Welcome to the Dean call for action blog! This is the official place where we at the campaign can let people know when, where, and how you can help. We are going to need as much support from the netroots and grassroots as we can possibly get. Please check back here regularly.

Saturday’s call to action:

1. Thank you California!!!! If you haven’t heard, Howard blew the roof off the California convention today. The next few days should have some great stories, and we’ll be posting the speech on the website soon. When it’s up, read it, and pass it around.

2. The most important thing you can do right now is let everyone know about this blog. Email your friends, other Dean supporters, and anyone else you think might be interested, and let them know to check this site. Please post a link on any blogs or websites that are appropriate, and make the link prominent on anything you maintain yourself. Get the word out!

3. Between now and March 31, we need to raise as much money as possible before the FEC filing deadline. A member of the New York Dean 2004 meetup issued a challenge to raise a million dollars over the internet as fast as possible. The challenge is for everyone on the net who supports Howard Dean to contribute whatever they can (and add one penny to their contribution so the campaign knows this is money coming from the internet). The biggest thing the netroots can do for Howard is contribute and raise as much money by the March 31 deadline. Spread the word, get the contributions in, help Howard any way you can. A sample letter to cut and paste and send out is below.

4. Howard was blown away by the New York City meetup. He turned to us and said, “look at the power of the net!” Now we’ve got to show how the power of the net translates into winning. Our campaign is going to need organizations in every state and every city and town. At this stage, we may not have as much money as other candidates, but we have more netroots support and grassroots support than all of them combined. Meetup is a critical part of our organizational ability. In some areas it may be simply a good place to recruit, in other places it will turn out to be our organization. Join meetup today and make sure you go to the April 2 meetup in your city! Please go through your address books, your listservs, and spread the word to join the dean2004 meetup in every town. We will be posting an action plan for the April 2 meetup on this blog.

We’ll post again soon—keep coming back!

Joe Trippi, Campaign Director

PASS ON THIS LETTER, OR WRITE YOUR OWN

Here's a letter you can cut and paste and send to your email list:

I’m writing all my friends on my email list because there is something that is very important to me personally and should be important to the country. Howard Dean is the only candidate running for President who says what he thinks, and acts on what he says. I think he’s dead on, and he’s the only candidate making sense about foreign policy, health care, and fiscal responsibility. I also think he can win. If you don’t know about him, visit his website (www.deanforamerica.com), read his speeches, and call me if you want to talk about it.

I want you to get involved and contribute to his campaign. He doesn’t have the deep pockets of most of the other candidates, but I believe he will make the best president—and I don’t want money to decide who leads this country.

Even if this is the first time you have heard of him, or if you are unsure about your support, your donation at this time will allow his voice to be heard. Please help me and others take the big money out of politics. Please contribute whatever you can--$10.01 to $1000.01 (a penny for the internet)--and pass it on to your friends who might be interested. Every dollar you give up to $250 will be matched (this is only true if you tell the campaign your employer and occupation). Feel free to modify this letter. Do it now! March 31 is the big FEC deadline, and we are running out of time to show the power of early netroots support.

Contribute at: http://www.deanforamerica.com/dean.cfm?section=involved&page=contribute

I feel so strongly about this that I’ve decided to take the time to ask for money for the campaign, and I hope you will also take the time to make a contribution. I’m convinced that if we do this, Howard will never let us down.

Thanks for considering this.

PS: If you want to get more involved, visit Howard Dean's Call To Action blog at http://deancalltoaction.blogspot.com/.