Web Site for the Like-Minded Turns into Boon for Dean

[pruner]

Clark Has Strong Showing; Kucinich Fans Trail Witches

By Brian Faler
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, October 18, 2003; Page A07

Meetup.com is not just for witches, dachshund lovers -- and Howard Dean -- anymore.

Since mid-August, more than 79,000 people have joined the online group, which brings together like-minded people, in support of one of the nine Democratic presidential candidates, according to researchers at George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.

The Dean campaign, which is generally credited with introducing the political community to the site, continues to lead the online charge, adding more than 36,000 people in the past two months, bringing Dean's Meetup total to about 123,000.

But several other presidential candidates, spying an inexpensive way of mobilizing their supporters -- and hoping to replicate Dean's success -- have also posted significant gains in the past three months. More than 31,000 have joined in support of retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark's bid, giving him a total of 39,000 Meetuppers. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) saw more than 7,600 people join his cause, giving him the third-largest total of the candidates, with more than 16,000 supporters.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43451-2003Oct17.html

for the record, Dean's MeetUp total is now more than 124,000 and Clark's total is approximately 40,000.