One Blog One LinkUp One Atom

Blogger allows that. So every Organizer of a MeetUp/LinkUp would have a blog, and all participants of that MeetUp are invited to become members of that blog. And so the meeting literally never stops. It is at that blog that you can read the agenda a few days before the MeetUp.

After getting a Blogger account to join the LinkUp blog, a member can create a personal blog or more using the same account. Having a Blogger account is kind of like having one of those email accounts, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, what have you.

This way there is virtually limitless space for policy talk. And the policy discussions during Face Time will be more informed.

That will also free up time at the MeetUps. We could use that to make sure the MeetUps stay within the hour. If people were to know MeetUps last only an hour, more people are likely to show up.

More free time would also mean we could use that for team building exercises. Ice breaknig exercises. Let's get to know each other exercises.

We could get really creative.

One blog per MeetUp would also mean the leaders in the organization could really get a feel of the larger group on their own schedule.

A blog plus a MeetUp/LinkUp would thus be the building block of the nationwide DFA organization. This is transparent democracy.

Instead of minutes, we could have a volunteer take pictures of each MeetUp. The enthusiastic ones might even snap up video highlights to post online.

This synergy will really help us communicate with MeetUp groups across the country.

Star LinkUp Organizers could hope to receive a national audience. Kind of like having your own TV show.

The LinkUps would feel more national that way.

The social bonding would get enhanced.

Screen Time does not take away from Face Time, it contributes to it.

This idea would also lessen the pressure on the Pre MeetUps, and the After MeetUps. Such gatherings could then afford to be more social and less business.

For members to get to know each other as individuals is important.

Audio, Video, Photos.

Once we have this unit going, we could then work on the blogalaxy idea. This is one star. A galaxy is many stars.

From atoms, you can make molecules, compounds, and bigger things.

A LinkUp plus its blog is the atom.

Takes Two Arms And Two Legs To Swim

This is my attempt to recoincile my stances on free trade, and education and health.

The Failure Of The Global South In The Recent Global Trade Talks
Race Relations, Personal Relations, Free Trade

There is sound economic theory behind free trade. If America had $1 in 2000, 33 of the cents got created in the Clinton 1990s. And understanding the essence of free trade was key to how Clinton achieved the longest peacetime economic expansion in history. And he did more for education than five presidents before him though still not quite enough. He fell short on health, far short. It was not Hillary, it was Bill.

Free trade is like moving your arms while swimming. Education and health are a leg each. You need all four limbs to swim well. The body is the economy.

Bill Gates voted for Clinton in 1992. Warren Buffett is a Democrat. Larry Ellison has always maintained he would not mind paying higher taxes. The two Google founders are diehard Bill Clinton fans. Those are just a few examples.

My point being the true entrepreneurs are all progressives. Progressives dream up the industries of tomorrow, they create the companies of tomorrow, they create the jobs of tomorrow. They create socially progressive corporate cultures. Progressive entrepreneurs are our allies. Only the fake entrepreneurs bribe presidents for tax cuts to pad up their bank accounts. All Nobel Prize winning economists disagreed with the George W. tax cuts. But then the guy is also a creationist. Talk about worldviews. (Dumb And Dumberer: Creationist Bush)

Bill Gates is a huge fanatic when it comes to public education. That is a progressive right there.

And I wonder if we should not pass a constitutional amendment such that noone should have to pay more than 40% of their income in taxes by all levels of government put together. That would take tax cuts out of the political equation and the Republican regressives would be deprived. George W. never saw a problem whose solution did not lie in tax cuts.

Who pays how much in taxes is a legitimate part of the political conversation, but once that money has been paid, that collective money belongs to all 300 million Americans equally. The one person, one vote mechanism has to be perfected to help the poorest Americans feel that sense of ownership.

Corporate welfare is a major drain.

I imagine a world where the global per capita income is $20,000 and growing. Free trade is fundamental to such a vision. And we have to watch out for right wing alarmist rhetoric on India, China and other emerging economies. If India grows richer, Indians have more money to buy American products and services. That is good news. It truly is a win-win situation. There is room for everybody. Wealth is literally created out of thin air.

Legendary network marketer Bill Britt once said there is enough marble just in West Virginia to build a mansion for every family on the planet. But we have to come up with the political, social, economic infrastructures to make that happen. We progressives come into that infrastructure part. We are in the business of building that political infrastructure to unleash the human potential.

