dean has several fundraisers tomorrow in addition to online donations. But I want to break the McCain record of raising $1 million in a day on the Internet, and I am hoping that they will not have to add in the offline contributions to get to the total, so that we will know if we break the record.

I would show you pictures of the conference call, but unfortunately my camera was out of batteries and I of course just took the spare ones out of my purse and left them in my room back home!
- posted by Laura @ 1:43 AM |

First in the Nation

More on the DC Primary:

Marc Fischer of the Washington Post had a great article about it on Tuesday. He said that the candidates, who had originally considered it insignificant, are now starting to take the primary seriously. He calls the primary "an early test of Dean's ability to reach beyond his base in NPR America -- those white, college-educated, socially liberal voters who yearn for a latter-day Adlai Stevenson." Afro.com also had an interesting article on Wednesday about the DC Primary. Terry Neal said that the primary "gives black voters an unprecedented early roll in picking a nominee." He predicts that as the primary gets closer, the candidates will take it more seriously.

Meanwhile, the Nashua Telegraph has an interesting story about how New Hampshire got its special "first in the nation" status to begin with.


- posted by Laura @ 11:08 AM |

Morning Debate Analysis

Here's some morning analysis of the debate:

Slate, which has not been very favorable to Dean of late, was actually pretty complimentary of his performance last night. "He was doing a great job early in this debate, smiling and looking relaxed as he fended off attacks from John Kerry and Dennis Kucinich on tax cuts, trade, and health care..." The article then criticized him for losing his cool when Gephardt attacked his signature line about being from "the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party," but said that he regained it quickly enough.

The Washington Post calls it the "longest and most contentious debate so far," and pointed out that Kerry is "scrambling to thwart rival Howard Dean's momentum." Hmm. Could that have anything to do with the new poll released yesterday in New Hampshire?

The Los Angeles Times talks about how all of the other candidates were ganging up on Dean, and they said that he "stood his ground."

In other news, a new poll shows that only 1/3 of Arizona voters want to see Bush "re"-elected, while 44% prefer someone new. Daily Kos predicts a Democratic victory in Arizona, which Gore lost 51-45, and points out that "should be great hunting ground for a pro-gun Dem like Dean or Clark and well within reach for the rest of the top Democrats."

I am kind of upset to see that Bush is still leading the Democrats, albeit narrowly, in my home state of New Jersey. And I am also disappointed to see Dean in 5th place there, even though the top five candidates in the Quinnipiac University poll were within a point of the candidate above them and the margin of error was +-3.2.

In the blogosphere, Pacific Viewshad a good piece yesterday about the difference between the Dean campaign and Clark's emerging campaign. It points out that while Dean has embraced and encouraged the grassroots, Internet based movement, Clark has thus far been hesitant to embrace any of the competing "Draft Clark" factions. John Marshall says that he can see why Dean's supporters like him, and that Gephardt felt irrelevant even though he was all over the debate, as did several other candidates.

Anyways, that's enough blogging for now, because I have to finish my econ. paper. Speaking of New Jersey, I am going home today - yippee! I miss my family a lot more than I thought I would, and even though I have spent several summers away from home, I think this is probably the longest stretch of time I have ever gone without seeing them. I will try to keep this updated, but if I don't get to post, have a great weekend and Shanah Tovah to everyone else celebrating Rosh Hashanah this weekend.
- posted by Laura @ 8:20 AM |

Debate Challenge

I have issued a new challenge for the debate:

Everyone pick an amount to donate each time Dean gets attacked. I have set up my bat at so that we will be able to see how much is raised in response to attacks on Dean. Before the debate, the bat stood at $325, so anything raised over and above that tonight is our resistance to the attacks on Dean that are bound to come during the debate, showing that no matter what they say, his base of support is a lot bigger and more determined than anyone's.


