6/9/05 Dean's fans stay in touch
Dean's fans stay in touch
A legacy of the 2004 campaign, groups statewide meet to further liberal ideals
By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 8, 2005
On the front lines for Howard Dean's campaign for the presidency last year, Lali Watt found herself in the front row for the infamous "scream" speech in Iowa.
Standing in the boisterous room that January night, the Wilmette woman says she could barely hear Dean but watched in frustration later as a microphone-enhanced version of his roll call of primary-election states ending with a screamed "yeah!" was endlessly replayed on TV.
Dean dropped out of the race a month later, but Watt and thousands of others who had mobilized on his behalf didn't shut down. Dean became chairman of the Democratic National Committee while his supporters--who woke up the old campaign establishment by connecting online and meeting in hometown coffee shops--still are intent on shaking up the system.
They use the Internet to set up meetings in local restaurants, pubs and cafes to discuss politics. And they've got a new goal: Getting local candidates elected through the "Democracy for America" movement Dean founded.
Watt is one of five candidates active with the movement in Illinois who won local races in April. She was sworn in as a Wilmette village trustee on May 10.
A new tactic
The movement behind Howard Dean's candidacy, organized through the Web site Meetup.com, took many by surprise. The site was not created solely for politics, but enables people to sign up to meet locally once a month to discuss any subject--from speaking French to paganism.
Dean supporters used it to coordinate meetings statewide.
In a coffeehouse in Oak Park, a restaurant in Wheaton, a brewery in Chicago, participants arrive for Democracy for America meetings and order their lattes, iced teas or brews. They share hearty hellos with repeat attendees or push through the awkward moments when a first-timer arrives, welcoming them with handshakes and a sign-in sheet.
And then it begins--the venting period. Cheney, DeLay, Iraq, U.S. foreign policy, extremist judges, the news, all that has outraged them during the last month comes spilling out between sips.
Unlike those made at the water cooler at the office, these comments aren't censored. Sighs don't have to be held back. Eyes can be rolled.
The guy with the anti-Bush rock band may be here, but so is the teacher, the young couple, the architect, the community newspaper publisher, the former Democrat, the former Republican and the recent retiree.
After the venting, angst is funneled into a more structured conversation, as the evening schedule's can include a visit from a local candidate or group exercises about issues such as Social Security.
There always are references to George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant," a bible of sorts for the group as they talk about how to frame their arguments more successfully. The example they invoke most often is the Republican use of the term "tax relief." By using the word "relief," Lakoff and movement participants argue, the idea is conveyed that pain is being alleviated.
"We have to change the conversation," organizer Eric Davis, 44, told a recent group.
Davis, who founded Democracy for Illinois, was sworn in as an Oak Park Township trustee last month. He says the Dean-focused meetings have evolved since the frantic days after Dean announced he no longer was a candidate.
Seeking a foothold
In April, organizers of Democracy for America meetings across Illinois met with Democracy for America chairman Jim Dean, Howard Dean's brother, to brainstorm ways to strengthen their role on the political landscape.
The number of participants elected to office in the last election is small, and the offices most often are library and park boards, but organizers say they are heartened to see new people running.
"But we've got a long way to go," Davis said.
Some say the role of the organization is to prod Democrats, reminding them who they are supposed to be and keeping them from straying too far from their core beliefs.
"It's pretty clear there are Democrats people consider to be DINOs [Democrats in Name Only], and there's a real need for us to be organizing and pushing a more Democratic agenda," said Davis, an architect.
"The more we get that out there, the more [candidates] will see they don't have to be Republican-lite," he said.
Davis hopes the day will come when Democrats for America won't be needed. "But now we have to jumpstart it a little bit," he said.
Although some of those active with the meetings remain focused on acting as an ideological conscience of sorts to the party, some have gotten involved with local Democratic organizations.
The meetings remain a good outlet for both groups, said Chris Warshaw, field director for Democracy for America.
"We think there are a lot of things we do well that are hard for the party to do well," Warshaw said.
More than 9,500 people have joined Democracy for America groups in 2005, bringing the total to almost 150,000, said Myles Weissleder, a Meetup.com spokesman.
The conservative answer to the meetings been Townhall.com, which was organized by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
With 24,000 members, Townhall.com recently split from meetup.com to allow meetings and activists more flexibility, said Jonathan Garthwaite, editor of Townhall.com.
It may not be surprising to find meetings in traditionally liberal-leaning communities, but they're also happening in Republican territory.
At the height of the election frenzy, the DuPage for Dean meetings had 600 people registered in five groups, said organizer Hiram Wurf. They now have three meetings and although numbers have dwindled, new people are coming, he said.
Wurf, 35, of Naperville, said the Dean campaign was his entree into politics. He always talked politics at the dinner table and studied political theory in graduate school, but really hadn't been involved.
He started going to meetings, then organized them, and became chairman of fundraising and outreach for DuPage for Dean.
Wurf ran for the DuPage County Board in 2004 and although he lost, he's thinking about a future run.
Democracy for America organizers talk about how to hold onto the connections and energy that enabled the early Dean meetings to surprise the political system. Watt said it has to remain a true grass-roots effort.
The best thing about the meetings, she said, is that someone in a campaign headquarters office wasn't shouting down marching orders.
"They were not telling us what to do, they were not trying to control us, they were asking us what we needed," Watt said. "That's what makes it work."