Lifelong Education

The information age asks for it. Education can never stop for anyone. And it has to be reimagined. It has to be broken free of geography.

Think of this cocktail: free, wireless broadband plus all books online for free, all, textbooks, fiction, non-fiction, all.

Free Wireless Broadband, Reenergized Microsoft
In Defense Of Google Digitizing Books
Into the Nitty Gritty Of WiMax

Google has come up with a business model whereby a company can offer free wi-fi and make money through ads. It also has taken the lead on digitizing books, although the idea really needs to be thought through.

The book industry as we have known it will likely disappear. And that is just fine. If technology brings the price of books to zero, then so be it. Don't fight the technology. Not even Google has taken the next step. But I believe the next step is for a company like Google to become a digital publisher. Books are put online that readers may access for free. Money is made throuugh ads. Google and the author split the money. Google could suggest 50-50. If Yahoo says 60-40 in favor of the author, there is competition right there.

And the hardware industry needs to make the computer screen friendly to the eyes.

Print books become antiques and cottage industries.

Universal Health Care

There should be a two tier model: public health care centers that work on a drop-by basis for anyone inside the geographical United States that keep expanding in scope as the economy expands, kind of like minimum wage, although that wage has stagnated too long. And the private sector health care with reform. Let's face it, the private health care sector is not exactly in tune with basic market forces, or it would have taken the lead on adopting information technology in all aspects of its operations. Something is going on. Daal mein kuchh kala hai, as they say in Hindi: there is something dark in the lentil.

I think the total, transparent democracy weapon would work great for another major effort for health care reform. Blog it all the way. Let all voices be heard and archived, even those opposed to any reform, especially theirs, so our grassroots volunteers can see for themselves where the clots are. We want Steve Forbes on record saying a flat tax is a cure to all health care reform.

And you expand the insurance coverage.

So, have a bedrock of public health care, reform the sector in general, and expand coverage through insurance with the goal being universal coverage down the line.

And a major cultural shift has to be engineered, from an illness-focus to a wellness-focus. You score points when you do what it takes to stay healthy. Are you sleeping your six to eight hours? Do you drink your daily water? Are you physically vigorous for at least half an hour each day? Go walk. Follow me. Do you eat a balanced diet? Do you eat your fruits and vegetables? Do you stay away from smoke and alcohol? The city hall should pass a law and make bars serve mango lussee. Do you get your multi-vitamins from my online shop?

And, last but not the least, do you vote for doctors?

More On Organization

An Email From Headquarters

Luigi.

I hope you are okay with my keeping public our conversation. This is the transparent democracy part.

I just wanted to add a few things in response to your email.

I am not asking the question if Dean will run in 2008 or not. I have met him twice, and it is all over his face. He will. I knew that even before I met him. If he does not run in 2008, then 2004 was sham. And I know it was not, I was part of it.

I am not even asking the question if he will win. Victory is guaranteed. He will win.

The question I am asking is what if 2008 is more like 1776, a year when democracy itself gets reinvented. Will we have the orgnanizational framework in place to handle all that outburst of energy all over the map? That is what I think about. The grassroots organizational structure that will elect him will become even more important after he is in the White House. The very idea of governance stands to get reinvented.

When the goofy white men invented democracy in 1776, they did have many deficiencies, when looked at in hindsight and compared to the future, but it was a total revolution when compared to the past. 1860 expanded upon the idea. Then women got voting rights. In 1932 organized labor gained some sort of a victory. 1960 saw JFK really bring the focus onto the primaries. 1992 was also a watershed. Bill Clinton claimed he was the first person to get himself elected president solely based on his network of personal friends, Friends Of Bill. He said he became president because he had more friends than anyone else in America.

The original idea was of a republic. The people vote for these hopefully wise white men, and they take care of business for the next so many years. That idea stands to get challenged through DFA. Citizens organized at grassroots levels participate in the democracy on a monthly basis. That is a fundamental departure. The country moves from being a republic to becoming a democracy. Are we up for it? That is the question.

I think we are on our way to direct elections for President. Bye bye electoral college.

So the organizational framework is of fundamental importance.

You are right, most of what I am talking about is political and organizational, not technological. The technology already exists and is available for free online for anyone who might want to use it. And it is only going to get better.

I am very impressed with DFA Link.

Maybe you have the people and the resources, but I would be wary of DFA becoming too technology centric. We are not a technology company, we are a political organization. It makes sense to do some things in-house. But I think we should be leery of trying to do everything in-house.

