I Just Met Howard Dean & He Really Knows How To Party

Howard Dean was in Pittsburgh today stumping for a terrific Dem challenger to Delay sockpuppet Melissa Hart for the PA-04 seat by the name of  Jason Altmire   .  I will talk more about Mr. Altmire below the fold but what I want to headline is how it felt to be part of a real party.   Howard Dean has taken a lot of flack for taking the battle to the enemies turf but what they don't get at the DLC and the DCCC and the DSCC is that there are no "Red" Districts.  We have democrats everywhere and we can win everywhere.  The most important tool in our arsenal and what we have so completely gotten away from the past thirty years is putting the "party" back in the Democratic Party.

To preface, I am south of Messy Hart's district but she is so trully loathsome that I have had an interest in the race since late last year and thus I became aware of Jason Altmire.  A political natural with looks and demeanor right out of central casting he has worked campaigns for other candidates for years.   A year ago he realized the importance of this election and quit a plum position with the University Of Pgh Medical Center (a monolith in east coast medicine) to become a full time candidate for the U.S. House Of Representatives.  While he is to my right on certain issues he is dead on in his dedication to bringing the accountability and fairness back to Washington.   Most importantly we need to win seats to get a Democratic house with Democratic committees so I'm backing him as much as I can.  When I recieved an invitation to attend a Howard Dean reception benefiting Altmire it was perfect.  

Let me just say that this Democratic Party was a blast.   For my wife it was like having backstage passes to a Springsteen concert.   To me it was liberating finally being able to talk politics at a gathering of intelligent compassionate people.  I was the able to say out loud that "Rick Santorum is a Fascist" and receive universal agreement.   We immediately were fast friends with nearly a hundred people who we will probably never meet again.   We shared the common bond of a resistance movement fused with good food and liquor.

(Future) Congressman Altmire mingled with everyone then warmed up the crowd with a sincere stump speach while everyone checked out the DNC Chair walking into the fiesta.     Then Dean started speaking and the audience ate it up.   The man connects with people and you get it that he really wants to connect.   As he spoke with glee about personally canvassing a deeply red part of the PA-04 earlier in the day it was clear that he got the biggest kick out of talking to die hard republicans.  He didn't delude himself that he converted any of the Republican choir but he knew that they would talk and talk and talk and in doing so, defuse the Democratic boogeyman in the minds of their respective republican circles of influence.   This is a man who knows the real magic of grass roots that the modern Democratic party has too often forgotten.

I will be hosting a meet and greet of my own for Matt Smith,  who is running for State Rep in my currently red district.     Ten hours ago I was intimidated and wary of putting together a place for democrats to meet and greet a candidate but now I can't wait to provide my community with a chance to meet and greet their own Democratic neighbors.  It's time to put the party back into the Democratic Party.  It's not about raising funds, it's about getting a couple dozen people inspired to spending the next 100 days convincing everyone who loves and respects them to get out to vote in November.  It doesn't take a lot of votes to win an midterm congressional district and local and state elections are even more dependent on dozens of votes, rather than thousands.

Find a local candidate, even if you have to go out of district and get involved.   Meet the candidate and meet their people.   Introduce them to your friends, kin and neighbors.  Put out a sign and roast some hotdogs and get some swing votes drunk.  If you can help win a democratic senate or congress or state assembly or city counsel or school board you will be making a huge difference.  Most important you will be re-establishing the Democratic Party at the roots.  

Remember:

You've got to fight...for your right...to Democratically Party!!!

Oh, and if you can't help anyone where you are go to  Jason Altmire's site   , learn more about him and give him some money because this is a district that can and will go blue this fall.

•  There are pics up at the DNC blog. Recommending.

  Thanks for such a nice and encouraging diary tonight.  We had a great Dem Reunion, far more than we expected.  I so admire how Governor Dean is working his butt off for this strategy of reaching out.

  We had people come today that have not been to party events in years.  