- posted by Laura @ 5:16 PM |

So the bat is starting to move a little faster...it went up $12,000 each hour for the last two hours. But if we want to raise $500,000 a day, which is what we need to do to make the goal, we have to raise an average of $20,000 each hour and then $22,000 one hour.

Hopefully Monday's house parties will bring in a boost...I am getting really nervous.

Donate here...make this a September to Remember.
- posted by Laura @ 12:50 PM |

From Political Wire:

The Los Angeles Times peeks behind the curtain at Howard Dean's Internet operation: "They came from across the country, drawn by Dean's tough criticism of the Bush administration and the belief that an online community of millions could be mobilized. In their former lives, they were rock drummers, attorneys, campaign junkies, Web wizards and writers. All migrated to Burlington in the belief that aggressive use of the Internet would help elect the next president."
- posted by Laura @ 12:40 PM |

Alright! For I believe the first time since his selection in December 2000, Bush is below 50% in the polls! The news just keeps getting better and better...six months ago I thought we had no chance at beating Bush, and now it is looking like any of our candidates can. I know that the election is more than a year away and anything can happen, but I am really feeling encouraged, and for the first time these past few weeks, it really does seem like Bush is vulnerable and we have a really good chance of getting rid of him. I forced myself not to lose hope after the 2002 elections, after which I was depressed for over a month, and I started supporting Dean in part so I would have a cause to throw myself into. At the time, I did not care that much who got the nomination...it was not until June that it hit me that I will be really disappointed if it is not Dean. Now this combined with the poll yesterday pose the question I had hoped to avoid: if it becomes clear that another candidate would be much more likely to beat Bush than Dean, what will I do?

For now, I am not going to think about it, because I still think that Dean has just as much of a shot than anyone, and in some ways more, because he has inspired people who have never been into politics, and he is going to expand our base and get more Democrats out to the polls and give disillusioned Democrats and liberals a candidate they can be proud to vote for. I firmly believe that the Republicans came out on top in the last two elections because they wanted it more, and they were fighting for a president and a party they believed in, not just what they viewed as the lesser of two evils. I have never viewed the Democratic Party that way but I know many people who do, and in 2002, they either stayed home or voted holding their noses, and that dampened enthusiasm is why we did not win. I don't think that it is a matter of moving too far to the left or the center - it is just about making people feel empowered again, because for too long these people have felt that there is nothing they can do to make a difference. But if Dean gets the nomination, they will have a hard time making that case, because they will have witnessed ordinary citizens like themselves defying the party leadership and nominating a candidate whom the party establishment tried desperately to crush. A lot of the Democrats who are disgusted with the party right now will be proud to vote Democrat again if Dean is our nominee, and that is why he can and will beat Bush.
- posted by Laura @ 12:41 AM |

Tonight I have been on Yahoo messenger IMing people who had something about Dean in their profiles asking them to donate, and I got this one response from someone that I thought I ought to share:

"I would donate, but I'm really poor. I live in subsidized housing and have a child with autism. My ex has been abusive and it's all I can do to keep my head above water. But I adore Howard Dean - he's the first presidential candidate that I ever considered worthy of a really big HUG and I hope to God he is our next president. Tell him I think he's amazing."

I thought this was really touching, and I posted it on the official blog, because I am hoping that someone from the campaign sees it and gives Governor Dean the message, since I have no idea if I will get to talk to him again or not. But this woman is a classic example of the kind of struggles ordinary Americans are facing as the president sleeps soundly in Crawford, Texas (actually, he is back here in Washington now, but I try to forget it because I liked it better when he was not right down Mass. Ave.!) People like this are the reason that we need "regime change" in Washington (I know how much trouble John Kerry got into for using those words, so I would like to make it absolutely clear that I am not speaking for the campaign!). We need a new president who won't cut the subsidized housing she is living in and who will fully fund IDEA so her son can get a good public education. We need to mobilize people like her and like me, people from all different walks of life who feel abandoned by this president, to take our country back!
- posted by Laura @ 12:20 AM |