If you think you are up for it, by all means do the blog aspects in-house. But I am kind of thinking, why would we want to compete with Google? They show signs of becoming the successor company to Microsoft itself. They have billions in the bank, and more coming. Why not just use their Blogger? They also have audio and video options. And they keep improving the whole thing. Blogger is as close to word processing online as it gets.

Instead we focus on having a framework. A mechanism that puts all Deaniac blogs on one map, a mechanism for Deanics to vote for blogs and blog entries. That way we still do the core work, but what can already be done online for free, we don't duplicate, and instead pour our resources into political and organizational work.

Just a thought.

We will keep talking.

DFNYC And This Blog

As my blog expands its readership, some concerns have been raised. I take this opportunity to make a few things clear, because I expect the readership of this blog to expand more as the mayoral election progresses, and I seem to be getting more sucked into it. I mean, if Dean keeps showing up, I am going to keep showing up.

I am a staunch member of DFNYC, and I might be one of the very first members of Dean 2008. But this blog is not officially affiliated with DFNYC. The organization has its official site. This blog is one person talking. I usually will post a blog entry and then email the permalink for it to a few people over email. That way I take less space in their inbox. And they get to see the topic before they decide if they want to even click on the link. If they choose not to, that just shows their interest did not get piqued. Which is just fine. And my politics is not my private life, it is my public life. I think I am already at a point where I don't know my entire readership. And that is great. I would love to have a ton of readership.

I want to make that absolutely clear. I would have thought that was already clear. It is in the nature of the blog to be that way. This is Paramendra Bhagat's blog.

Blogging is not just writing, although writing it is. Blogging is not reporting, although it can be that. Blogging is blogging. It has to be seen as something new and kind of stand-alone.

Blogs are brainscans of the crowd's mind.

I encourage more and more DFNYC members and Deaniacs to get into blogging. Let a million blogs bloom.

Having a blog is like having an email account, I think. It is that fundamental. If you are not going to launch one now, I think you are going to do it later.

And I do expect to deal with some social progressive issues also within the progressive movement. And I am up for it. The productive way for people who are genuinely trying to get along is to keep an open channel of communication at the collective identity level also.

If you are a 6, you are still within the Democratic camp on social issues, but you are not a 9 yet.

2008: Some Themes

If there is a common sense assumption out there that there is some sort of a hiearachy - white male, white female, minority male, minority female - I don't subscribe to it. Not in my personal space. I am a progressive, seriously.

I think for the most part we interact as individuals, but channels of communication have to be kept open at the collective identity level also. We need to expand the agenda.

Like on gender. We need to expand it beyond foetus talk. We need to dig up issues and comfortably talk about them.

Race and gender are mirror images to each other.

Race Relations, Pesonal Relations, Free Trade
Gender Consciousness Vs. Feminist Consciousness
The Intersection of Race and Gender Relations: A Contemporary Perspective

Ferrer Can

Ferrer Can Lead

Truth On Bloomberg Ferrer Four Ferrer Can

Fernando Ferrer	Michael Bloomberg
1. His leadership style is political. He knows how to work the system.	1. His leadership style is corporate. He cuts some major corners on essential social expenditures so he can build a stadium. Don't blame him: that has been his life's training. It is hard to change course mid-stream.
2. He was Bronx Borough President. He delivered.	2. He never held a political office in life before he became Mayor. He has not delivered.
3. People say he is a machine politician, I say he is in tune with the voters and their various organized groups, he knows the system inside out, he is better positioned to deliver.	3. People say he has so much money, he is not beholden to any special interests. I say he has so much money, he is out of touch.
4. Ferrer's style is political. He has delivered in the Bronx, he will deliver for the city.	4. People say Bloomberg is a successful entrepreneur who can lead. I say his leadership style is corporate.
5. NYC is the capital city of the world. It should n-e-v-e-r again get itself a Republican mayor. The world needs some respect.	5. Bloomberg is a Republican. He gives more money to George W. than anyone else in the country.
6. Get out the votes. Many who will vote for Ferrer do not get phone calls from the pollsters. Forget the polls. Get out the votes.	6. Put out more meaningless feel-good ads.
7. He is a Democrat.	7. He is a Republican.
8. His lack of deep pockets makes him more dependent on voters. That makes him more responsive.	8. His limitless supply of personal money to be spent on TV ads makes him politically tone-deaf.
9. He is a Hispanic who believes in the American dream.	9. He is elitist.
10. He is not personally that rich.	10. Bloomberg is so rich, he is practically a carpetbagger in this city of the poor, the lower middle class, the middle class, the upper middle class, and the rich. Don't vote for him. He is not one of you.

