The Grass Roots Candidate of 2004

April 3, 2003 3:09 PM

Howard Dean:You know he's the blogging Presidential candidate but did you know that he's also the Meetup candidate? Over ten thousand people met yesterday in coffee houses across the country to discuss this candidate's election possibility. Are we witnessing the first true Internet candidate here? Grass roots/netroots, something interesting is happening with this candidate. He's tied with Kerry in New Hampshire.
posted by cjoh (16 comments total)

DeanFilter
posted by matteo at 3:21 PM on April 3, 2003

Gary Hart's Blog

Hart's Meetup Page
posted by goethean at 3:27 PM on April 3, 2003

must... derail... before... train... reaches... city...
Pat Paulsen for President

yeah, he's dead, so what?
posted by wendell at 3:32 PM on April 3, 2003

I have yet to see what is so great about Dean, though his use of the technology is promising.

Kucinich is a better candidate, especially for those who are opposed to the war in Iraq, but Dean might do in a pinch.
posted by insomnia_lj at 5:04 PM on April 3, 2003

Kucinich is staunchly anti-war, but his "pro-life" record makes him a very unlikely candidate. Shame that such narrow interest groups (i.e. women: for God's sake they're only 50% of the electorate) can dictate the nature of the Democrat race.

Actually what I meant to say is that Kucinich is a great candidate, apart from the fact that he's an misogynist religious nut.

Can we not elect a true, liberal, modern atheist please? This God stuff has had it's day. Time to move on.

Dean sounds OK on his website, but... A liberal northerner who actually has real qualifications for the job? Not bloody likely, unless the US wakes up and starts examining it's deep dark navel.
posted by cbrody at 6:21 PM on April 3, 2003

its
posted by cbrody at 6:23 PM on April 3, 2003

doesn't dean think people should go to jail for smoking flowers? while every store in town sells ciggies and swill?
posted by aiq at 6:44 PM on April 3, 2003

btw I went to a Dean meetup last night to try and find out more about him, but noone else showed up.

:-(
posted by cbrody at 6:51 PM on April 3, 2003

My local NPR-ish station caries the radio show of High Country News and tonight they caried an a interview with former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber . Kitzhaber had some really interesting words about the polarization of politics, especially toward the end, where he discussed the disconnect between citizens and public officials. He attributed it to an erosion of community, and public places to meet and discuss. I wonder what he'd think about the possibility of netroots meetings... and I wonder how much potential the web could have in the hands of people who really care about that.
posted by weston at 7:36 PM on April 3, 2003

Kerry just won some points with me:

''One of the reasons why I am running for president of the United States is that I look forward with pleasure and zeal for the opportunity to appoint an attorney general of the United States who believes and reads and abides by the Constitution.''
posted by homunculus at 7:37 PM on April 3, 2003

cbrody, for the record, Kucinich is now pro-choice. I'll admit the timing seems cynical. But at least he now has that position.

That said, I'm still vacilating between Kucinich and dean. I like the veganism, of course (and the Department of Peace bill) but think he would probably get knocked out early by more ruthless candidates. Dean I think might have more foundation to fight the right and more ferocity, but only if he gets popular momentum early. It's a quandary.
posted by soyjoy at 7:45 PM on April 3, 2003

I was at the meetup in Irvine. There were about 50-60 people there.
posted by jgilliam at 8:23 PM on April 3, 2003

I have the sneaking suspicion that as November of 2004 creeps closer that MetaFiler is going to be transformed in to DeanFilter...

God help us.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 9:53 PM on April 3, 2003

It's not surprising that Dean and Kerry are leading here in NH, they're from neighboring states after all. It's easy for them to campaign here anytime they want. I don't think technology or blogs have a lot do with their popularity at this point, but it could help them nationally.
posted by MediaMan at 8:25 AM on April 4, 2003

I have the sneaking suspicion that as November of 2004 creeps closer that MetaFiler is going to be transformed in to DeanFilter...

Deaner! Deaner! Deaner!
posted by Dirjy at 10:57 AM on April 4, 2003

This is all assuming the current Administration doesn't find a way to cancel the 2004 election.
posted by sixdifferentways at 12:36 PM on April 4, 2003