So a lot of other people in the campaign are upset about this poll, which shows Clark way ahead of Dean and all the other Democrats. But I think that overall, the poll is great news. I think the reason Clark is leading is that he has been in the press non-stop for the past week, and so far he has not faced a lot of scrutiny, so he seems to many like the dream candidate. His momentum may very well subside. But meanwhile, this is the first poll since Bush's selection in 2000 that shows any Democratic candidate beating him. In this poll, Kerry and Clark are beating him by 2 or 3 points, and Dean, Gephardt, and Lieberman are all trailing within the margin of error (as are Kerry and Clark, except they are slightly ahead). So this means that even if the election were held today, there is a chance that Dean or anyone else might win! I have been waiting and waiting to get to the point where we did not have to say "oh, today he'd get creamed but so would everyone else...the election is a long way off." So I, unlike many in our camp, am psyched about this poll, and I just hope that a) Clark's momentum is short-lived (I like some things about him, but I am already way too committed to Dean to think about changing candidates, and from what I have been hearing about Clark since he entered the race I am liking him less and less anyway), and 2) that all of the Democrats continue to rise as Bush falls.

Meanwhile, why is the bat moving so slowly? Click here to help make it go up faster.
- posted by Laura @ 3:52 PM |

Dave Cullen has an interesting piece on his blog about the DC primary. Having just moved to DC, I am very excited to have the first primary in the nation...though unfortunately, I doubt it will receive much attention, since everyone is so hell-bent that the great states of Iowa and New Hampshire never have a challenge for the first primary (what is so special about Iowa and New Hampshire anyway?). Sorry if anyone reading this is lucky enough to live in these two states...I probably should not diss your states since you are the ones whose votes we are trying to get, and therefore I should probably be sucking up instead. I am just bitter because the primary here may be ignored and New Jersey's primary is in June, making it completely useless. Besides, the Democratic Party would be so smart to pay attention to the DC Primary, because they are doing it to call attention to their lack of voting rights. If we ever manage to change that situation, it will mean 2 more Democratic senators. Not to mention ending a 225 year violation of one of the fundamental rights upon which our country was founded!
- posted by Laura @ 3:43 PM |

Alright! Another contribution came in! Here is my progress update:

Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope Goal: $500.00 Achieved: $325.00

- posted by Laura @ 9:33 AM |

Okay, back to work...I am now at 55% on my personal thermometer, but I don't have time to post that again, so I am just going to post the bat. So please donate here if you have not donated already.

Goal: $500
Achieved:55%
CONTRIBUTE

I'll have more to say later, but I am running late and have to get ready for class, so, at the risk of sounding like a California gubernatorial candidate whom most of us don't like very much right now, I'll be back.
- posted by Laura @ 9:21 AM |

Bat Progress

Woo-hoo! I am over the goal already...I just got a big contribution that put me over the top. I am so excited. I am going to raise the goal to $500 now but check this out first:


- posted by Laura @ 9:12 PM |

The Bat is Back!

The bat is back up! The campaign hopes to raise $5 million over the next 10 days. I set up my own personal thermometer here, with a starting goal of $250. So please, if you are planning to donate, feel free to do it here.


- posted by Laura @ 11:50 AM |

Comment Spamming

I want to apologize to everyone who is angry with me for "comment-spamming" on other blogs. I was just going around, looking at other people's blogs, and hoping to exchange links with some other like-minded bloggers. I did not realize it would offend people, and I apologize. Please do not hold it against the campaign, as I do not officially represent the campaign. I am just a college student who is supporting Dean and felt like putting up a website, and I saw that there seemed to be a network of blogs that linked to each other, and I was hoping to make some "blogfriends" who would link to me and whom I could link to in return. But I apologize if this offended anyone, and I will have to find better ways to promote this blog. If you would like to exchange links or to promote your own blog, post it in the comments section here. Thank you and I apologize to anyone I offended.
- posted by Laura @ 2:28 PM |

AIM Sound Clips

Yippee! Thanks to Hurricane Isabel, classes have been cancelled for tomorrow. Now I can work on this blog instead of doing the econ homework I had been procrastinating.