• Bloomberg: No Mr. Security 10/11
• Messages To Dean, Ferrer 10/11
• Soaking In Howard Dean 10/10
• Lewis Cohen Has Been Behind Ferrer Since Summer 2004 10/10
• Going On The Offensive For Ferrer 10/09
• Dean Was In Town Yesterday 9/28
• Bloomberg Is No Democrat 9/22
• Fernando Ferrer 9/21

Bloomberg: No Mr. Security

After the Democrats had their convention in 2004, Bush's Homeland Security chief Tomland Ridge put out security alerts. Four major NYC landmarks were targeted it was said. The information was several years old. Ridge received massive media coverage.

Howard Dean was one Democrat who came out saying this was not a security move, this was political.

Kerry was the first presidential candidate in history who did not get a bounce after a convention. Even Dukakis got a huge bounce in 1988. Whatever Tomland Ridge did, it worked. And it is the strange psychology of the powerless that the Kerry machine actually went after Dean for saying what he said. Those scared of the enemies pounce on their friends.

Now Bloomberg is out playing the same cynical game. I am Bush, Mr. Security.

Have you noticed, every time Bush sinks in the polls or works himself out of the news cycles, he comes swinging with a speech on Iraq desperately trying to blame Saddam Hussein for 9/11. I think Saddam was a jerk and I am glad he is gone, but it is an outright lie to suggest Saddam had anything to do with 9/11. Because you can not nab Osama, you blame it on Saddam who you did nab. That is some logic.

My point being the security threat is very real. The War on Terror is very real. But those politicians who monkey with the security threats to win elections are precisely those who will not lead the country to victory on the War On Terror front. They do the major disservice of desensitizing the public. So where might be a real threat down the line, the people might not respond the way they ought to, and we might all be in for some serious heartbreak.

This is beyond cynical. This borders towards the criminal.

Bloomberg should apologize and cease and desist.

Compete on policy differences, track records, delivery records and leadership styles. Don't play cynical games with security. Go shake more hands and ride the subway more often if you are getting desperate, but don't monkey with security issues.

When it comes to security, do err on the side of caution, but do not be driven by political temptations.

• Sources: Tip on NY subway threat a hoax CNN Information that led to heightened security for the New York City transit system was a hoax, government sources said Tuesday..... After Bloomberg's warning, some intelligence officials played down the New York information, saying it was not credible...... On Monday, Bloomberg said he stood by the decision to increase security.
• NY Subway Fears Ease AXcess News
• NY subway threat causes alarm People's Daily Online, China - Oct 7, 2005
• NY Subway Bomb Threat Not Credible All Headline News - 23 hours ago

Messages To Dean, Ferrer

Message To Dean

I have been to all 48 states in the continental US, Vermont was the last one, nothing personal.

America is the leading country when it comes to science and technology, but it has a creationist president. (Dumb And Dumberer: Creationist Bush) That right there is proof democracy in this country is not working as is. America needs a president who has read a few science books, maybe a certified doctor or something.

I know you can't talk about it until at least 2007, and I am not going to bug you about it. But Reagan ran and lost early and bad in 1976, not that I particularly like him. Bill Clinton ran for re-election in Arkansas in 1990 pledging to complete his four year term. Arkansas is better off he did not. And I like Bill Clinton, I know you do too.

DNC can do without you, America and the world can not.

You are inspiring, and you are going to continue to inspire. That is all we need from you. Dean 2008 is already on. We are already at work.

Message To Ferrer

I really do think you have a shot at winning. I really do. We need you to win. If not the headquarters, NYC is at least going to host the War Room for Dean 2008. And we don't want a Mayor Bloomberg around at that time. He might arrest us. So go win!

Going On The Offensive For Ferrer

Talk about your management style, not just your policy differences with Bloomberg. People say he has so much money, he is not beholden to any special interests. I say he has so much money, he is out of touch. People say you are a machine politician, I say you are in tune with the voters and their various organized groups, you know the system inside out, you are better positioned to deliver. People say Bloomberg is a successful entrepreneur who can lead. I say his leadership style is corporate. Your leadership style is political. You have delivered in the Bronx, you will deliver for the city.

NYC is the capital city of the world. It should n-e-v-e-r again get itself a Republican mayor. The world needs some respect.

