"ACTION PLAN" to help Dean, DNC, Democratic Party (summary & re-post)

moggie12

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Thu Feb-10-05 02:37 PM
Original message

"ACTION PLAN" to help Dean, DNC, Democratic Party (summary & re-post)

Edited on Thu Feb-10-05 03:24 PM by moggie12

This �Action Plan� incorporates ideas DUers came up with in response to my post a few days ago, where I listed some thoughts I had about supporting Howard Dean, and asked for input. I got so many good ideas I decided it was worth the time to do a whole new post.

As noted in the original post, I think everybody should do whatever they can to support Dean. Whether you're a registered Democrat or not -- or whether you supported Dean in the primaries or not -- is completely irrelevant at this point. His success in rebuilding a strong, grassroots-based Democratic Party -- in conjunction with Harry Reid & Nancy Pelosi leading the charge in Congress -- will enable the Democrats to take back Congress in '06 and win the Presidency in '08. AND I'M FOR THAT!!

(For reference, this is my original post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1567741
If you want more info about some of the ideas listed below, I�ve cross-referenced the reply # so you can read a more detailed explanation from the original post)

Here's the summary of suggestions:

1) If you haven�t done so already, sign up on �Democrats.org� � Dean�s public statements and any DNC requests for help will come through there.

2) If you can financially afford to do so, make a donation when Dean sends out his first official e-mail as DNC chair and asks for money. The number of donations he gets in response will be just as important as the dollar amount that is raised � it will demonstrate to the media that he has widespread, grassroots support.

3) Contact the media and ask them to cover Dean. For example, replies #7, 13, and 38 suggested:
a) E-mailing Russert, Matthews and other pundits and asking them to have Dean on their shows.
b) Contacting C-Span and asking them to cover Saturday�s DNC meeting. C-span events coverage recommendation e-mail: events@c-span.org

4) Bomb the media with messages of support when they try to minimize/marginalize/smear Dean:
a) If you hear something on TV or see something in print, put up a post on DU so people can zap that particular twerp with e-mails -- post the e-mail link so it�s easy for people to do.
b) Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper -- Democrats.org has a feature that allows you to do this easily (see reply #45 for suggested themes)

5) The post office sells pre-stamped blank postcards for 25 cents each -- everybody should send him a message of support on one of these cards on Feb 12th. Letters would be good, too, but I was thinking it would be pretty nifty if he could wave a stack of postcards around. (These can also be used to send messages to the media, politicians, etc � letters/postcards are taken even more seriously than e-mails since there�s more effort/expense involved on the part of the sender. The Post Office sells them in stacks of 25.)

6) Spread these ideas so more people help Dean and the DNC:
a) Through your e-mail buddy list
b) Through other web-sites you visit (see reply #37)
c) Word-of-mouth to your friends
d) Make-up flyers to give out in public places (see reply #49)
e) Encourage people to register to vote or maybe even to re-register as Democrats if they�re currently registered independent or third-party (see reply #49)

7) Get involved locally: Go to Town and County Democratic meetings, local DFA meet-ups (see replies #3, 5 and 17)

Finally, there was a suggestion for a group nickname for those of us who want to see Dean succeed: �Human Fire Hydrants United�. It comes from a NYT article, which talked about a conversation Dean had with Terry McAuliffe (snip):

"A lot of people came by the table to congratulate him," recalled Mr. McAuliffe, who said Dr. Dean had invited him to what became a three-hour dinner to discuss the party's operations. "And he said, 'No, no, not till the vote's over.' But I did tell him, 'You are about to become a human fire hydrant. You will get blamed for every loss. You will get zero credit for any win.'"

If anybody has any more ideas to help protect Dean from being �p�d-on�, please reply and add on to this post.

Finally, please keep this KICKED so people see it and take part in this effort. Thanks........