Since I have plenty of time to kill now (by this time tomorrow night I will probably be complaining about being cooped up and everything being closed), I made some AIM sounds using clips from Dean's speeches. I know, I have no life, right?

Here are the sound clips:
“I Want My Country Back” (333 KB)
“You Have the Power” (187 KB)
“We Can Do Better” (199 KB)

Enjoy!
- posted by Laura @ 3:59 AM |

New Campaign Song

Here is the song I wrote for the campaign, to the tune of "Little Pink Houses" by John Cougar Mellencamp. I am looking for someone who can record it, so if anyone can sing and has access to a computer mic or other recording equipment, please sing it and make an mp3 and send it to me.

Here are the lyrics. If you have seen a slightly different version somewhere, it is because I keep changing the words. But I am pretty sure this is the final draft, unless someone has an idea that is so brilliant I can't resist.

He's an unknown
From a small state
Far from Capitol Hill

He's in a field of nine
And he started far behind
And nobody thought he had a prayer

But his supporters
They're believers
Givin' it all they've got
They dismiss anyone who says "he can't win"
'Cuz they're convinced that he's really got a shot

CHORUS:
Dean for America, for you and me
Dean for America, something to see
Gonna take back America, home of the free
We can do better now in this country

There's a young crowd
Disillusioned
He taps into their frustration
He's got some fresh ideas
And a message that's resonating
across the nation

Called his mama
And he told her
Said "mom, I'm gonna be president."
She just laughed and said "son, that's a crazy dream"
But these are crazy times

CHORUS

Well there's pundits
And consultants
What do they know, know, know?
They look down on the insurgent
Because they're scared that he'll disrupt the status quo, ooh yeah

He's a winner
People-powered
He is the real deal

He'll put the Democratic Party back on track
To take
The White House Back

CHORUS x2


BTW, the song and the merchandise advertised below are my own and not authorized by the campaign.

- posted by Laura @ 4:57 PM |

Massachusetts Politics

So I discovered something interesting the other night:

I was born in Massachusetts in 1984. At that time, Mike Dukakis was governor, John Kerry was lieutenant governor, and Ted Kennedy and Paul Tsongas were my senators. So that means that the top four public officials in Massachusetts when I was born all had run or would later run for president. Of the four, only Dukakis would succeed at getting the nomination (so we hope!).

Speaking of which, I am tempted to get this button and wear it around on selective occasions:


I probably won't, though, because while it would be kind of funny now, I think that reminding people that Kerry was Dukakis' lieutenant governor would hurt him more in the general than in the primary, and the last thing I want to do is hurt any of the candidates in the general should they get the nomination. Besides, I personally think Dukakis would have made a great president!
- posted by Laura @ 12:59 PM |

Pictures from College Park

I completely forgot: I posted some of my pictures from the College Park rally the other day. I have more to upload but for now check these out.
- posted by Laura @ 5:32 PM |

Last night I went with Neal and Nathaniel to a multicultural concert in Rosslyn, VA to hand out flyers. It was kind of weird to be back at that...that is what I spent a lot of time doing this summer in Philadelphia, but things have changed a lot since mid-August. I could not tell if people had heard of Dean or not...some definitely had, but there seemed to be many people still who had never heard of him or were only vaguely familiar. A few people saw the header, which said "Governor Howard Dean, M.D." and thought it meant that he was running for governor of Maryland! We thought that was pretty amusing.

