The Howard Dean meetup was mostly good. About half of the people there (and most of the leadership) had never helped with a political campaign before. Some have never voted. If this is a sign of things to come, Dean is going to be tough to beat. Dean’s meetup has 22,000 people registered, the third largest one yet. The best part of the evening–aside from discovering Anchor’s porter–was the premiere of a video of Dean speaking to the California state Democratic convention.

I suppose it’s inevitable that “activists” were present. Here are some gems:

“I think we should make sure X county gets some more attention.”
“But our base isn’t from X county, so we shouldn’t do anything with that county.”
“I think we should use the internet for everything.”
“I think using the internet excludes poor and minority voters, so we shouldn’t use the internet for anything.”

Of course, this was actually a conversation between about eight of the more than fifty people there, and it took up over half an hour. Thankfully. one person interrupted to say she’d come to hear about Howard Dean and that they should save the logistics for a campaign planning meeting. What a thought. So the “activists” shut up after four or five more speeches.

“Activists” can’t hold off. They need their speechifying fix. Nevermind the fifty people held hostage, because the “activists” have a point to make.

To the Dean campaign: Of course you can’t tell all the “activists” to shove off. But if you want the help of the many non-activists drawn to your campaign, you need to handle them. Many of us haven’t helped with campaigns previously because we can’t stand “activists.” It’s a sign of respect for Howard Dean that we’d brave the sea of activists to show our interest. Do not lose this chance to build a new politics.

To the “activists:” Unless you have the public speaking talents of FDR or MLK (and you don’t), a captive audience despises you. Repeat that to yourself five times every morning: “a captive audience despises me.”