The Other Day Howard Dean Was Telling Me...

Got your attention, did I? Maybe I should have been a headline writer!

Actually, I'm not lying. I was part of a nationwide conference call associated with Dean For America--whoops...that's Democracy For America. Dean For America was its incarnation before Dean was sabotaged by the press and withdrew from his presidential aspirations. Don't get me started on that whole Dean scream thing, or you'll never hear the end of it.

So about 18 of us are huddled around a space heater in the inner city...there I go lying again! That's what image might be conjured by those who aren't Democrats. They probably figure we lefties as being urban and smack dab full of minorities. In fact, I don't remember anyone there who wasn't white. And the there I'm referring to was an upper middle class home in a prosperous hill country suburb. I'd say the median age was close to 50 and there were far more gray hairs and few hairs than brown-haired folks.

The conference call was Dean's way of fanning the flames of grass roots efforts throughout the country. There was laughter and applause and the real sense that these kinds of things will make a difference. I can only hope so.

Dean's 50-state plan (which in a nutshell means that the Democratic party will fund and push to win offices in red states just like they do in blue states) excites us here in Texas, one of the redder states out there. Our state of mind is bruised and battered, being Bush country. More and more people are speaking out against the prodigal prez, but this place is still solidly behind him. It takes a special breed of us to stand tall speak out when the opportunity arises.

A woman named (if memory serves) Jamie said she always wears lefty-styled buttons wherever she goes. She gets lots of stares, a few snide comments, but also a lot of people who come over and strike it up with her in a very positive way. "They're happy to see other liberals" she says.
Well, we're going to have to encourage a lot more liberals out of the woodwork and into the voting booth if we want to become a real force here in South Texas. We can do it. It just takes the grassroots efforts that the good doctor Dean has begun.

Get involved folks...that's the only way to turn this oh-so-slow-to-turn aircraft carrier around.