Get out the votes. Many who will vote for you do not get phone calls from the pollsters. Forget the polls. Get out the votes.

Message To The White Democrats In NYC

The ethnic minorities are the strongest supporters of the Democratic Party. They never show up among the swing voters. They never became Reagan Democrats. And now you are all going to vote for Ferrer for the simple reason that he is a Democrat. You don't need to know anything else.

You know you agree with him on policy. And you know he has delivered before in an executive capacity. You know he has what it takes.

Let's make history. Let's elect a Hispanic Mayor. To me it is important Ferrer is Hispanic. That is a big plus. What about you? He is and should be proof America is for all its immigrants, not just the white ones.

This is the time for you to express your party loyalty.

Bloomberg Is No Democrat

Spread the word on Ferrer. Go vote for Ferrer. Get the votes out for Ferrer.

An Email From Headquarters

Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 10:48:17 -0400
From: "Democracy for America"
To: "Paramendra Bhagat"
Subject: DFA blog post

Paramendra,

I just wanted to let you know that we here at HQ have read your blog post from yesterday and we think it has a ton of great ideas. I've passed the link along to Chris Warshaw (the Field Director) since the organizational suggestions fall under his area, but I'd like to tell you a bit about the technology projects we have coming up after DFA-Link is (more or less) finished.

The overarching project is being called MyDFA, and its basically what you describe -- an online portal for our grassroots activists. DFA-Link is the first part of that. This winter we'll be working on turning Blog for America into a community blog (coded from scratch, just like DFA-Link) that works as you suggest. Local groups and local activists will be able to publish their own posts, with the best ones filtering up via a community ratings system. As you mention in the comments, we'll encourage that local events be blogged. RSS Feeds will be pulled from exising local group blogs and be pushed out to whomever wants them.

So thanks for all the suggestions, and keep them coming. We're listening!

- Luigi Montanez
Deputy Technology Director

DFA Organization Framework

The DFA can start expanding now. This is not too early. If we are serious about taking back the White House in 2008, we need to be thinking in terms of also taking back the Congress in 2006. President Dean deserves a Congress he can work with.

2008: Some Themes
2008: Some Thoughts
Dean 2008

The challenge is to effectively organize hundreds of thousands of volunteers. The MeetUp/LinkUp has to be at the core of it all. My model says 10 to a MeetUp. As soon as the number hits 20, that MeetUp/LinkUp group splits into two like amoeba. Each has an Organizer. The Organizers have an After MeetUp/LinkUp. That is also 10-20 in size. The person organizing that is a Senior Organizer.

Let's crunch a few numbers. Say a place like New York City, if there are 2400 members, that is 240 MeetUp/LinkUps, and 24 After MeetUp/LinkUps. And all those 24 Senior Organizers could have an After After MeetUp/LinkUp the following day.

This is just a framework. In that, if 50 people show up for one MeetUp/LinkUp, is that against the rules? No. There are no rules. This suggestion is Open Source like Linux, people decide locally how they might want to modify it for local needs.

But this 10-10-10 structure is designed to make sure every member is personally known well by someone in the leadership. This is about Face Time. In small towns, there might be only two or three MeetUp/LinkUps.

And I am not sure we want to bid farewell to the MeetUp.com website. True, now Organizers have to pay but, hey, they are a business. And $20 a month, that comes to $2 a person. Think of it as beer money.

On the other hand, the in-house LinkUps are also a great idea. It is probably more encouraging for people to show up when they don't have to pay. I don't know if there is a message there for the MeetUp site: become ad-based. Or they might get bought up by a company like Yahoo. Like Flickr got bought. Getting bought up is also a business model: that is what Chaitime.com was gunning for.

So you have this 10-10-10 structure for each town and city. Beyond that is screen time. The point being members should not have to drive around out of town to be effective. Unless they really really want to.

The Leader of every town and city gets together at a state level. And that getting together is online: talking online is free. A Leader has as many votes as there are MeetUp/LinkUps within his or her jurisdiction. So the NYC leader might carry 240 votes, the Bloomington, IN, Leader might carry four votes.

Then there is a committee of 50, one per state. That too is online. Should there be voting, the same rule applies at this level also. A state has as many votes as it has MeetUps. Or it could be one vote for every 100 MeetUps, or a thousand.

Why is the MeetUp/LinkUp so key? Because we are emphasizing Face Time.

