Money Still Flowing Into Dean's Campaign

[Larkspur]

and Dean's in the black again. Yeeehaaaaw! :party:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040422/ap_on_el_pr/dean_campaign

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Howard Dean (news - web sites)'s presidential campaign is still making money, even though the former Vermont governor dropped his bid for the White House in February.

The campaign received $626,615 in contributions last month, according to a filing this week with the Federal Election Commission (news - web sites). His campaign had $2 million in the bank and owed $1.2 million at the end of March, and was owed $67,266.
<SNIP>

[Dying Eagle]

1. So what does he do with this money?

Can he run commercials? I say run commercials calling on his supporters to work just as hard for Kerry as they did for him and really slam into Bush a good one to :)

[Larkspur]

2. Dean has asked his supporters to support Kerry but he knows that many of

his supporters won't, like me, so he has asked us to work for other Democrats that we can support.

Dean treats his supporters like human beings, not like sheep.

His excess cash probably will go to his new org, Democracy for America, which will continue the themes from his campaign. Dean's campaign was about changing the Democratic Party and this nation, not just swapping who occupies the White House.

[alexwcovington]

3. He still has to pay off the debt first

Those $600,000 in donations only cover half of it so far...

[Larkspur]

4. Article said, he has $2 mil in the bank and $1.2 mil in debts

That gives him a $800K credit.

[MessiahRp]

13. If that's the case

Dean's Message was BS. All along he said it was to remove Bush from office first and foremost but beyond one rally he hasn't really done a whole lot to help Kerry who is the last man standing that can achieve that goal. It's about time that people get over their primary affiliations and work towards the goals Dean supposedly had which included changing the current regime for the good of the country.

I don't care if Kerry isn't Dean, he's still by far a better choice for America and if we ALL aren't working to get Bush out then the next four years will be the worst hell most of us will have endured in our lifetimes.

That stands head and shoulders above being self righteous in the direction of a party at this very moment.

Rp

[madfloridian]

14. Getting congressional progressives elected is vital!! Shame on you.

Just how effective would Kerry be as president with a totally Republican congress? Just think about what you just said.

Howard Dean's organization will work for Kerry until after the election. Those who chose not to support Kerry will work for congressional candidates.

Adjust your thinking. Some of his biggest supporters are not even Democrats, and he is trying to keep them within the party framework instead of letting them go back to voting independent, etc.

After November, he has stated on TV, he will work to remake the party, and it will not be within the DNC or DLC. It will be within the confines of the party, but another wing. That is after November.

Those of us who donate freely see the whole picture of what his group is trying to accomplish. This is sorely needed, too.

[MessiahRp]

16. Don't get me wrong

Getting progressives into Congress is important, although after the Texas Redistricting fiasco I don't see much progress that can be made in our favor until 2006...

I just see this current Presidential race as way too close to not be heading full force into. Everybody Democrat or otherwise that is as disenfranchised with the Bush regime should be putting every ounce of energy into Kerry because if we lose the major race it will only get worse because when you elect Bush you elect Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld and the rest of the war hawks that want to wage WWIII.

As important a feat as it is to revamp the Congress, it's more important to change Presidents because it will start to change the thinking of the overall populous and thus help Congressional and Senate runs in the long haul.

Eyes on the big prize first and foremost will make the smaller prizes more attainable.

Faux wasn't a symbol of American opinion until the Right Wing Fundies got in. Getting Kerry in would bring America back to the left a lot, and open up the progressive floodgates.

Rp

[madfloridian]

17. Dean is campaigning for Kerry, his supporters gave Kerry a large check

when Dean endorsed Kerry. It was handed over at the endorsement. He is conferencing with former state leaders of his campaign, asking them to get involved in the Kerry campaign.

He agrees with you in every speech he makes. Most of his campaign people are now working with Kerry.

What is it you want him to do? A lot of Dean supporters were never Democrats, and there is not too much he can do about them. You can not force people to vote for someone.

[Norquist Nemesis]

18. Do you honestly believe

the fundies got in through a top-down approach? By concentrating solely on "the big prize" as you put it seems to suggest that. Even if Kerry does win, it's not going to solve all of the problems. It's not going to change the thinking of the overall populus.

The reason why Bush has been able to run roughshod over the Constitution is because he has a majority in both houses. Kerry won't be able to do a damned thing if he doesn't have support; and it has to be a majority of support.

[Hippo_Tron]

20. Progress doesn't have to be winning the majority instantly...

Congressional takeovers can happen over a period of two or more elections.

[mitchum]

15. That comma between "won't" and "like" is actually not necessary

if you know what I mean...

I would tell you that Kerry supporters are not sheep, but what's the point?

[saracat]

21. How nice

to find you don't care about the Supreme Court.If the occupant of the WH is not "swapped" we could end up permanently damaged by the appointment of RW jutices.This election is not one in which we have the luxury of playing ideological games.This is NOT the time to "change the Democratic Party".This is the time to oust the Rat Bastard. We can work on change later after we have inoculated ourselfves against evil.

