Dean blog: How to Write Letters to Iowa and New Hampshire

[w4rma]

At the July and August Meetups, Dean supporters across the country sent handwritten letters to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. Those letters made a huge difference and catapulted Howard Dean into the lead in both states.

Now, no matter where you live, you can write a letter today that will make a direct impact on a voter in one of these two early contests. And you can do it at home, whenever you choose, and you can start right now:

http://letters.deanforamerica.com

So far, 1846 letters have been written.

As many of you know, we're putting the finishing touches on the Letters tool. It went semi-public on Saturday, and your feedback and suggestions have been helpful. We'll be talking about this tool more and more as we approach the "official" launch, but you can start writing letters today. If you experience problems, send an e-mail to Clay Johnson, one of our programmers, at [e-mail].

Posted by Joe Rospars at 11:33 PM
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/001932.html

I wanted to bring this letter writing tool to DUers' attention. It seems to generate a list of addresses to whom Dean supporters can write a single letter to. After you write your letter you log back in and inform the database that a letter to that person has been written. I assume this is to prevent multiple letters from being sent to that mailbox.

It looks like this tool is only a few hours old, but it seems to me like it's a fantastic idea!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Wrote my first letter

and am taking a list with me to work. This will be a great thing to do between taking phone calls and setting up appointments! Thanks for the link!

[DrFunkenstein]

2. Seems Like A Good Idea To Me

Dear Agnes,

I am writing you from _________ because there is someone who inspires me as an American, and I wish I had the power you have in Iowa to make him our next President. his name is Howard Dean. As Governor of Vermont, he provided health care to every child, created good-paying jobs and cut child abuse in half. He has also consistently opposed the war in Iraq. I believe Howard Dean is the only candidate who can beat George Bush.

Most of all, Howard Dean is bringing Americans together in common purpose to strengthen our American community again. As an American, I am truly concerned about the direction in which our nation is headed under the current administration. I believe that Howard Dean is the only candidate who can compete with, and defeat the Bush money machine.

As a (student/farmer/working person/teacher/etc/), Howard Dean appeals to me because...

I am enclosing this material I received from the campaign because I think you might find it interesting...

I hope you will consider supporting Governor Dean. I will be waiting here in for my chance to vote for him.

We should get to know each other as Americans again and build our community together. I would love to talk to you and answer any questions you may have about Governor Dean. You can write me back, or if you have email, you can save the postage and email me at [e-mail].

I would love to know what is happening in Iowa and how you feel about what is happening in our country.

Sincerely,
Moe Dickstein

P.S. If you want to know more about Dean's positions, please visit www.deanforamerica.com.

[w4rma]

5. I agree. It's a great idea!

You've copied the sample letter they gave. Here is an excerpt from the instructions that go along with it:

…
Hand-write a letter to the person listed below about why you support Howard Dean. We have provided a suggested text, but the more personal your letter the more effective it will be. When you have mailed the letter, return to this page and confirm that it was sent.
…

[meegbear]

3. Astroturf?!?!

Good idea!

[RetroLounge]

4. Uhm, no, only if they are sent to newspapers.

Otherwise they are called FORM LETTERS. Duh...

you can go back to your regularly scheduled Dean bashing now.

:boring:

[w13rd0]

6. Yeah...

...hand written letters by Dean supporters, the majority of which will express their own thinking on Dean's candidacy, sent to individual fellow US citizens...you know how many jobs Bush would have to export to India to match that kind of effort? Whatever...

[wyldwolf]

8. Astroturf

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=108&topic_id=62458&mesg_id=62458

[Larkspur]

7. Now that the letters site is working, I'll be working on my first letter

tonight.

I usually take the suggested text and incorporate my own stuff around it.