Dean to DFA: You have taught me so much

[Rose Siding]

snip> DFA will continue to be your place to support socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates. That process will soon be gearing up -- you will be an important part of it. And you will hear more from Jim and Tom soon about how DFA can help your local organization.

I look forward to continuing our conversation about the future of our party and our country in my new role at the DNC. You will see less of me in this space for a while, but this organization is in good hands -- yours.

You have taught me so much -- about our country, about our democracy, about the hope and determination of our people. Change is possible. And you have the power to make it happen -- you already have.

Thank you,
Howard

http://www.blogforamerica.com/archives/005975.html

How is it that someone who is so dynamic can also be so, so...real?

Godspeed, Howard- The right man for the right job at the right time.

[Cha]

1. Dean..always learning...that's

what I like about him so much! :toast:

[elshiva]

2. Natch!

[Eloriel]

3. How is it that

he can make me cry so damn often?

What a trip this has been. My heart is still heavy, when I think about it, that he's not our current President (and doesn't plan to run in '08). But today is a special victory even so.

Think about it: THE GRASSROOTS including a helluva lot of Dean supporters made Dean the DNC Chair. We rose up and told the Party Bosses: we want OUR guy, and we want YOU to pay attention to us. By last week Hillary had seen the writing on the wall and hustled to get in position in front of this parade. And earlier this week John Kerry had to send TWO communicatiosn -- the first one totally artless (tho the money was welcome), failing to mention Dean at all (and pretending the grassroots he benefitted from were all his own doing), followed very quickly by a second a day later finally acknowledging Dean.

We really do have the power, people, and now we're going to have to make it happen.

One of the things we're going to have to make happen and I have no earthly idea how to go about it is voting machines -- ALL of them -- and processes -- ALL of them. They're killing us. And Dean and all of us can make miracles and we'll still go down in defeat if we don't fix this problem. I'm in despair about it, I really am.

[Rose Siding]

4. How does he make us cry?

I don't know, but he sure can. Did you see this?

Before Dean finishes, a poignant moment comes out of nowhere.

Gloria Nieto, vice chair of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus, tearfully tells how she married her female partner in Massachusetts last year, and says she hopes that her community will always be respected within the Democratic Party.

To which Dean walks out from behind the podium and envelops the woman in a big hug. He is crying himself. "That's why I'm a Democrat," he says.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17718-2005Feb11_2.html

Ok, go get tissue. I'll wait.

Now that's in an article by some A-hole who calls *this* alliance of PEOPLE, "special interests":

Incoming Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean spent yesterday in a series of meetings with valued Democratic constituencies at the Hilton Washington. He did the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus at 12:15 p.m., the Seniors Coordination Council at 12:45 p.m., the Women's Caucus at 3:40 p.m., the Native Americans at 4:35 p.m., the African Americans at 5 p.m., the Asian Pacific Islanders at 5:20 p.m. and the Hispanics at 5:40 p.m.

Cynics might call this regimen emblematic of the Democratic Party's over-attention to special-interest groups.

Now add those up. WOMEN: half of us, and a litany of minorities who together are pretty damn MAJOR! Emblamatic of "over-attention"? Why do we let ANYONE get away with id-ing anything other than corporate interests as "special interests"? Maybe I'll post this one in gd.

I was glad to hear that he spoke about voting machines yesterday. I didn't see it, but read that he did- this time in relation, I think, to machines serving minority neighborhoods.

Another thing, regarding the OLD party structure, this reads like they could have set him up for something- money being power and all...

Although there has been widespread praise for the fund-raising prowess of Terry McAuliffe, the departing committee chairman, it is unclear how much money will actually be left as Dr. Dean takes over.

The committee has raised $13 million since last November, said the committee spokesman, Jano Cabrera. That amount includes a $1 million gift last week that Mr. Kerry donated from his presidential campaign.

But in his parting hours as chairman, Mr. McAuliffe pledged to give a good part of the cash away: $5 million to the Democratic Party in Virginia, where there will be an open seat when Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, leaves at the end of his term-limited tenure next year; and $1 million apiece to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Party in New York, where there are competitive mayoral and gubernatorial races in the next two years.

Additional planned expenditures will use up more money, meaning that Dr. Dean will inherit a committee that is solvent but not necessarily flush. Advisers to Dr. Dean said they had not reviewed the financial ledgers; that was expected to be among their first steps once they move in Monday morning.
http://nytimes.com/2005/02/13/politics/13dems.html

I wonder if that big transfer was coordinated with Dean?