  Here is the link to the DNC post by Josh who was traveling with Dean. He is canvassing with Altmire.

  http://www.democrats.org/...

  I bet after another rough week of being blasted, Governor Dean might read this and say wow, someone said something nice.

  Good luck in your district.

  by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:41:17 PM PDT

  •  Great Pics...

    ...Dean was glowing when he talked about people coming to the door and seeing him in the flesh!  And take it from me this is a republic hotbed and for the most part they didn't have lists of dem partisans to call on.  This is one of those years when a lot of people are looking for a message and sometimes we need to just be there with one.  As Dean said, most of life's success comes down to just showing up.

    by neoeconomist on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:51:34 PM PDT

•  That's why I love Stephanie Miller, Al Franken..

  ...Paul Hackett, and other upbeat Democrats.

  No matter what they do to us, as long as we can keep laughing at the bastards, we are free.

  by daulton on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:42:09 PM PDT

•  Another re-establishment point.

  Having fun is good.

  Also, let's lay claim to the "conservative" label--or rather the "true conservative" label.

  Give your friends this litmus test:

  Q: $8.8 billion goes missing in Baghdad. Do you:

  A: Demand Congress investigate, to catch the theiving bastards who took it, and to prevent more taxpayers' money from going down that rat hole.

  B: Tell everyone to be very, very quiet, so as not to embarras the President, who probably doesn't even know.

  If you said "A" you are a traditional hold-onto-the-purse-strings conservative, and you are also a Democrat.

  If you said "B" you are a Republican, and you are NO conservative. What are you? I guess you are what John Dean calls an authoritarian--someone with daddy issues who needs a strong leader to be blindly loyal to.

  by daulton on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:48:27 PM PDT

  •  Real conservatives are embarrased...

    ...that's why this is such an important year to get in peoples faces because even conservatives are desperate for honesty and integrity and responsiblity for a change.   You are right: conservatives can vote democrat if they understand that the two aren't exclusive.

    by neoeconomist on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:57:33 PM PDT

    •  Parties flip all the time

      The Democratic party used to be the Jim Crow party--until William McKinley came along and wanted in  on that action.

      by daulton on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:00:55 PM PDT

      •  Republican Party redifines itself...

        ...every sixty years or so.  Heck they were the party of Lincoln when Democrats were proud to call themselves "know-nothings".   After sixty years of White House ownership they had morphed into the party of Northeast merchantile elitists.  Finally they found the only antidote to FDR and liberalism was to embrace southern bigotry and evangelistic hypocrisy.  for the past thirty years they have deluded themselves that their alliance to this lunatic fringe is a necessary nuisance but now that the nutjobs have taken over the assylum there party is on the verge of a civil war.  

        by neoeconomist on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:12:04 PM PDT

        •  now, they are becoming the party of

          war mongering chickenhawks, liars, cheaters, and fraudsters, as well.

          I'd love to do a matrix which categories each one of these asshats fit into each one of the categories.

          by shpilk on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:44:27 PM PDT

•  politics

  should be fun!~

  by BiminiCat on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 09:54:35 PM PDT

  •  Why? n/t

    by Free Spirit on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:54:14 PM PDT

    •  cause i said so

      that's why.

      by BiminiCat on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:56:51 PM PDT

•  I hope this gets more recommends.

  because it is cheerful and upbeat and will help Howard Dean feel less bruised this week.

  And besides our group is hearing more now about what a success our reunion was.  

  

  by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:04:43 PM PDT

  •  agreement

    i'm uncomfortable with it.

    by BiminiCat on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:10:51 PM PDT

    •  When I figure out what you mean,

      I'll figure how to respond.

      I have noticed that very little attention is paid at ANY of the left or Democratic blogs to the strategy of building the party all over.

      I don't know if it is because people like the old ways best, or because they are not really seeing the overall restructuring picture.