[madfloridian]

9. Some groups will run ads against Bush.

It is my understanding that the connections between the various groups must be held to strict legal standards, and there is still a lot of consulting of lawyers.

They are apparently being very careful to meet all the legal standards, since DFA is a PAC. Mailings indicate they are figuring out what they can do.

[madfloridian]

5. This is just for the Dean campaign. More has come in this month.

The new Democracy for America group started a snail mail fund drive, and I believe from what I hear they have done well. No details yet, as they had a 10 day and a monthly goal.

What the money is for is to maintain the organization with a miminum of paid staff, begin to expand the website, adding state "groups"....understand the term is important...not associations. Many are set up already.

Much of what will be done is at grassroot candidates' levels. Dean is already campaigning with some of them.

The main goal for now is to get Kerry elected, and they restate that goal in every mailing. The goal after November will be different, and he has made that clear. The goal then is to counteract the far right wing of the party. That has been stated on TV....to remake the party under the auspices of DFA.

Will it work, who knows. Change is hard. It was easy getting where we are now, it will hard to get back.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

6. Who really gives a shit?

With his campaign fiscal record, he'll probably spend that in an afternoon.

[LizW]

7. Since you asked, I do.

[madfloridian]

8. Many many of us care a whole lot.

I think you know that there is more to the story than that. That is way too simplistic a thing for anyone to say.

What he plans to do will be more important than you realize. When you appear to be insulting him and us, you are losing sight of why you feel the need to do it.

Peace.

[MercutioATC]

11. I care. Let's not even compare Dean's and Kerry's fiscal responsibility.

Dean ended his campaign $600k in the red (and he's now $800k in the black). When Dean left the race, Kerry had nearly no cash on hand and personal loans to his campaign of roughly $6M.

...who's finances seem better managed to you?

[Ramsey]

10. DFA PAC

Dean has turned his campaign into a PAC and is raising money to help Democratic candidates in state races, as well as the presidential. Dean has always said he would campaign for Dems running for Congress, and he is using this PAC to do so. Every Dem should be grateful for every bit of fundraising and campaigning help Dean is willing to do. Many people still admire Dean greatly.

Dean is coming to Philly to do an event for Joe Hoeffel and their camapign is pysched!

[Lugnut]

19. Yeaaaaggghhhh!!!!!

And I'll be voting for Joe on Tuesday. :)

[dd123]

12. I am SO impressed with the way Dean people are still

giving.

Rumor has it that he might be coming to my state convention! I would be in HEAVEN if I could hear him speak.



Still in love with Dean...

[Nazgul35]

22. I keep hearing the old complaint from many here...

That Dean supporters, by choosing to focus on Congress and rebuilding the grass roots organization destroyed by almost 2 decades of soft money, are threatening the chances of Kerry to get elected....

There's several problems with this premise:

1) People are assuming that Dean supporters are not giving time and money to the Kerry camp. Reports I have seen from the Kerry MeetUp suggest that half the people there were from the Dean MeetUps. And by the way...

Oh yeah, and when did Kerry's donations to his campaign take off again? The Middle of April? All that cash that has been raised by Kerry since then has come from Clark, Dean and Edwards supporters...Kerry before he won New Hampshire was in debt...

2) The standard accepted belief on the pages of DU is that the Dean movement was a total joke....we didn't do anything effective, nor did we get a candidate elected.....

And yet the cries rise up that the same ineffective group of people will be giving the Presidency to Bush....funny that!

Here's an idea! Why don't you guys tap into all those voters who voted for Kerry?

To date Kerry has won 7,878,852 votes according to Green Papers. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/tally.phtml

If they would each give $10 and 10 hours of their time between now and Nov.....Kerry should win!

But wait, they just voted for Kerry, perhaps the die hard supporters should only be counted...let's take a very conservative 10%....that means that of those who voted for Kerry, 787,000 are die hard supporters....

If each one of those people would give just $120, you could raise $94,440,000! Not chicken scratch!!! Between now and Nov., there is roughly 24 weeks left in the election.

If each one of these people would devote 4 hours a week to the campaign (not even a full day canvassing I might add), they would devote 96 hours each, for a grand total of 75,552,000 hours all across the US....this is not even counting the union and other interest group activities....


So what has all this been about? Simple!

Looking at the numbers above, it is clear that the Kerry campaign and those who support him completely have the ability, with a minor amount of effort to produce one of the best volunteer campaigns in history....

So I would suggest that you knock off the "You Dean people are going to cost us the election" nonsense and tend to your own campaign house!!! Any failure to generate the numbers above, after the dean campaign showed how easy it is to do is simply criminal...

I would spend more time on trying to figure out why you can't seem to do the above than beating down Dean supporters who are taking time and effort to focus on areas of as much importance to our Party as the Presidential race....

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

23. He was clearly the most popular and most electable candidate

around.


He should be rolling in dough.