Meeting Up with Dean

By Juliet McShannon
Staff Writer

Jan. 8 – “Let’s meet up for a drink” took a different twist at the Gaslight Pub Wednesday night, when the Wilshire Boulevard watering hole became the site of a “meetup” for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

The gathering in Santa Monica was one of at least ten meetings across the Los Angeles area Wednesday night organized on the Internet by the 'Dean for America' campaign.

"One hundred and seventy-two thousand people all over the country have signed up for these meetups," said 25-year old Becca Doten, who co-hosted the event.

"The Internet has enabled us to muster grassroots support,” Doten added. “In April last year there were just a small group of people at one of these. Now this venue can't even hold us all."

Many of the approximately 100 supporters who packed the Gaslight had heard about the meetup by receiving a link over the Internet and found the on-line registration process an easy way to get involved in supporting the Dean campaign.

"There are so many young supporters here because we all surf the Internet,” said Josh Irvine. “It's cool to get involved this way."

But the campaign will need more than eyeballs on the Internet during the upcoming primaries, organizers said. It will need feet to pound the pavement when it rolls out its latest strategic initiative -- the "Southwest Victory Express."

"We want to send at least a thousand people to Arizona and New Mexico in late January to show support for Governor Dean," said Rick Jacobs, the campaign’s California state chair.

"Every person counts,” he added. “After all, it only took seven people to overthrow the Czar in Russia."

While the tenure was upbeat, one disgruntled supporter at the meetup voiced concern about Dean’s handling of environmental issues.

"I need to hear Dean speak more about the environment," said Patty Clary, a Dean supporter from Humbolt County who heads Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.

"Like the Republicans in this campaign, Dean talks about global warming, but I've been battling pesticides for years," she said. “What about coal burning on the East Coast? These are the issues that strike close to the American people's hearts."

John Felson, member of the Dean steering committee, fielded questions concerning other projects in the pipeline such as the “CD and junk food collection” that will be sent to the troops in Iraq.

"We shouldn't be having to send anything at all," cried out one supporter, spurring a chant of “bring the boys home” from the crowd.

Organizers also asked supporters to donate old cell phones that will be distributed on Super Bowl Sunday to domestic violence victims as a life-line to report abuse.

By the time Howard Dean addressed the gathering via a live video feed, many in the crowd were so fervently debating the issues some of the candidate’s words were drowned out.

"We need thousands of people on the ground to get our votes back,” Dean said. “This has turned into more than a campaign -- it's now a movement to change America."

After the meeting ended and the Kareoke machine was cranked up, Dotsen stood in the bar, which had emptied as quickly as it had earlier filled up.

"We have been accused by some skeptics of not being organized, of being too grassroots,” she said. “Seventy-two thousand people across America are being pro-active, just by logging onto our Web sites.