      I will think about your statement, scratch my head, and decide what to say.

      by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:14:55 PM PDT

      •  i agreed with you for once

        awkwardly.

        i thought it was worth noting.

        but i didn't want to ruin your day.

        by BiminiCat on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:16:03 PM PDT

        •  Heh heh.

          Thanks.

          by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:18:46 PM PDT

•  Nice pic and article from Pitt Post Gazette

  
  Jason Altmire, Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford Woods, talks with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean along Gleneagle Road in Murrysville yesterday. Mr. Dean, in the area to assist in Mr. Altmire's campaign, spoke to a group of volunteers who were going to canvass the area in support of Mr. Altmire's candidacy.

  Dean stumps for Altmire in 4th district

  The Democratic Party is so sure that three-term incumbent Congresswoman Melissa Hart can be unseated that national chairman Howard Dean campaigned for challenger Jason Altmire yesterday in Murrysville.

  "Jason is a fine guy," the former presidential candidate and Vermont governor said while stumping for Mr. Altmire on Gleneagle Drive. "But unless he can win this seat, I don't do this kind of thing."

  The Hart campaign responded that Mr. Dean is an extreme, left-wing liberal, and that campaigning with him shows that Mr. Altmire is out of touch with the district's values.

  The Democratic National Committee organized door-to-door canvassing yesterday, 100 days before the Nov. 7 election, in congressional districts throughout the United States.

  by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:29:33 PM PDT

•  He's running against...

  ...Sabrina the Teenage Witch?

  by DC Pol Sci on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:44:21 PM PDT

•  That's so funny because...

  ...Altmire is quite a conservative democrat.

  The Hart campaign responded that Mr. Dean is an extreme, left-wing liberal, and that campaigning with him shows that Mr. Altmire is out of touch with the district's values.

  In fact most "Deaniacs" would find Altmire unacceptable because of his positions on abortion and gun control but Dr Dean himself realizes that if we are really a big tent party, we need to let everyone in the tent.   Lincoln Chaffee isn't an evil neocon, but he is one more caucus vote that adds up to Republican committee chairmen and control of the legistlative docket.   If all Melissa Hart's people can come up with is "tax & spend liberal" she is in worse shape than I imagined.

  by neoeconomist on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:48:35 PM PDT

  •  Deaniacs are quite sensible people, actually.

    We knew Dean governed VT as a centrist, we read books, we read up on policy stuff.  Sort of bright, a lot of us are.

    Dean does not believe in gun control actually.  

    It always amuses me how the media and centrist Dems have painted this picture of us as some kind of hot-headed liberal.  We are overall intelligent, mostly fairly moderate, and extremely knowledgeable.

    And sometime we get touchy when people act like we are different species.  The media and the DLC did their job well.

    by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:55:55 PM PDT

•  That's not it

  Don't confuse the party with the candidates who run on its ticket.

  You are not re-establishing the party by working for Democratic candidates or by getting them elected. You are re-establishing the party when you attend party meetings and take part the discussions and the decisionmaking, when you serve as a party officer or on a party committee.

  by Free Spirit on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 10:53:00 PM PDT

  •  I did not get that impression from the OP

    It sounded enthusiastic, as though the poster is very involved.  

    We are reestablishing the party in our Republican area just by showing up.  Seriously, not kidding.  It is like small steps and areas are different.  

    When we run a candidate here, even if they lose, we are helping to build that farm team Dean speaks about a lot.  

    by floridagal on Sat Jul 29, 2006 at 11:00:13 PM PDT

    •  I was responding to this

      If you can help win a democratic senate or congress or state assembly or city counsel or school board you will be making a huge difference.  Most important you will be re-establishing the Democratic Party at the roots.

      But more than that, to what seems to be a widespread perception that the way to rebuild the party is to elect Democratic candidates.  I know lots of Democrats who, when you ask what they've done to support their party, say they usually/always vote Democratic.  This really doesn't do the party itself much good.  Candidates are busy running for office and serving in the offices they are elected to; they are not the ones who keep the party going.

      by Free Spirit on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 12:59:25 AM PDT