Anyways, after we were done flyering we decided to walk over the Key Bridge to Georgetown and have dinner. Much to Neal's dismay (he is definitely the laid-back one of the three of us), Nathaniel and I decided to hold up our Dean signs for cars and pedestrians to see. For some reason, I find it a lot of fun to do that and gauge reaction. Last night a few people honked at us, one person stuck a thumbs-up out the window, and several pedestrians said they were supporting Dean or gave me a thumbs-up. One woman started applauding when I carried the sign through a big crowd on the sidewalk on M-Street. I did not get any thumbs down or other negative signs last night, so that was a good sign. Eventually Neal confiscated the signs from us...I think we were embarassing him a little.
- posted by Laura @ 4:58 PM |

So I am really freaking out about this whole row over Dean's Israel stance. My friend Leah IM'ed me the other night and said "do you know that Dean wants to cut off aid to Israel?" I ran upstairs and spent the next 20 minutes convincing her that he absolutely had no such plans and I offered to show her a clip from the debate in which he specifically said that he had no intention of cutting off aid to Israel. She eventually came to believe me, but she said she had gotten the information from 7 different people. I have had a few other people come up to me when I am wearing my Dean buttons (which is almost always) and say "how can you support Dean? He's anti-Israel. He wants to cut off aid" and all this other crap that is not true! A few have even told me that they normally vote Democrat but will vote for Bush if Dean is the nominee because they do not trust Dean on Israel. And based on talking to people in a few other locations, I do not think this rumor mill is limited to this campus...I think that alarms are going up in the Jewish community that if Dean becomes president he will not be good to Israel. They have no rational basis on which to believe this, but they do not need one. I know these people, and they can be very emotional and paranoid when it comes to Israel, which is understandable. All they need is a feeling of discomfort, a gut feeling that does not trust someone, and that's it, no matter what you do to show them otherwise.

I may be overreacting but I am ashamed to say that I have seen the pro-Israel forces take candidates down before and I do not want to see it happen to Dean...if they decide that he is a threat they may have the power to destroy his campaign. Granted, the two members of Congress they targeted in 2002 had voting records that were not so favorable to Israel, while Dean has no record on the subject one way or another. But they have proven that if they want to take someone down, they can. I am really worried that if Dean does not actively combat these rumors and come out in strong support of Israel soon, this will spiral out of control and it may not stop him from getting the nomination, it will definitely hurt him a lot in the general.

This is such a hard thing to deal with, because I can't stand the thought of seeing my own people (Jews) be the ones who bring down a great candidate, especially based on assumptions that are not even true. So I got proactive and made a flyer with his positions on Israel and the Middle East. I sent it to the campaign for approval, because I do not want to run the risk of misrepresenting his positions. But I don't know if they will or can get back to me, so I am posting the flyer with a disclaimer that it is not official here, and you can download it and print it out and distribute it to anyone you know in the Jewish community or who is otherwise supportive of Israel. I know some of you may not agree with the positions articulated on the flyer, but even if you don't, please understand that this issue is very important to Jews, who have been loyal Democratic voters for 70 years, and that the last thing Dean wants to do is alienate Jewish community leaders and Israel supporters, and please help do everything you can to prevent that from happening.
- posted by Laura @ 1:51 PM |

In the process of procrastinating reading Plato, I have come up with the top five signs you have been spending too much time on the Dean campaign:

5. You know more about the state of Vermont than you know about your home state (sorry to CentuarMyst, Karaoke and VermontDem2004 - I know this does not apply to you!)

4. You get invited to a Dean's Reception at your alma mater and you think it is a campaign fundraiser

3. You get off an airplane and go hand out literature to people waiting to board a flight to Manchester, NH before you get your luggage.

2. You see a car with a New Hampshire license plate and almost cause an accident trying to jump in front of it so the driver can see your Dean bumper sticker

1. You woke up this morning (9/11/03) agonizing about whether or not to wear your Dean button today or take it off for fear of appearing disrespectful.

