From the Mailbag

Dear jordan,

Listen to this one: "Dean had the oranges," said one of the other candidates for DNC Chair recently, "but he couldn't make orange juice."

It might take a second to figure out, but he was talking about you.

As the race for DNC Chair heats up, the attacks on Howard Dean have been relentless, even bizarre. But Governor Dean usually isn't the target of the attacks -- you are. And, unfortunately, those attacks have been more serious than the one about oranges.

They say that you don't really matter. That you have made no difference.

Obviously, Governor Dean has a different view. You and hundreds of thousands of others have built something to last beyond a single election cycle -- you have revived our democracy and breathed new life into the Democratic Party.
                            ...
They say you don't count. That your work to elect Democrats at every level of office, in every region, somehow didn't matter. That the consultants and strategists have fought these last few elections just fine, thank you, and there's no need for change.

They ignore the doors you knocked on and dollars you gave to elect Dean Dozen candidates -- new mayors in Utah and Oregon, judges in Alabama and Georgia, and governors in Washington State, New Hampshire and Montana.

Governor Dean believes that a bottom-up strategy of empowering Democrats in local communities will be the core of a lasting majority.
                            ...
Since my last e-mail to you, Governor Dean has been all over the country, including Georgia, Missouri, California, Michigan and Kentucky, talking to the 447 people from every state and territory who will decide this election. Your support has made that possible.

But the race just gets tougher -- and the stakes get higher. The other candidates have raised huge sums in unlimited donations from corporate interests and wealthy individuals. And they're spending it on negative attacks -- not just on Governor Dean, but all of us who support him.
                             ...
These desperate attacks come from people inside Washington who want to preserve the status quo -- even if it means keeping Democrats in the minority for another decade. They worry that reform from outside Washington will threaten the comfortable place they have made for themselves inside the establishment.

But in politics, the only place that counts is first place. And we need reform because it's time the Democrats took first place back.

Thank you.

Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democracy for America

I cannot demand strongly enough: If you are an officer of the DNC, vote Howard Dean. If it helps, I like to think of him as "a reformer with results."

Your cooperation is appreciated.