The February Meetup

Dear Wisconsin Dean supporters,

The February 2004 Meetup is the most important Meetup of this campaign. I'm saying this right at the top so there will be no doubt what I'm asking you to do here.

A year ago, I was just learning who Howard Dean was. I remember a snowy March evening at a little coffee shop here in Milwaukee, with ten other people who were also just starting to learn about him. We had no idea that eleven months later we would be face to face with a make-or-break moment in the campaign, our campaign, with hundreds or thousands of other Milwaukeeans ready to Meetup for Dean.

But that's where we are. And the February 2004 Meetup is the most important Meetup of this campaign.

I teach high school English for a living, but many of you know that I also dabble a bit in punditry. I have learned too much this year about politics, the primary season, and the slings and arrows that outrageous fortune is bringing to bear on Dean's candidacy--on OUR campaign. Wisconsin will be, as it turns out, the most pivotal single primary after New Hampshire. It is here in Wisconsin that we will be able to deliver the final boost to Howard Dean's campaign--our campaign--and carry us over the top.

We can't do that without your help, though. So the February 2004 Meetup is the most important Meetup of this campaign.

Wednesday, February 4, will be less than two weeks until our own primary, February 17. In fact, Wisconsin's primary is the only primary that day: The media spotlight will be on us, and a solid Dean victory here will propel him into Super Tuesday with unstoppable momentum.

This is why I say that the February 2004 Meetup is the most important Meetup of this campaign.

That night in 49 other states, plus the District of Columbia and a dozen foreign countries, Dean supporters will Meetup to write letters to undecided Wisconsin voters on February 4. Your friends, neighbors, and family members--maybe even some of you!--will be getting hand-written notes from Dean supporters across the country and the globe. But it is up to us to get those friends, neighbors, and family members to the polls on February 17. We need to have the strongest get-out-the-vote campaign in the state. We need to remind everyone, especially the news media that will be watching Dean's performance in Wisconsin for any sign of weakness to exploit, that this campaign is our campaign.

If you attend only one Meetup for Howard Dean, make it the February 2004 Meetup. If you attend every Meetup for Howard Dean already, then bring ten new people with you to this one.

We cannot be complacent. We cannot rest on the laurels we have earned so far. The February 2004 Meetup. Is. The. Most. Important. Meetup. Of. This. Campaign.

It is at the February Meetup where we will coordinate our GOTV activities and prepare for the last push of phone-banking and ward walking. It is at the February Meetup where we will take the first final steps towards ensuring a Dean victory on primary day.

And, I have been authorized to tell you, at the February Meetup there will be a special surprise from the campaign that you will not want to miss.

Please, clear your schedules now for February 4. Go to Meetup, register if you need to, and RSVP for the Meetup venue nearest you. There are plenty of Meetup sites in Wisconsin; one of them is close. We need you there. Dean needs us there.

Our campaign is exactly that--ours. And we will not be successful if we do not all contribute. The February 2004 Meetup is the most important Meetup of this campaign, and I will see you there.