Speaking of Howard Dean, at least our brothers and sisters across the pond get it:
Labour drafts in US election architect for 'our midterms'
Howard Dean to advise party on campaigning strategy ahead of key May vote
Tania Branigan and Julian Borger
Saturday November 11, 2006
The Guardian
Labour has enlisted one of the engineers of this week's Democratic victory in the US midterm elections in an attempt to boost its flagging fortunes before the local elections in May.
Howard Dean, the former presidential candidate and one of the men credited with masterminding the trouncing of the Republicans, will visit the UK next month to brief party officials about his pioneering campaigning techniques.
"The Welsh, Scottish and local elections next year are our midterms," said Hazel Blears, Labour's chair. "It has to be done differently for us to carry on being successful ... We're looking at how [the Democrats] have upped their game."
Labour is particularly interested in the Democrats' style of targeting grassroots voters through low-key meetings in homes. "We want to look at their experience in campaigning, getting out the vote, holding house meetings where people can come together ... You don't want to transplant American politics, but there's a lot we can share," said Ms Blears.
... Ms Blears believes Labour can benefit from the tactics used so effectively by the chairman of the Democratic national committee. "Part of [their new success] is politics, but it's also about organisation," she said.
She also said Labour could benefit from the so-called "viral" tactics Mr Dean helped pioneer. "Politics is increasingly local and decentralised ... People go to people they trust for word-of-mouth recommendations. It's about like-minded people talking, with concentric circles of campaigning, rather than about a political message from the centre."
And here in the States, Jim Carville pops his cork because Dean passed on sending Rahmbo a few million more to spend on Tammy Duckworth TV ads?
Well, at least people somewhere watched what happened on Tuesday and got it. Too bad that somewhere, somehow, never manages to be inside the Beltway.