- posted by Laura @ 11:15 PM |

So I went to the rally in College Park, MD, last night. It was interesting, to say the least. College Republicans from AU, GW and Georgetown came to disrupt the rally...they kept yelling out "G-O-P" and "four-more-years!" while Dean was trying to speak. He was great with handling the them, though: the first time they yelled, after he figured out what was going on, he said "let them yell. By 2004 they will be so worried about their jobs and their tuition that half of them are going to vote for me." That shut them up for a little while. Then the next time they yelled, he said "let's have a moment of silence for the protestors, and let them have their fun yelling, because they know that in 2004 they are going down."

I was also excited because when the DLC came to Philly last year, we had a big rally for Dean in Love Park, down the street from where they were having their convention, and then we went to the Irish Pub afterwards and mingled with the delegates (most of whom seemed much more open and receptive and Democratic than the group's executive directors, Reed and From.) I spent a little bit of time talking to Maryland State Rep. Ramirez from Prince George's County, most of it trying to sell Dean to him. Last night he was one of the Maryland officials who came to endorse Dean! I was so excited...I doubt my pitch really made a difference but at the time I talked to him he did not know much about Dean, so I can't help but think that I had some influence.

After the rally my friend Seton and I decided to go to the fundraiser on U-Street. Unfortunately, we asked this guy who went to U-Maryland for a ride to the metro, since it looked like it would be forever before we could get on a shuttle, and the shuttle had gotten stuck in so much traffic on the way there. But this guy's car was SO far away, so by the time we got to the fundraiser it was after 9. But we caught most of Dean's speech and then we thought he had already left afterwards, but as we were starting to go someone said he was still inside. But at that point we decided we ought to get back to campus...last night was my 8th time seeing Dean speak, and I have shaken his hand and talked to him several times, so I decided I ought to give someone else a chance.

Anyways, I have more to say and pictures to post, but I will do that later, since I have class in and hour and need to get ready and reread the Plato I did not get to go over last night because I was out so late at the rally and the fundraiser!
- posted by Laura @ 10:18 AM |

Alright! A new poll today shows us with a 12 point lead over Kerry in New Hampshire. It is less than the 21 point lead we had in the Zogby poll, but I do not really trust Zogby anyway, because they were way off on their 2002 predictions. So this poll kind of confirms that we do have a significant lead. If we can win by 12 or even 7 points, as another poll two weeks ago suggested, we will knock Kerry out for sure. I still believe that the state is Kerry's to lose and that even if Dean comes within a few points that should be a loss for Kerry, but unfortunately, the stakes have been raised now that we have shown so much momentum. That is the only thing I am worried about, that all this momentum and these polls showing Dean leading are going to raise the expectations - in some ways it was easier when he was unknown and underfunded and even a second place finish in New Hampshire would have been considered an upset.

But don't think I am not thrilled about how much progress he has made - I am. I started supporting Dean in February, back when he had no money, nobody had heard of him, and nobody thought he had a prayer. Even I doubted that he could win - I said to myself "this guy has no chance, but he has a lot of heart and I want to support him."

I have seen him speak seven times now. Monday will be the eighth. The second time I saw him was at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)'s "Consultation on Conscience" in April. I was sitting with my mom's friend, who is also one of my role models and mentors. She was undecided and I was trying to get her to support Dean. Anyways, he said "I've never lost an election and I do not intend to now," and she whispered "wow, he's cocky." I replied "Nancy, he's kidding - he knows his chances are slim to none!" Even as I was supporting him, I was guilty of "misunderestimating" him.

But even then, there was a part of me that had a feeling about him, an instinct that said "he's our guy." And to watch him go from an unknown with no money who was considered to have almost no chance to one of the leading contenders if not the frontrunner has been incredibly exciting.