----------
cyednak@tribune.com
A legacy of the 2004 campaign, groups statewide meet to further liberal ideals
By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 8, 2005
On the front lines for Howard Dean's campaign for the presidency last year, Lali Watt found herself in the front row for the infamous "scream" speech in Iowa.
Standing in the boisterous room that January night, the Wilmette woman says she could barely hear Dean but watched in frustration later as a microphone-enhanced version of his roll call of primary-election states ending with a screamed "yeah!" was endlessly replayed on TV.
Dean dropped out of the race a month later, but Watt and thousands of others who had mobilized on his behalf didn't shut down. Dean became chairman of the Democratic National Committee while his supporters--who woke up the old campaign establishment by connecting online and meeting in hometown coffee shops--still are intent on shaking up the system.
They use the Internet to set up meetings in local restaurants, pubs and cafes to discuss politics. And they've got a new goal: Getting local candidates elected through the "Democracy for America" movement Dean founded.
Watt is one of five candidates active with the movement in Illinois who won local races in April. She was sworn in as a Wilmette village trustee on May 10.
A new tactic
The movement behind Howard Dean's candidacy, organized through the Web site Meetup.com, took many by surprise. The site was not created solely for politics, but enables people to sign up to meet locally once a month to discuss any subject--from speaking French to paganism.
Dean supporters used it to coordinate meetings statewide.
In a coffeehouse in Oak Park, a restaurant in Wheaton, a brewery in Chicago, participants arrive for Democracy for America meetings and order their lattes, iced teas or brews. They share hearty hellos with repeat attendees or push through the awkward moments when a first-timer arrives, welcoming them with handshakes and a sign-in sheet.
And then it begins--the venting period. Cheney, DeLay, Iraq, U.S. foreign policy, extremist judges, the news, all that has outraged them during the last month comes spilling out between sips.
Unlike those made at the water cooler at the office, these comments aren't censored. Sighs don't have to be held back. Eyes can be rolled.
The guy with the anti-Bush rock band may be here, but so is the teacher, the young couple, the architect, the community newspaper publisher, the former Democrat, the former Republican and the recent retiree.
After the venting, angst is funneled into a more structured conversation, as the evening schedule's can include a visit from a local candidate or group exercises about issues such as Social Security.
There always are references to George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant," a bible of sorts for the group as they talk about how to frame their arguments more successfully. The example they invoke most often is the Republican use of the term "tax relief." By using the word "relief," Lakoff and movement participants argue, the idea is conveyed that pain is being alleviated.
"We have to change the conversation," organizer Eric Davis, 44, told a recent group.
Davis, who founded Democracy for Illinois, was sworn in as an Oak Park Township trustee last month. He says the Dean-focused meetings have evolved since the frantic days after Dean announced he no longer was a candidate.
Seeking a foothold
In April, organizers of Democracy for America meetings across Illinois met with Democracy for America chairman Jim Dean, Howard Dean's brother, to brainstorm ways to strengthen their role on the political landscape.
The number of participants elected to office in the last election is small, and the offices most often are library and park boards, but organizers say they are heartened to see new people running.
"But we've got a long way to go," Davis said.
Some say the role of the organization is to prod Democrats, reminding them who they are supposed to be and keeping them from straying too far from their core beliefs.
"It's pretty clear there are Democrats people consider to be DINOs [Democrats in Name Only], and there's a real need for us to be organizing and pushing a more Democratic agenda," said Davis, an architect.
"The more we get that out there, the more [candidates] will see they don't have to be Republican-lite," he said.
Davis hopes the day will come when Democrats for America won't be needed. "But now we have to jumpstart it a little bit," he said.
Although some of those active with the meetings remain focused on acting as an ideological conscience of sorts to the party, some have gotten involved with local Democratic organizations.
The meetings remain a good outlet for both groups, said Chris Warshaw, field director for Democracy for America.
"We think there are a lot of things we do well that are hard for the party to do well," Warshaw said.
More than 9,500 people have joined Democracy for America groups in 2005, bringing the total to almost 150,000, said Myles Weissleder, a Meetup.com spokesman.
The conservative answer to the meetings been Townhall.com, which was organized by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
With 24,000 members, Townhall.com recently split from meetup.com to allow meetings and activists more flexibility, said Jonathan Garthwaite, editor of Townhall.com.
It may not be surprising to find meetings in traditionally liberal-leaning communities, but they're also happening in Republican territory.
At the height of the election frenzy, the DuPage for Dean meetings had 600 people registered in five groups, said organizer Hiram Wurf. They now have three meetings and although numbers have dwindled, new people are coming, he said.
Wurf, 35, of Naperville, said the Dean campaign was his entree into politics. He always talked politics at the dinner table and studied political theory in graduate school, but really hadn't been involved.
He started going to meetings, then organized them, and became chairman of fundraising and outreach for DuPage for Dean.
Wurf ran for the DuPage County Board in 2004 and although he lost, he's thinking about a future run.
Democracy for America organizers talk about how to hold onto the connections and energy that enabled the early Dean meetings to surprise the political system. Watt said it has to remain a true grass-roots effort.
The best thing about the meetings, she said, is that someone in a campaign headquarters office wasn't shouting down marching orders.
"They were not telling us what to do, they were not trying to control us, they were asking us what we needed," Watt said. "That's what makes it work."
----------
cyednak@tribune.com
posted by Aestrea Raven at Thursday, June 09, 2005
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