Burnt Orange Report

Dean in Dallas

By Byron LaMasters

First of all, I got to meet Howard Dean yesterday, and that was an exciting experience. I didn't really know what to say, but a friend of mine caught a picture of me with him, and I caught pictures of several friends with Dr. Dean. It's funny the things that you notice about famous people when you actually meet them. What did I notice most about Howard Dean? Well, he's kinda short, and he has very blue eyes. Amusing. I'll be sure to post the pictures when I get them from John. Speaking of pictures, I need to get my roll of film developed this afternoon. So how did I get to meet Dr. Dean (seeing that I'm a poor student and can't afford $2000 hot dogs - ok, well it would have cost $150 to go to the fundraiser, but I think I'll be saving for my New York trip next month instead)?

Well, as Len mentions, I was "pre-selected" (about 15 minutes beforehand) to speak for about 60 seconds on why I was supporting Howard Dean. The statewide coordinator, (former state representative) Glen Maxey wanted people from various backgrounds to speak for a minute or two on why they supported Howard Dean. So several African-Americans spoke, a gay leader, Anna, the Dallas County Young Democrats President, David Wilkins (and he's an avid Burnt Orange Report reader, too!), and several others. I was the student guy. When I spoke, I tried to make it personal, that as a Democratic campus organizer last year, I had trouble convincing students to vote Democratic because they didn't see how their vote would make a difference, and they didn't see much difference between the two major parties. I said that we had a lot of great candidates here in Texas in 2002, but many of them failed to differentiate the differences between themselves and their Republican opponents. I said that Howard Dean would make my job a lot easier, because he has a positive, winning Democratic message that would resonate with students on multiple issues. Anyway, I gave my UT plug with a Hook 'em sign. My friend Geoff teased me later, saying that I missed the best line - that UT actually rejected George W. Bush. Shit! That would have been great. Oh well. I'm very proud to be a Longhorn. Yale is for the elitists, but UT is where us really smart Texas folks go. Heh.

Anyway, all of us folks that spoke to warm up the crowd were asked to wait backstage, and then after we spoke, we all just kind of decided to hang out back there, because no one was asking us to leave, and we knew that the Governor was very close. So, we waited, and he saw him walking up as another speaker kept warming up the crowd. Finally, he got to where we were and shook hands with all of us, posed for pictures, and then went up to the stage where he was introduced by the Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Susan Hays. Dean gave his standard stump speech to the crowd. Len reported on one of the more memorable moments of the speech.

The other was a young fellow, probably about 10 or 11 years old, who was standing close to the front of the crowd. He was holding a home-made sign that read "I'm going to have to pay for Bush's tax cuts." During his speech, Governor Dean pointed right at him and said "Young man, we are going to fix things so that you will not still be paying for this president's tax cuts when you're my age!" (Those were probably not his exact words, but pretty close.)

For a report from the fundraiser, check out Get Donkey. From what I heard about the event, it was just amazing. The house, apparently was jam packed, wall-to-wall, with at least 150-200 people. The reports I heard were that over $60,000 was raised before the event began! I can only imagine what the final tally will be! The crowd was reported by the Dallas Morning News to be 1200. Organizers, however, claimed that 2000 people were there. Here's the Dallas Morning News article:

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean on Sunday told about 1,200 supporters in Dallas to "take back" their country, urging Americans to reject the administration's ideals on war, economics and health insurance.

"We need jobs in this country again, and you're not going to get that without balancing the budget," the former Vermont governor said.

"We're not going to say we're going to get rid of the tax cut. We're going to say, 'Would you rather have the tax cut or health insurance that can never be taken away?' "

Dr. Dean spoke at Dallas City Hall Plaza after spending part of his day at a private Dallas residence raising $60,000. Organizers said it's his first trip to Dallas as a presidential candidate.

Jennifer Gross, a small-business owner who lives in Flower Mound, called Dr. Dean's style "refreshing." She brought her 9-year-old son, Michael, who carried a large poster board printed with, "I'll have to pay for Bush's tax cut" in large black letters.

"Howard Dean has been very straightforward with people and speaking his mind. And I like that," she said. She added that she supports his stance on health care.

Dr. Dean, who was a pediatrician in practice with his wife before being elected governor in 1991, has said he believes the United States should guarantee health care to all citizens.

Polls show he is among the front-runners for the Democratic nomination.

Dr. Dean blasted the White House's stance in Iraq, saying it has alienated America from the rest of the world.

"People don't respect us anymore. I want to live in a country where people respect us."

Dr. Dean favors sending American troops into Liberia as part of an international peacekeeping force, saying the presence of international troops "will help us in Iraq."

He joked a few times in his speech about being a Yankee trying to get elected in the South. Campaign organizers said they have gathered enough signatures to put his name on the ballot of the Texas primary in March. Dr. Dean told reporters that he wouldn't neglect the Texas primary.

"There's plenty of Democrats in Texas, we just haven't heard from them in awhile," he said.