Campaigns find Meetups attract growing groups of volunteers
Originally published in MLive.com
Campaigns find Meetups attract growing groups of volunteers
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
1/9/2004, 4:24 p.m. ET
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The stack of hand-addressed, stamped envelopes rose steadily as supporters of presidential candidate Howard Dean wrote letters one recent night urging voters in Iowa and New Mexico to back Dean in upcoming presidential caucuses.
For Jeff Spoeri of Mason, this is an experience he has repeated on the first Wednesday night of every month since summer. For 10 months, Dean supporters have gathered in places as far apart as the Royal Oak Public Library, a Traverse City tavern and a Houghton coffee house to get the latest campaign news, pick up yard signs and write letters to voters in other states.
Other campaigns are catching on to the campaign-building potential of the Meetups, which allow a candidate to use the Internet to draw interested voters to monthly meetings and build a base of volunteers who can donate money, make phone calls, hold informational meetings in their homes and recruit more supporters.
The meetings have been especially good at drawing in nontraditional voters. College students generally show up, and many of the others who attend say it's the first time they've participated in a campaign.
In Michigan, monthly Meetups are held by those supporting Dean, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas, U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
Dean has the most Meetup members in Michigan, and the most people attending the gatherings. A check of Meetup sites statewide showed at least 3,740 people registered to attend Dean Meetups, while Clark has about 1,300, Kerry about 615, Kucinich about 540 and Edwards around 100. [ed. note: so Kucinich has the fourth largest number of active supporters in Michigan, according to this measure, ahead of several "serious candidates". Who are the front-runners again?]
Nationally, more than 173,400 people have registered to attend a local Dean Meetup. Clark has around 56,400 supporters registered, while Kerry and Kucinich each have around 20,000 and Edwards has about 2,800, slightly higher than the 2,500 signed up to attend Meetups for the man they all hope to beat, President Bush.
On Monday, about 20 people pushed together five tiny tables at an East Lansing coffee shop and sat down with tall cups of java to talk about what they could do to sway more voters to support Clark.
Michigan is the first industrial swing state to hold its presidential caucuses, giving it a pivotal role in helping determine which of the Democrats will be the party's nominee.
"It's all about the Michigan caucuses," Meetup leader Karen Kanne Ngowe, a distant Clark cousin who lives in Lansing, said above the distraction of cell phone calls and conversations at nearby tables.
She held up ballot applications, urging people to distribute as many as possible and to persuade Clark supporters to vote now by mail or over the Internet rather than waiting for Feb. 7 caucuses.
"This is a campaign of handshakes and families and friends," she said, explaining how those attending could expand Clark's reach in Michigan. Clark supporters also planned to hold a separate Meetup with Hispanics in Lansing.
Two days later, hundreds of Dean supporters gathered in 20 cities statewide to write more letters on the candidate's behalf and find out plans for knocking on doors and holding informational meetings on Dean the final month of the campaign.
Among them were nearly 60 people who met at the Hannah Community Center Wednesday in East Lansing to watch a Dean video and pep talks from Dean's Iowa and New Mexico state directors.
Okemos psychiatrist Frank Ochberg, a former state mental health director, wrote his letters to Iowa and New Mexico voters, then headed home to cast his vote for Dean over the Internet.
"I think he (Dean) could be a little bit like Kennedy in reaching to a new generation," said Ochberg, 63, recalling how John F. Kennedy's speeches led him to go into the mental health field. "The issue is who inspires people."
Malek Towghi, a former Michigan State University humanities assistant professor who moved to East Lansing from Iran more than 25 years ago, went to two Meetups this past week: Dean's and Kucinich's, also at the Hannah Community Center.
Towghi said he'd wrestled with his decision over whether to back Kucinich or Dean, and ended up voting for Kucinich, despite concerns about the congressman's low showing in the polls.
"Morally, I thought I'd be guilty if I didn't vote for the best person," said Towghi, 69. He added that he could live with Dean getting the nomination, but isn't interested in the seven others in the race.
The meeting provided a chance for Towghi to meet two other Kucinich supporters — Aaron Stuttman and Mark Poletti — who agreed to help him hand out Kucinich literature and ballot applications at Michigan State.
Edwards supporters have met in Grand Rapids, Flint, Detroit and Southfield in recent months, said Michigan state director Derek Albert. Most meetings attract 40 to 50 people, although around 90 attended a recent Meetup in Grand Rapids.
Jaclyn Macek, coordinator of Michigan Students for Kerry at Michigan State University, generally heads up the Kerry Meetups in the Lansing area. Most aren't well attended, but the monthly meetings attract more supporters in Ann Arbor and the Detroit area.
With just weeks to go until the votes are counted in Michigan, every Meetup is focused on energizing volunteers. All five campaigns have one more Meetup scheduled before the Feb. 7 caucuses.
"It's likely that some candidates will drop out after Michigan," said Peter Ruark, the Ingham County coordinator for the Kucinich campaign. "Michigan can make or break some of these candidates."
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