This is the one person, one vote mechanism. Then there is the one voice mechanism. That part people can self-organize. There are plenty of free online options for people to express themselves in text, audio and video.

Imagine there are a million members who are part of this structure. And each has a blog. And they are all talking. That brings forth a central challenge: to create a superblog, a blogalaxy.

Here's an example: NYC Bloggers. There would be a 50 state map. Heck, it could be a world map. And people could list their blogs by geographical specificity. Not just their town, but by zip code or something, or neighborhood.

Another would be the DFA Link itself. The DFA Link would be organized by MeetUp/LinkUps. And on the profile page, there would be space for one to link to one's blog.

A third would be to organize a blogalaxy where the best blogs and blog entries surface to the top. There would be an online voting mechanism. Any DFA Link member could submit their blog or blog entry, any could vote. And you are an approved DFA Link member only if a MeetUP/LinkUp Organizer says so. And of course people could migrate. If you move from one state to another, your profile migrates with you. And there would be blog entries on specific policy issues.

DFA Link will have to come up with many more tools for the Town/City Leader. There should be a mechanism to award activity points to members. So there is a spectrum. At one end are the near inactive ones. At the other are the super active ones. All members are not equal. And there could be ranks for members like scouts do. You go up as you earn more points. And the tools should be all online, at DFA Link.

But separate from this one person, one vote mechanism, a think tank like stuff will have to be organized. That is totally about One Voice. Here people will have to have certain qualifications before they are in. This is also self-organizing. But there is a barrier to entry. Say all Nobel Prize winners are automatically in. Everyone with a Ph.D. maybe. I don't know. Anyone approved by the state leadership, with the leadership having an annual quota. Groups constantly thinking on every policy issue.

The policy suggestions of this think tank will still be subject to democratic approval, and ordinary members are not barred from coming up with policy ideas. The whole idea behind this transparent organization is that the best ideas could come from anywhere.

Some of the organizing principles still are:

1. One person, one vote, one voice.
2. Total, transparent democracy.
3. Non-violent militancy.
4. Face time, screen time.
   

These are early round thoughts. Need a lot of polishing. Feel free to chip in in the comments section.

Soaking In Howard Dean

124 Photos.

I got up late today. It was not long before I headed towards Times Square, center of the known universe, but good thing I checked my email beforehand. Robert was to miss our get-together. I hope it was not the reality show style of my blog that scared him away! Robert, some other time.

Going On The Offensive For Ferrer

"It's 6:30am and I just arrived back to the hotel. Really long story, just another one of my misadventures -- but let's just say, somehow I ended up in Connecticut. I'll see if I can meet you earlier than one, but that'll be tough given the bizarre circumstances I just ended up in. This story is so ridiculous they could make a sitcom out of it. Anyhow, I'll give you a call as soon as I wake up."

So I show up at Times Square. After a little while I leave a voice mail for Robert and then decide to walk over to the Union Square Park where Dean was to show up with Ferrer. That is a walk from the 42nd Street down to the 14th Street. But then after the Cindy Sheehan event on the 110th Street I walked all the way down to the southern tip of Manhattan. Got to soak in the city.

I was hardly ever more than a foot or two away from Howard Dean the entire time at today's event. I must have come across like a handler. I acted like it too a few times, like there was this woman with her young daughter, and of course she was just passing by, unaware of the Dean event, and she goes, oh my, that is Howard Dean, and I said "Governor," and he immediately responded and went over to meet them. I did not realize he was aware of my presence. My first word to him I ever spoke on my own. So this is how history gets made, eh! More than once we were both laughing hard at some of the same jokes, and they were not even jokes, just remarks by people coming over to shake his hand, or his own comments. He is a regular guy. He laughs easily. That is his appeal. He almost comes across as a college buddy. The guy who gave Generation Dean its name might be a member!

There was this time towards this end, after Ferrer had already left, and the crowd was gone, and Dean was just going to walk over to wherever he was going next, and I felt like bringing up Dean 2008. I wanted to bring up Reagan and 1976, Bill Clinton and 1990. But then Dean can't really talk about it until 2007. And if he has to be convinced to run, he should not run. But if you ask me, he is surely running. It is so obvious he is.

And there was this cross-cultural awkwardness, this silent moment, when I was standing right next to him, to his left, and there were only a few people around, no media, people passing by not bothering to look at him or recognizing him, a total regular guy out on a stroll, and he gave up.

"See you later," he said to me in a sweet, calm voice. The first three words from Dean to me.

