Dean Democrats: Taking Our Country Back

Released: Nov 15, 2004 4:30 PM

Democracy for America (DFA) and Gov. Howard Dean have reason to believe that Democrats will return to national prominence very soon. Many DFA endorsed ("Dean Dozen") and supported candidates won elections at all levels of government, throughout the country:

• One of the two new Democratic United States senators was a "Dean Dozen" candidate - Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Obama and the other new Democratic senator, Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), received contributions from DFA.

• One "Dean Dozen" candidate won her race for Congress, Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and DFA contributed to five of the fourteen incoming freshman Democratic Members of Congress.

Some of the notable non-federal success stories include:

• Two new Democratic governors are "Dean Dozen" candidates: John Lynch (D-NH) and Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.)

• Two "Dean Dozen" candidates won their mayoral race: Peter Corroon was elected as mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah and Tom Potter was elected as mayor of Portland, Ore.

• 15 of the Dean Dozen candidates that won never ran for office before.

• Democracy for America contributed more than $600,000 to 634 candidates for non-federal office. 319 of those candidates won -- a 50% win-loss record.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates were elected to state legislatures in 16 states. Candidates for legislature who received Democracy for America contributions, but were not part of the "Dean Dozen," were elected in an additional 12 states.

• Democracy for America played a large role in regaining several legislative chambers for the Democrats, including: the Colorado House and Senate, the North Carolina House, the Oregon Senate, the Vermont House and the Washington Senate. DFA also helped secure a tie in the Iowa Senate.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates were elected to the bench in Alabama and Georgia.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates also won races for soil & water commission, supervisor of elections, township clerk, county commission and constable.

"The Dean Dozen candidates and the hundreds of other candidates that Democracy for America supported are the future of the Democratic Party," said Dean. "Win or lose, these fiscally responsible, socially progressive citizens fought to take our country back and helped spread the message that to change America, Democrats must compete everywhere."

Dean attended press conferences, fundraisers and campaign rallies, which helped established name recognition and raised campaign funds for 50 candidates in 26 states. Many of DFA's enthusiastic supporters volunteered and financially supported these candidates as well.

DFA raised over $5 million since its inception in March 2004 and donated money to 748 candidates throughout the country - in 46 states and at every level of government.

DFA will continue to endorse and support candidates and train campaign workers and volunteers in 2005 and beyond.

Democracy for America Success Stories

Released: Nov 12, 2004 3:45 PM

BURLINGTON, VT—Democracy for America (DFA) and Gov. Howard Dean have reason to believe that Democrats will return to national prominence very soon. Many DFA endorsed ("Dean Dozen") and supported candidates won elections at all levels of government, throughout the country:

• One of the two new Democratic United States senators was a "Dean Dozen" candidate—Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Obama and the other new Democratic senator, Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), received contributions from DFA.

• One "Dean Dozen" candidate won her race for Congress, Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and DFA contributed to five of the fourteen incoming freshman Democratic Members of Congress.
  

Some of the notable non-federal success stories include:

• Both of the new Democratic governors are "Dean Dozen" candidates: John Lynch (D-NH) and Brian Schweitzer (D-Mont.)

• Two "Dean Dozen" candidates won their mayoral race: Peter Corroon was elected as mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah and Tom Potter was elected as mayor of Portland, Ore.

• Democracy for America contributed more than $600,000 to 634 candidates for non-federal office. 319 of those candidates won—a 50% win-loss record.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates were elected to state legislatures in 16 states. Candidates for legislature who received Democracy for America contributions, but were not part of the "Dean Dozen," were elected in an additional 12 states.

• Democracy for America played a large role in regaining several legislative chambers for the Democrats, including: the Colorado House and Senate, the North Carolina House, the Oregon Senate, the Vermont House and the Washington Senate. DFA also helped secure a tie in the Iowa Senate.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates were elected to the bench in Alabama and Georgia.

• "Dean Dozen" candidates also won races for soil & water commission, supervisor of elections, township clerk, county commission and constable.
  

"The Dean Dozen candidates and the hundreds of other candidates that Democracy for America supported are the future of the Democratic Party," said Dean. "Win or lose, these fiscally responsible, socially progressive citizens fought to take our country back and helped spread the message that to change America, Democrats must compete everywhere, including the red states."

Dean attended press conferences, fundraisers and campaign rallies, which helped established name recognition and raised campaign funds for 50 candidates in 26 states. Many of DFA’s enthusiastic supporters volunteered and financially supported these candidates as well.

DFA raised over $5 million since its inception in March 2004 and donated money to 748 candidates throughout the country—in 46 states and at every level of government.

DFA will continue to endorse and support candidates and train campaign workers and volunteers in 2005 and beyond.

# # #

November 3rd Call with Governor Dean

Released: Nov 4, 2004 10:17 PM

Wednesday, November 4

On Wednesday, November 3, Governor Dean held two conference calls with Meetups around the country. The following is an edited transcript of the 8:00 pm call.

Howard Dean: Thank you everyone for getting on the call. Today there was some bad news from the national point of view and we would like to thank the Kerry/Edwards campaign for fighting in this tough race. This wasn't about what we did wrong, but what they did very well. But we've had some good news at the grassroots level, like in Colorado where Suzanne Williams won a state Senate seat.

John Lynch and Brian Schweitzer both became governors in New Hampshire and Montana respectively. Lori Saldana won her seat in San Diego. And Peter Buckley and Tom Potter both won in Oregon.

