Listen Up, Dean organizations in Wisconsin, Washington, Michigan and Maine. This is what you have to know if Dean is to survive the upcoming primaries and caucuses.
At first we were stunned at the Kerry landslide, but we are now getting an on-the-ground picture of how Howard Dean lost the Missouri primary in such a big way.
The fact is that Dean did NOT lose his supporters - his supporters pretty much still feel that he and his message are fundamentally the best for our country and his future.
But based upon exit polls and interviews we have conducted, we found what really killed his turnout in Missouri:
**THE VOTERS WERE CONFUSED**
They simply didn't know the difference between a primary and an election.
Time and time again we heard this story - Dean supporters walked into voting booth intending to vote for Dean, but at the last second they got cold feet.
A combination of Bush Fear and the relentless media talk of "electibility" made them cast a last-second vote for Kerry or Edwards. Even though every voter we talked to still felt that Dean was the best man to be president, they regretfully and sadly cast their vote for someone else.
In most cases, they didn't even know Kerry's or Edward's positions on the issues, and had no idea of their past voting records. There was no mention of Dean's "mistakes," gaffes, the Scream, the Gore endorsement, poor ads, insider/outsider momentum nor any of the other reasons posited by pundits and amateur experts.
What happened was that they fell for the vague concept that, with only two percent of the Democratic primary race held, that it was time to "ELECT" our nominee - based entirely upon the feeling that "THEY were all saying that Kerry was most electible."
When we explained that the primary was not a referendum on what "OTHER" people thought, but was rather a process of figuring out whom "YOU" wanted to be president - when we pointed out that the time to fall in line behind the nominee was "AFTER" the nomination - you could see the look of remorse cross their face. They realized that they had just lost their voice in the election of a president by misunderstanding what the primary was all about.
So, if Dean is to do well in Wisconsin, Washington, Michigan and Maine, the Dean campaign needs to shift gears NOW. At this point, the campaign is not about the issues, it isn't about who will be the best president: It is all about the purpose of primary - to cast your vote for whom you want to be president.
Dean campaigners: You have to reach the Dean supporters and educate them that there will be plenty of time to show unity against George Bush AFTER the convention. Right now is the time to make their voice and their convictions felt.
The time to show opposition to George Bush is in the general election. Now is the time to cast their votes for the man they want to be president.