A little background: I created and ran two popular and successful "grassroots" web sites for General Clark (Hispanics for Clark and Environmentalists for Clark) during the "Draft" campaign and also throughout the primaries. So, when Kerry clinched the Democratic nomination last February, I thought he might possibly be interested in my help, and possibly the help of others with whom I had worked. Another Clark suporter friend of mine, one who is very well connected in the Democratic Party, apparently felt the same way. In short order, she put me in touch with Kerry's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), a guy named Sanford Dickett. Mr. Dickett replied right away, thanked me for contacting the Kerry campaign and for offering to help. Fine so far. But...Dickett also said he would put me in touch with Luis Miranda, the K/E Director of Internet Operations. Within an hour, I received the following form letter back from Luis Miranda:
Thanks for your interest in John Kerry's candidacy.
John Kerry has an unparalleled record on environmental issues, and recently received the endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters.
In the latino community, we have an english-language portal: Latinos for Kerry http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/latinos/
As well as a thorough mirror site completely "En Español"
http://www.johnkerry.com/esp/
I invite you to register with us and join the fight to change America by using the links below:
Enviros for Kerry : http://envirosforkerry.com
John Kerry en Español: http://www.johnkerry.com/esp/voluntario/
If you would like to e-mail your friends and fellow activists and invite them to join, and would like any other information, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
-Luis Miranda
In other words, a clear "thanks but no thanks, we've got the situation well under control and don't need your help!" After that, I probably should have pressed the issue further, but frankly I was so turned off by Miranda's e-mail that I never followed up. What I heard in this communication from Kerry's Director of Internet Operations was an arrogant top-down attitude that obviously had no appreciation for what the "grassroots" (or "netroots," if you prefer that term) could do. At the minimum, one would think that my e-mail could have led to some sort of discussion about the Clark campaign's efforts vis-a-vis Hispanics and Environmentalists, of which I was well aware. But noooo...
I'm not saying that my efforts -- or the efforts of many others I worked with on Environmetalists for Clark and Hispanics for Clark -- would have made any difference in the final outcome of the Kerry-Bush race, but you never know! And, not to say "I told you so or anything," but I DO find it fascinating that Bush showed a huge improvement with Hispanics this election, garnering 44% of the Hispanic vote. Hmmmmmm.........
In the end, I did volunteer dozens of hours for Kerry/Edwards, but only doing canvassing and literature handouts, nothing that fully utilized my contacts and skills. Now, after reading Susan's post on this subject, I realized that I was far from alone in this. Sadly, the arrogant top-down attitude displayed by Luis Miranda appears to have been replicated over and over again during the Kerry campaign. Now, we'll never know what the talents of all these ex-Clarksters and ex-Deanies could have accomplished for Kerry if properly appreciated and utilized...very sad.
One last point: in the last weekend of campaigning before the election, I was sent out to canvass in an area with a large Hispanic population. When I asked my Democratic headquarters for Spanish language literature, they looked confused and finally said "sorry, we dont have any." Ahhhh... In the end, I went on the internet and found my own pro-Kerry Spanish language material, made a bunch of copies, and was all set for the day, but what does THIS incident tell you? Perhaps the Kerry campaign could have used the help of "Hispanics for Clark" (and for Dean) after all?