In the American culture, the emphasis is on talking, silence has to be constantly broken. Whereas in the culture where I grew up, sometimes family members get together, and just sit around, minutes pass by, noone is talking, and everyone is feeling just fine. Silence does not bother. Silence is also a bonding experience.

But then he said he will be in town several more times for Ferrer. I am showing up each time. I am going to ease into striking conversations. I am going to talk Dean 2008. After all, I am already working on it. Ferrer 2005 to me is but a prelude to Dean 2008. On its own, I would have had to struggle to get excited about it. And it is to do with my not having a thing for local politics. I have to look at the big picture to get myself excited.

Ferrer just came across as so thankful to Dean. He was effusive about it too. Dean is like a movie star. As he walked through the farmers' market, so many young people came over to him, and it was so obvious they were all Deaniacs, like in this movie where you have to have a gift to recognize all these creatures from a different planet who look just like humans otherwise, but they recognize each other.

I showed up half an hour early today as well. There was some kind of an exhibit on the Polish movement for democracy from the late 1980s, and that so totally spoke to me on the work I am doing on Nepal.

I helped myself to a slice of pizza while I waited.

And a street play about Guantanamo and more, a small group that basically wanted an end to the Bush regime, and they wanted it now. At the time I did not realize the group was also going to come after us in a loud way. They saw a good size crowd and got all worked up.

"You see that? That is Howard Dean, the number one anti-war presidential candidate from 2004. We are on the same side. Now cool it," I said.

"But this has to end, now! What are you doing about it?"

"First you have to take over power, before you can exercise it better."

"But what are you doing now? People are dying."

"Great work. Keep it up. I am with you."

The Dean-Ferrer entourage had fired up all cylinders for the small street play group. They felt their moment had arrived, and they were going to make the most of it. They started shouting.

Maybe the words did not come out exactly that way, but that was the thrust of it. Someone on the Ferrer campaign I had met because I arrived early for the event was watching all this. He looked at me, impressed. This guy can talk, he thought.

Before Dean arrived I got to meet a few people. One was this guy whose mother had been elected judge in some capacity somewhere. He showed me this medal the Italian government had awarded her, she had been made some kind of a Don. I told him, Arnold got himself elected Governor of California, and they named a mountain after him in Austria.

And then Ferrer showed up. Looks like he is already getting security details. I think he arrived in a NYPD vehicle.

And then Dean showed up. He came by the way of a sidewalk. No flashing lights, no nothing.

There was some interaction with the media. There were a bunch of questions for Ferrer. Then, predictably, they descended on Dean. They wanted to talk about Iraq, and a bunch of national issues. Dean kept bringing the attention back on the race at hand.

"I am here to do all I can for Ferrer."

"Who says Democrats are not behind Ferrer? I chair the Democratic Party, and I am solidly behind Ferrer."

The stroll through the farmers' market was just amazing. Both of them got to meet "real" people. People who were not there to meet Dean or Ferrer, but just happened to be there. And there were all these Deaniacs, equally surprised to be face to face with Dean. You could just tell they were Deaniacs. Dean would not miss a beat.

"So are you voting for Ferrer?"

"I can't. I am from Minnesota."

Somebody else was from Ohio, and so on. But those were exceptions.

A young girl asked Ferrer a school lunch question, and Ferrer gave a specific answer. That was the policy highlight of the day. She was from the Bronx.

And the two of them did the subway thing all over again. We smoked out a few more animals all over again.

Dean Was In Town Yesterday

There were children onlookers. They must have sensed the hubbub of it all.

And there was this elderly lady, unaware of the Dean event.

"Howard Dean, my favorite human being!" she said, and she did not even make an attempt to reach out for his hand. Actually she made an attemt to get out of the way of the Dean entourage.

He reached out to her, after spotting her. I don't think he heard what she said.

I think by now I am past getting star struck by Dean. I think I am about to ease into conversations. Got to talk to the regular guy. Bond. I mean, I am totally already working on Dean 2008. Why not bounce around a few ideas with him? And just talk. I mean, Dean knows Heather and Tracey, maybe he should get to know me as well. I don't know anyone who is thinking Dean 2008 like I am thinking Dean 2008. The idea is custom made for me.

Good thing Ferrer is running for Mayor. I get to see more of Howard Dean.

"Democrats from East Coast to West Coast have been supporting my campaign," Ferrer said at one point. He was thankful for the focus Dean's appearances can bring.

