I went to the Howard Dean Meetup last night at Halcyon.
There were dozens of people in attendance; the crowd seemed energetic and enthusiastic. The event was well-organized, and the organizers seemed experienced at the campaign process.
One organizer gave an informative talk about the process of campaigning — signing petitions to get Dean on the ballot, having fund-raising house parties, competing in the precinct caucuses.
The second organizer gave a very short but inspirational talk about taking our country back.
To the best of my understanding — Dean has no chance of winning Texas, but some chance of winning the Democratic primary. So this is a useful endeavor.
I’ve never been involved in elections before except to vote. But with things like this happening, I feel the need to show up and do something.
I like Dean’s socially liberal and fiscally conservative policy and record. I like the way he uses the words civil liberties liberally in his discussion of homeland security. I really like the way that his campaign is making use of the the internet as a tool for grass-roots organizing, with Meet-Up and weblogs.
And I’m very impressed by paragraphs like this on his website.
The current Administration has defined the concept of national security too narrowly. For example, our failure to develop alternative sources of energy and fuel creates an over-dependence on petroleum imported from the Middle East. As a result, we send billions of dollars every year to countries that are financing radical educational systems that teach young people to hate Christians, Jews and Americans. We learned on September 11 that these schools are prime recruiting grounds for terrorists.
America needs an energy policy that stresses conservation and renewable fuels, including ethanol, solar, wind and biomass. Alternative energy sources are practical, economically viable and good for our environment; they are smart national security policy, as well.
Dean just pulled even with Kerry in New Hampshire.
Here’s the Dean for Texas website and the Texans for Dean mailing list.