I sent the following message as an e-mail to my local Dean group. If you agree, send it out to yours too, or something similar. We have little time to turn this thing around, and we know we can easily get the guy $5M in a few days if we're inclined to.
Oh, and incidentally, for those of you (Dean fans or not) who forget how dark some times can be in a winning campaign, check out the following article written about Clinton in June 1992:
Can Clinton Save His Candidacy?:
http://www.worldandi.com/public/1992/june/cr6.cfm
And here's my note...
Friends,
Hard times have a way of making people second-guess themselves. They doubt their own judgment. They wonder if they were wrong all along. Let's have more faith in ourselves than that! One thing that amazes me is that Howard Dean was able to wake up on the morning after Iowa and get right back to work for us. This guy is a fighter.
The Dean campaign is restructuring in light of an overwhelming assault strategy against him. The campaign asks to give them two weeks to put this ship on course. And you know what? I plan to give them that two weeks, maybe more. And make one more real contribution to his campaign.
This time, he really does need money. Let's give him that surge he got at the end of each quarter. This is the time. It's now or never.
* I ASK YOU TO INVEST ONE MORE TIME IN SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE IN. I predict there will be more upsets yet in this campaign. And if we give him the chance, we'll remember why we chose this guy in the first place. *
Let me make a few points:
- Politics is unpredictable and upsets are very common. It's easy to lose yourself in the moment. But, fact is, Dean still has more delegates than anyone! Go and check if you don't believe me. Whatever you do, NEVER believe the momentary conventional wisdom. Dean was a sure thing 3 weeks ago. Bush was unbeatable a year ago. Now they're saying there's no way Dean can come back? This is the same media that's pandered Bush for 4 years, let's not start trusting them now. REMEMBER: CLINTON LOST HIS FIRST 9 STATES! He came in 4th in Iowa and 2nd in New Hampshire!
- If you haven't followed events very closely, you may not know that something astonishing happened about 4 weeks ago. All of the candidates started sounding like Howard Dean. Sometimes almost word-for-word. Don't fall for it, there is no "generic brand" when it comes to politics. We have the real thing.
- There is considerable evidence that Dean faced a surprise assault a few days before Iowa and into New Hampshire (the media is just starting to cover this). It's unclear how many voters were targeted. Some voters report receiving irritating phone calls in the middle of the night claiming to be from the Dean campaign. Many others were also "push-polled" - called by a fake agency that made things up, like, "Does Dean's history of spousal abuse affect your opinion of him as a candidate?" Again, it's unclear the extent of all this, and who orchestrated it, but something strange caused his poll numbers to sink almost overnight.
- The campaign seems to be almost broke. Some people are upset about this, but remember the strategy was to set up a national campaign, win Iowa and New Hampshire, and then rebuild the funds on momentum. Setting up as frontrunner, when you're starting as an outsider, is expensive. He has 500 people on staff and offices across the country. But Iowa and New Hampshire didn't happen as planned, of course; you know what the say about the best-laid plans. There are such hard times in almost every winning campaign - people just don't remember them.
- Many of you have heard about the "upheaval" in the Dean campaign. Well, Dean did decide it was time for someone with more experience actually winning primaries. Joe Trippi declined to take another official position in the campaign, but if any of you heard him on MSNBC tonight, the guy's heart is in the campaign. He said he's now a grassroots supporter of the campaign, and that Dean may be the last person who can save this country from the growing power of special interests. His voice cracked as he described how much he believes in Howard Dean, and how important it is that Dean win the nomination. He said that he holds no hard feelings and was as committed as ever, and with the emotion that came out in his voice, it's hard not to believe him.
So make another stand. The results may just astonish you.
And, if they don't - if it turns out that there is no light at the end of this tunnel - I hope you will join me in shutting out the frustration of a nasty primary season, and backing our nominee. There's a reason they say tough primary seasons hurt the nominee. Let's not make that a reality. But for now, let's work to make Dean our nominee.
Please forward this message if you agree.