And now there are two photos of me with Dean. My attitude has been like, see these photos of Dean, I took them all, I was there with him, you don't need a photo of me with him. But then opportunity presented itself. It was this lull towards the end. And Dean asked the few of us if we wanted to get photos taken. I was second in line.

And I took one for Bill - Wilbur Weder - that I promised to email to him. I am about to. I will just send the permalink of this blog entry.

I come back to my place.

"You smell something?" my Estonian roomie asks me.

I think he is talking about the bathroom.

"No. Not really," I say to reassure him.

"It is Estonian food. National food."

"Can I try some?"

"Maybe later. An hour later."

I am all about free food.

Lewis Cohen Has Been Behind Ferrer Since Summer 2004

Lewis Cohen: "I have been and am a member of the 2005 New Yorkers for Ferrer Finance Committee since the summer of 2004. I, and Bernadette Evangelist, have been the only Directors of Democracy for NYC who have openly and enthusiastically supported Ferrer since the beginning of the campaign."

A few points of clarification are due on my part. This is the second time. The first time was with Norman Siegel.

A Not So Little Norman Fact
A Little Siegel Incident

Tracey had to educate me on Norman Siegel's ethnicity. That was some major hole she had to plug. I think she was amused. There was that look on my face.

DFNYC members in their individual capacities may go for any candidate of their choice, that is the democratic spirit. We don't lose our individual identities just because we are members of DFNYC.

This is not the official DFNYC blog or anything of that sort. This is one person's blog, he just so happens to be a staunch member of the DFNYC.

A blog is not a newspaper gone online. A blog is a blog. It is more casual, conversational, intimate. This is not an attempt at objectivity. Actually, it is more like one person's views and observations given voice, there actually might be a tendency toward subjectivity. It is not here to show off my knowledge, or ignorance. It is more a window into my thought processes, more akin to a reality show. There is no emphasis on fact-checking. If I mess up on some facts in one blog entry, I don't go back and correct it later, I just post a new blog entry. At another blog I wrote about Sonia Gandhi after her Congress party cruised to a victory in India. An Italian born was going to be leading India, I said. She chose not to go for it. I never went back to that blog entry to correct it. That blog entry was a snapshot of many people's thinking at that point in time. Everyone just assumed Sonia was going to be Prime Minister.

I think I am trying to get to the voice part of the One Person, One Vote, One Voice superstructure. At the one voice level, you just talk. It is you. It is not the group yet. You say whatever you want to say. You take the stands on issues the way you want. I think that is important. Or we might end up with groupthink. There should be ample room for original thinking at the One Voice level. That precedes the one person, one vote mechanism, or the consensus mechanism through which we make decisions, either on policy or candidates, or campaign details. And once the group has decided, we all come around to supporting and contributing. Ideally. Sometimes a person might still not go with the majority if she feels strongly about her outvoted position. That is there.

And I am totally for DFNYC taking votes among members before endorsing candidates when more than one choice is available. That is the democratic spirit. DFNYC members had the option to take the organization behind Bloomberg, but we chose Ferrer by a wide margin, and so we are solidly behind Ferrer. And our man Dean is possibly the biggest boost Ferrer has got. Dean has been Ferrer's rocket fuel. We are key. And Ferrer knows it and appreciates it. Ferrer appreciates the importance of the primaries more than any of us. He can not possibly be begrudging having had to wade through it.

DFNYC endorsed Gifford Miller for the primaries, and I was not here when that happened. But we have nothing to apologize for. Miller was Speaker of the City Council. Ferrer had not been in any office in a few years. I can see how Miller might have come across as appealing. And there is an article somewhere that talks how Miller did not use his sex appeal to his advantage or he would have won! The members went for who they went for. And now we are enthusiastically behind Ferrer. We are the strong wind behind his sails. We contest the primaries, but then we all get together behind the winner of the primaries. That is the democratic spirit.

Slowly and surely I am learning more and more about city politics.

It was not that obvious Ferrer was going to win the primaries. And Directors of DFNYC who might supervise our internal vote taking on policies and candidates have nothing to apologize for. The mechanism has to stay oiled.

We are better off because of the primaries. Ferrer is better off. And he knows it.

And looks like we already have friends in high places with Lewis and Bernadette. Makes our work for Ferrer so much easier.

The key now is to get Ferrer to win. It will be nice to have a Mayor Ferrer when Dean 2008 sets up shop in the city. This is a major act of self-interest for us.

Ferrer 2005 is of national importance.