I will never forget June 30, when the fundraising totals for the second quarter were announced. I was at my college orientation, and I was very stressed out because my dad had woken up with severe back pains and had to be taken to the hospital. But somehow in between orientation and worrying about my dad, I remembered that it was the last day of the fundraising quarter, so when I got a break I went to the computer lab to check if anyone had released totals yet. I had a feeling that we were going to raise more than the $4 million the campaign said we were aiming for, but when I saw "6.2 million" I was in shock. Then I read articles where reps. from other campaigns were saying "there's no way anyone will raise as much as Dean did this quarter" and I was like "what? That can't be...they are lowballing!" But then I checked the blog and saw that we were trying to raise even more...first $6.5 million, then $7 million. I snuck back to the computer lab as often as I could to check the blog...and when I woke up the next morning and checked, the number was $7,126,759.33. I wrote it down and flashed it on a big sign to this guy I had met the day before who was also a Dean supporter. Everyone was looking at me like I was nuts, because they had no idea what the number was for. But I did not care - I was so excited. Meanwhile, all the newspapers that day had articles with headlines like "Dean now a player" and "Dean moves into the top tier of candidates." I remember one in particular that said something to the effect of "Democrats are now beginning to face the possibility that Dean may actually become their nominee."

Since then, the good news has been explosive...first we moved into second place in New Hampshire, then a few weeks ago we became first, though within the margin of error (although as I have said many times, the MOE is only relevant when Kerry is ahead!). We have moved up in Iowa and South Carolina and as of yesterday, we are even first nationwide in one poll. Dean is drawing the largest crowds of anyone (450 early in the morning in Boise, ID, for crying out loud!) and some have even started calling him the frontrunner. I am not quite sure I am ready for that....I don't like the term frontrunner because it means you have nowhere to go but down. But still, he is definitely one of the leading contenders, and seeing him rise to the top like this from down under has been really exciting, especially for someone like me who is young and only got into politics a year ago.
- posted by Laura @ 3:41 PM |

So last night I went to the Washington monument with some people from Hillel for a Jewish service called Havdallah that ends Shabbat, our sabbath. Dean is coming to College Park, MD tomorrow to speak on the University of Maryland campus, so I figured I would bring some flyers and put them up downtown. But someone warned me that it was illegal to post stuff on federal property, and my friends made me stop. What is up with this? Does this mean I can't post flyers anywhere in DC except on campus? That really bites! But I did find a few creative ways to leave flyers around anyway.
- posted by Laura @ 3:23 PM |

Here is the song I wrote for the campaign, to the tune of "Little Pink Houses" by John Cougar Mellencamp. I am looking for someone who can record it, so if anyone can sing and has access to a computer mic or other recording equipment, please sing it and make an mp3 and send it to me.

Here are the lyrics. If you have seen a slightly different version somewhere, it is because I keep changing the words. But I am pretty sure this is the final draft, unless someone has an idea that is so brilliant I can't resist.

He’s an unknown
From a small state
Far from Capitol Hill

He's in a field of nine
And he started far behind
And nobody thought he had a prayer

But his supporters
They're believers
Givin' it all they've got
They dismiss anyone who says "he can't win"
'Cuz they're convinced that he's really got a shot

CHORUS:
Dean for America, for you and me
Dean for America, something to see
Gonna take back America, home of the free
We can do better now in this country

There's a young crowd
Disillusioned
He taps into their frustration
He's got some fresh ideas
And a message that's resonating
across the nation

Called his mama
And he told her
Said "mom, I'm gonna be president."
She just laughed and said "son, that's a crazy dream"
But these are crazy times

CHORUS

Well there's pundits
And consultants
What do they know, know, know?
They look down on the insurgent
Because they're scared that he'll disrupt the status quo, ooh yeah

He's a winner
People-powered
He is the real deal

He'll put the Democratic Party back on track
To take
The White House Back

CHORUS x2


BTW, the song and the merchandise advertised below are my own and not authorized by the campaign.
- posted by Laura @ 5:06 PM |

Check out my new Dean stores, featuring my original designs:







- posted by Laura @ 3:29 PM |