DfA, MfD, Etc.

It's been well over a month--maybe even two, now--since I've mentioned Howard Dean. It's not because I don't like him anymore, or because I now worship only at the House of Kerry, but because there are some wounds you just don't poke at until they're pretty well healed.

First of all, there's a bat:


Every contribution to that bat will go to support Dean-inspired candidates around the country this fall, including my friend Tim Carpenter. (He still doesn't have a web-pay option, but that should be coming soon.)

Second of all, the Milwaukee for Dean group, like, I imagine, a lot of other Dean groups around the country, has re-constituted itself as Milwaukee for Democracy. That link is still just to our Yahoo! group, as we don't have our own site set up yet. We're hoping to do that soon, mostly because, obviously, I'm not blogging enough already and I need a new MT-based blogging home.

But we're also now well on our way to becoming a force in local politics. We do have a 270-strong email list; we have candidates banging down our metaphorical doors asking for help; and we have started doing an additional monthly meeting besides the Meetup. We are hosting a forum now every month starting at 6:00 on the Meetup evenings at the Meetup location. In April, we had a history professor from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who is probably the formost expert on the local economy. He gave us some pretty scary stats and suggestions for dealing with Milwaukee's near-Detroit status.

May's pre-Meetup forum will feature Milwaukee Assemblyman Jon Richards and someone from the Institute for Wisconsin's Future to talk about the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (which is far eviler than it sounds) and how we can help stop it. Then the Meetup will feature planning for events supporting the House candidates we've endorsed (the endorsements aren't public yet, though) and Russ Feingold for Senate.

So, to inspire real comments (what happened to you guys? You used to be so verbose!), I will ask a specific question: Were you a Deanista? If so, what's happened to your Meetups? If not, would the kind of Meetup I described appeal to you (since it's not all Howard Dean anymore)?