I am having the best fucking day EVAR!

[BlueStar]

Oh yeah. The mayor of Lorimor (and his Republican wife) are now offically John Edwards supporters (and public ones at that)!!!!! Which absolutely fucking HUGE!! I literally can't sit still I am so excited. In region 5, which is pretty much all of western Iowa (a.k.a. conservative territory), we only have one political endorsement, thus far (which my co-worker got yesterday). So now, we have two Iowa politicians backing us (and both were picked up by the Council Bluffs office)!!! (We have tons and tons of local politicians backing us in SC, OK, and NH, but IA has been few and far between for all the candidates.)

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BlueStar]

And I picked up 15 supporters in the past two days (our goal is 7 per a week). And several of those supporters were Republicans and former Dean supporters. And I am this >< close to getting one of Dean's County Coordinators to abandon Dean and come to Edwards.

[sppunk]

That's nice and congratulations, but Dean has pulled ahead even more in popularity this week.

[BlueStar]

Originally posted by sppunk
That's nice and congratulations, but Dean has pulled ahead even more in popularity this week.

Not in the South and Southwest. And the latest polls conducted by Zogby are all kinds of fucked up.


Dean's people call 'Meetup,' but few show
Campaign hiccup called a dry run for Iowa caucus

By Flynn McRoberts and Jeff Zeleny
Chicago Tribune staff reporters

December 5, 2003

ATLANTIC, Iowa -- The promise on Howard Dean's Web site was clear: "Meetup in all 99 of Iowa's counties." On Wednesday night, nearly 1,500 Iowans were to gather across the state, from P.H.A.T. Daddy's in Marengo to the Farmer's Kitchen here in Atlantic, to demonstrate the organizational muscle of their favorite presidential candidate.

It was to be an impressive display of how the former Vermont governor has transformed the way people run for the White House by using the Internet not only to raise record amounts of campaign money, but also to recruit supporters whose feelings run deep enough to turn out on a cold January night to participate in the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

But in this western Iowa farm town, there was a hitch: Despite the Dean campaign's bold promise, no one in Atlantic knew to meet up.

`No meeting planned'

Not Mark Johnson, owner of Farmer's Kitchen, the official Cass County Meetup location, as announced on Dean's Web site. Not the 326 loyal Democratic activists scattered around an otherwise strongly Republican patch of Iowa. Not even Forrest Teig, the passionate, white-haired Dean admirer the campaign had designated as the event's point man.

"No. There's no meeting planned," said Teig, reached at home on the telephone by a visitor who showed up at Farmer's Kitchen at the appointed hour of 7 p.m., only to find Johnson serving his final two customers and hoisting black vinyl-covered chairs onto the tables for closing time.

When told the Dean campaign had promised a Cass County Meetup and he was to be its host, Teig was surprised but understanding, explaining the foul-up by saying: "It's a group of amateur people working on the campaign."

His amiability aside, the gap between the campaign's organizational boasts and the reality of its Meetup attendance this week illustrates the central challenge facing Dean less than seven weeks before the Jan. 19 caucuses. It also underscores the point, which the campaign readily acknowledges, that an election cannot be won by technology alone.

Indeed, while Dean has stunned his eight Democratic rivals with the raw political interest he has generated, thanks in part to the record $1.1 million he has spent on television advertising in Iowa, the campaign is still working to channel the enthusiasm into the kind of organizational know-how needed to win the state's coveted presidential prize.

Judging by Wednesday night, the effort is a work in progress.

"With every new tool, there is a learning curve," said Sarah Leonard, a spokeswoman for the Dean campaign. "It was a trial run and a chance for us to get ready for January."

In Iowa, voters do not simply deposit their ballots into a box. Rather, a smaller number of party activists hold caucuses, or town meetings, lasting up to three hours where citizens discuss and declare a preference for their favorite candidate. The level of commitment is generally far higher than simply walking into a voting booth.

A monthly parley

The success of the Dean campaign--much to the frustration of candidates relying upon more traditional methods of politicking--is partially attributed to tapping into a concept called Meetup. In cities across the nation, people gather on the first Wednesday of every month to discuss a shared interest. The groups, which began with varied meetings such as those for wine enthusiasts, became a vehicle for Dean followers.

Wednesday night marked the first time the Dean campaign had tried to organize a Meetup in the state's 99 counties. With as many as one-third of Democratic activists here still uncommitted to a candidate, the Meetup exercise designed to ******* 1,500 people was the latest in a series of creative approaches to rally existing supporters and attract new ones. No other campaign has tried anything so ambitious.

In Ames, a dozen people talked about Dean's policies in a coffee shop near Iowa State University, as James Taylor music played loudly. In Des Moines, about 25 people attended a meeting at the candidate's downtown headquarters, where they received an update on the campaign and were instructed how to attend a caucus.

The attendance from the meetings had not been tabulated Thursday afternoon, Leonard said, adding that the events were merely a trial run for the January Meetup, which will double as a statewide caucus training exercise.

"It's daunting to people who have lived here but have never gone to a caucus," said Leonard, noting that the campaign is signing up hundreds of people who are new to politics.

If Dean supporters had shown up at Farmer's Kitchen in Atlantic, they could have bent the ears of two fence straddlers, Janet and Don Jensen of nearby Elk Horn. Both were leaning toward Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri until they learned he supported the Bush administration's $87 billion plan for military operations and rebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Eighty-seven billion to Iraq when we can't educate our own children is ridiculous," Janet Jensen said as they prepared to pay their check. "We grandparents have fundraisers all the time because they don't have money for art supplies, band supplies."

Flynn McRoberts reported from Atlantic, Jeff Zeleny reported from Ames and Tribune staff reporter John McCormick contributed from Des Moines.

Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

[sppunk]

I hardly feel that's a sign he is losing popularity.

[BlueStar]

Originally posted by sppunk
I hardly feel that's a sign he is losing popularity.

Not meant as a sign that he is losing his popularity. Dean billed the all-Iowa meet-up as a rehearsal for the Jan. 19th caucus, but it turned into a dismal failure (all across IA).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if only 1 or 2 of the 4 (Edwards, Kerry, Gephardt, Lieberman) were running, Dean would not be the front-runner.

[BlueStar]

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a mayor as a supporter and public endorser (which, in small rural towns, is the absolute clincher...I now guarantee that Edwards will have viability in every precinct in Union county)!!

[sppunk]

Originally posted by BlueStar


Not meant as a sign that he is losing his popularity. Dean billed the all-Iowa meet-up as a rehearsal for the Jan. 19th caucus, but it turned into a dismal failure (all across IA).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if only 1 or 2 of the 4 (Edwards, Kerry, Gephardt, Lieberman) were running, Dean would not be the front-runner.

Kerry is such a non-factor, it's absurd.

[2Marlon2Brando]

Originally posted by BlueStar
Lorimor

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart...116/girl16.jpg

[lucky_13]

lorimor reminded you of the gilmore girls? lorelai?

[2Marlon2Brando]

Originally posted by lucky_13
lorimor reminded you of the gilmore girls? lorelai?

That name sounded like lorelai.

Yeah, I'm retarded.