Gratuitous late summer Tribute to Dean Democrats...
Sun Aug 15, 2004 at 08:20:37 AM PDT
Out of the smoldering embers of the Dean Presidential campaign, 1000 points of light are emerging nationwide. It was just over a year ago that the Democratic Party leadership stated that we wouldn't be able to retake the US house until 2012. Now suddenly the Party is imbued with a new spirit of optimism. Why? Because, that cold day in Iowa when the DLC and the Republican right-wing breathed a sigh of relief as the Dean campaign went down in defeat--few people noticed that the Dean movement continued to fight on undaunted..
Look around the country. House races that haven't been in play for decades are competitive thanks to Dean Democrats. Fifteen-term Congressman Henry Hyde faces an uncertain political future thanks to a very serious challenge from political newcomer and Dean activist, Christine Cegelis.
http://www.cegelisforcongress.com/
Deep in the heart of Texas, the most powerful man in Congress, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has his back to the wall against previously little-known Richard Morrison, who has tapped Dean Democrats and raised over a quarter a million dollars. After ten terms in Congress, DeLay has been forced to open a campaign office in his "safe" District for the first time, and then he opened a second office. After spending 900,000 dollars, DeLay still is polling below 50% and clings to a small lead (49-39%) in a District where no previous challenger has ever come within 20% of him in any of ten previous elections!!
Morrison seems unafraid of DeLay and unafraid to invite Dean to share a fundraising brunch with him in a conservative District (brunch is next weekend).
http://www.richardmorrisonfordistrict22.com/
Races once thought unthinkable are becoming competitive. Throughout the nation, the best and brightest House candidates are not old party stalwarts with hefty legislative resumes, but fresh faces from the Dean movement determined to retake Republican seats nobody else thought could be won. Without deferring to the conventional wisdom of the party that said such seats were out of reach, Dean Democrats have taken the fight anywhere and everywhere. Among the Democrats most likely to take over Republican held seats, Dean's list candidates are leading the charge...
Samara Barend in New York http://www.samaraforcongress.com/index.shtml
Patsy Keever in North Carolina http://www.keeverforcongress.com/
Paul Babbitt in Arizona http://www.paulbabbitt.com/
In my state, Missouri-- candidates like Liz Hagar Mace won an August primary by 100 votes and Jeff Smith finished a very close second in a ten way congressional race and is now on Claire McCaskill's staff.
Howard Dean has inspired a new generation of Democrats who stand up and fight and who inspire rather than ignore the grassroots of the party. Dean People have taken the fight to unexpected places and shown results.
On that cold January day in Iowa, Dean's fire wasn't extinguished because the embers kept burning and come November those embers could spark a transformation of the American political system and light up the political map on election night.
When the Democratic inferno can't be contained on election night by George W. Bush or Tom DeLay or the Republicans in the Missouri State House it will be largely because Howard Dean and his supporters kept the fire lit and never stopped fighting.
