Kucinich 2004 MeetUp
I attended a Kucinich 2004 MeetUp for the first time on Thursday evening; transportation problems had prevented me from attending before. I've written up some notes on what it was like. Follow the extended entry link to read them.
The MeetUp took place at a bookstore. This was a good location and I was glad of it. It's a safe environment for meeting strangers at, much better than a restaurant or bar. Also more suitable for political strategizing than either of those locations.
There are three Kucinich 2004 MeetUps in my county. The one in Seattle gets most of the people since that's a central location, while the other two tend to collect those who can't make it to the big Seattle MeetUp. I was at one of the other two, in the south county. There were about a dozen people there. Part of the reason I chose to attend this MeetUp is that it covers the area where I live, which is important for the caucuses. When it comes to organizing for the caucuses, this is the group I need to be working with.
The big news was a surprise visit by Dennis to our area this coming Sunday. I had heard about it Wednesday night, oddly enough from a Kucinich supporter at the legislative district Democrats meeting then I found a notice of it in my email when I got home. Anyway, we discussed Dennis's visit. He's going to be flying in Sunday evening and speaking at a labor rally that night. On Monday morning, he'll be holding a couple of fundraising meals before flying back out. Sunday afternoon is a big Washington for Kucinich volunteer meeting so the plan is for everybody to go from the meeting to the airport to greet Dennis and then those who can will go on down to the labor rally.
We also discussed a table for Dennis at a local Octoberfest celebration which is going on this weekend as well, and several other local events (it's a very busy weekend!)
Some other topics we discussed included the House Parties (in Washington state, these are being combined with a grass roots community discourse, the Dialogues for Democracy, which I had first heard about in July); reaching out to disenfranchised populations such as the working poor, the elderly, Latino and immigrant communities, the homeless, and people who have previously been convicted of felonies (because these people have to go through a special procedure to get their voting rights back; in some states, felons are barred from voting for life, even after they've served their time); and various other ideas including food drives for the homeless, community forums for Kucinich and Dean supporters to discuss and debate, and giving people rides to the caucuses next February.
The major topic that we discussed was the caucuses. As I explained in my report on the legislative district meeting that I attended Wednesday night, all delegates from Washington will be chosen by the caucuses not in a primary election. There was some confusion about the caucuses, as people in different districts had different experiences trying to get information about them from their legislative district meetings.
It turned out that I had by far the most positive experience. Others had a more difficult time. This is something to be prepared for, especially if you have never been involved in local politics before; people may feel that you're only in it for your candidate and will desert them later on and they may not be welcoming. Keep in mind that Dennis's success will depend on the Democratic party organization. If (when!) Dennis becomes the nominee, this is what he needs to beat Bush. Even if he doesn't become the nominee, the Democratic party is currently the only entity capable of contesting the Republicans and we have to work with it as much as we can.
The MeetUp group agreed that we will meet every week or two outside of MeetUp, fortunately at a more convenient time than MeetUp is for me, so that we can get all the work done that needs to be done. I got a ride home from a couple who attended the MeetUp and who live not far from me. They are also in my legislative district and I was able to repay them for the ride by telling them about the meeting I attended and what I learned there. They are relatively young, probably in their late twenties, and very committed and passionate. I liked them a lot.
Some pictures from the MeetUp have already been uploaded here. I'm the one in the veil. You can view a larger version of any of the other photos by clicking on it.
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