On Saturday, I attended the “Sleepless Summer” event in Falls Church, a rally for Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, and Presidential candidate. While it wasn’t quite as cool as the Ralph Nader super rallies in 2000, it was a nice little grass-rootsy kind of event. They estimated about 4000 people showed up.
Very enthusiastic crowd, demonstrating what a recent poll showed: 49% of Americans do not want Bush to serve a second term (as opposed to 44% who do). It was also nice to hear him not just giving the stump speech junk (though he did throw out “$3 trillion in tax cuts for Ken Lay and the boys” several times). He did mention the Texas redistricting battle a bit. Also mentioned the Iraq war rationale (“Liar!” rang out from the crowd as he ticked off each false reason). And he mentioned that even if you got a nice tax cut check, you’re paying for it in other ways: higher property taxes, college tuition, etc.
Other speakers included:
Very shrewd choices, given that Dean has been criticized somewhat for failing to bring minority voters into the fold. His campaign has largely picked up steam thanks to the internet, which mainly means young white males. He has obviously picked up on this and talked about thanking women, African-Americans and Hispanics for being so faithful to the Democrats over the years. It’s clear he wants to reach out to them, whether he is successful is another story.
Almost forgot to mention, at one point, I was standing right next to Joe Trippi, Dean’s campaign manager, on one side of me (talking to a USA Today reporter who almost interviewed me) and Kate Hanley, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (also running for US Representative) on the other side. As far as I know, they never actually spoke to each other.
I got free bumper stickers and a sign out of it. I think I might just put it on my bumper this year, which is something I almost never do.
August 27, 2003 at 1:08 pm |
Howard Dean is coming to San Antonio this week, which as you mentioned, is another shrewd move for his campaign. In addition to having a high Hispanic population, it is the “home” of several of the Texan senators who are currently residing in New Mexico (which is really an interesting story) and home to two Airforce bases and an Army base. Needless to say, there are still Bushies in the area, but many military supporters are getting upset about the continuing military action in Iraq.
September 2, 2003 at 11:51 am |
I was just reading an article on CNN and then looked through the current list of Dem. candidates. After reading about each, Dean was one of the two that I was interested in. I have never voted before and have made it a point to get informed and do so this next election.