These are real victories that happened because of the work that we did. We will start from where we began and keep fighting. We can lick our wounds until Friday.

Democracy for America groups around the country did their jobs this election. Even the candidates who lost had great races, like Samara Barend in New York and Richard Morrison coming within 10 points of Tom DeLay. We'll grieve, lick our wounds then come back fighting for what we believe in.

Thank you all, it's been a long, tough two years. We are all fighting for a better country and we need to take a look at why we didn't do better. We got out the vote and had excellent turnout. They just did better. But we never want to stoop to their level.

While this was a tough night for the Democratic Party at the national level, signs are good at the local level. We need your help to keep up this momentum—we don't want to lose it again. Invite your friends and family to join Democracy for America. In the next few months, we'll be building a new foundation. I want to again, thank you very much. I am mad, but not discouraged. One day, sooner rather than later, we'll take our country back.

QUESTION & ANSWER

Rochester, NY Meetup: Samara Barend's workers thank you, Governor Dean, for your efforts. She won Monroe County by 11 points. Given the negative publicity of Diebold and the discrepancy between exit polls and real totals, what was the hurry in conceding the race?
HD: Actually, Ohio only uses Diebold machines in 4 counties. We were successful in our efforts to stop them from becoming more widespread, so they didn't use them. They are used in Florida, but not Ohio.

Democracy for NYC: We have 75 people here tonight! How do we take control of the DNC?
HD: The DNC is at a crossroads. They have questions to ask themselves.

Democracy for New Hampshire: Hello, Governor Dean. We were successful in 6 out of the 13 races that we endorsed. Going forward, do you want us to work from within the party or remain on the outside during the next 6-12 months?
HD: This depends on your local situation. In your case, in New Hampshire, you have a good relationship with the local party. Other states may not. The local DFA group can be useful as an adjunct to the local party, yet still independent.

Democracy for Texas (Austin): In Austin, we have registered almost 80,000 new voters, increased the democratic margin by 12 percentage points over 2000, picked up one house seat, one constable seat and one judgeship. If we can mobilize the grassroots, then DFA groups can do this all over the country. But as long as we write off races in the red states, we'll never change their outcome. How can we get nominees to take winning red states seriously?
HD: We need to make sure—you saw me do this in my campaign—that the next presidential campaign goes to all of the sates, not just those where we think we can win electoral votes. This is particularly true for races like city council. Our turnout could be enough to win a few races.

Democracy for Iowa: We're here to continue to help, we appreciate what DFA has done for candidates in Iowa. Our idea is to have an anti-inauguration event on Thursday, January 20th—a large activist event and we hope others consider doing this.
HD: Thank you.

Portland, Maine Meetup: We have over 30 enthusiastic folks here tonight. We did great work yesterday, and retained our majority in the House and Senate, won tough races and kept all 4 electoral votes. We went from battleground to true blue, Bush worked hard to earn that vote and we didn't let him have it. It is our goal to keep DFA networks alive and help our folks find their niche.
HD: Maine is a special place, you continue to keep that network together! People are exhausted, but we'll be emailing just to keep talking. We're going into a critical time when people are tempted to drop off, but we need to be thinking of two years from now and four years from now.

Portland, Maine Meetup: What do you plan for yourself, going forward?
HD: Democracy for America! This organization has great grassroots all over the country that are dynamic, loyal and quick to act.

Portland, Maine Meetup: Can we organize around blocking Supreme Court nominations with our national network?
HD: It's good to act in conjunction with other groups, but we can't just decide to block a nomination without knowing much about the person. We hope to use the DFA network as a resource for a lot of action.

New Hampshire Meetup: Tell us about your anticipated travel schedule over the next 3 months. Are you still traveling?
HD: I don't have my schedule in front of me, but I know there are upcoming visits to California, New York, Dartmouth, Detroit and Austin. During the holiday months I won't be traveling as much as before, but everywhere I go, meeting with DFA folks is a priority.

Democracy for NYC: Some say we lost this election on values. How we can change that?
HD: Out party does have values, but we don't generally talk about them. Values like standing up for people who need help. Republicans always bring up gay rights and abortion, but they never bring up doing for things for people outside the mainstream, the poor and disenfranchised.

HD: Thank you all very much, I really appreciate it. This has been a tough two years. Get a little rest and go out and keep trying!

What You Won't Hear on TV Today

Released: Nov 3, 2004 10:13 PM

Wednesday, November 3

Governor Howard Dean sent this message to Democracy for America supporters on November 3, 2004.

Montana, one of the reddest states, has a new Democratic governor.

First-time candidates for state legislatures from Hawaii to Connecticut beat incumbent Republicans.

And a record number of us voted to change course—more Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history.

Today is not an ending.

Regardless of the outcome yesterday, we have begun to revive our democracy. While we did not get the result we wanted in the presidential race, we laid the groundwork for a new generation of Democratic leaders.

Democracy for America trained thousands of organizers and brought new leadership into the political process. And down the ballot, in state after state, we elected Dean Dozen candidates who will be the rising stars of the Democratic Party in years ahead.

Tens of millions of us are disappointed today because we put so much of ourselves into this election. We donated money, we talked to friends, we knocked on doors. We invested ourselves in the political process.

That process does not end today. These are not short-term investments. We will only create lasting change if that sense of obligation and responsibility becomes a permanent part of our lives.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

We will not be silent.

Thank you for everything you did for our cause in this election. But we are not stopping here.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.