Dean's national campaign finds its grass roots

The candidate's support in the county grows as the Web connects local Democrats to others around the country.

INVERNESS - Most political observers are following the Iowa caucuses, which took place Monday, and the New Hampshire primary, which will be later this month. But with the Florida primary set for March 9, local supporters of Howard Dean are working hard to win over Citrus County voters.

Through the use of Dean's campaign Web site, www.deanforamerica.com a small faction within Citrus has formed and built a network. Rather than rely on Dean groups in Tampa or Ocala, Citrus residents have established their own "meetups" for Dean, similar to those held nationwide.

Although the January meetup was rather small, it has the potential to expand: About 40 local residents are registered on the Dean Web site.

These meetups were designed by the Dean campaign to allow his supporters to connect locally and brainstorm effective strategies to disseminate information locally. This innovative combination of the Internet and grass roots politics has gained Dean national attention - and support.

"Until Dean came out with this Web site, I didn't even know how to begin to participate," said Bobbie Schoss. Now Schoss and her husband, Norm, are coordinators of the Citrus County Meetup.

"Howard Dean hit the ground running with the use of the Internet," said meetup attendee Barb Naslund. "Before this group formed, I felt like a lost child crying in the wilderness."

A typical meetup consists of a dialogue centered on current events and the progress of the Dean campaign, as well as work on a letter-writing campaign.

"The Dean campaign furnishes you with the names and addresses of registered Democrats and then you're encouraging them to back Dean in the (Iowa) caucus and New Hampshire primary," Norm Schoss said.

"It's person-to-person. We give our return address and invite them to respond if they wish," his wife added. "The first one I did felt really powerful. It was an interesting experience. I felt like I was actually doing something productive."

While deriving a sense of empowerment through activist efforts, these Dean supporters also discuss the differences between Dean and the rest of the Democratic hopefuls. As first-time meetup attendee Dave Jorstad said, "The rest of them are all the same as Bush, except for Dean and (Dennis) Kucinich."

"He's a fresh face. He's not the same old same old," Naslund said. "The Democrats in Washington are one and the same."

The Citrus County Meetup provides a forum where attendees can share their grievances with the Bush administration. "I feel like I'm going to be flogged if I open my mouth around Republicans," Naslund said. "All Bush's speeches are gloom and doom. You feel good after hearing a Howard Dean speech. You don't feel like the world's going to end tomorrow."

The meetup attendees said they believed the Dean Web site has been an unprecedented effort to reach out to all Americans. "Dean wants to bring us all together and not polarize us the way Bush does," Bobbie Schoss said. "He wants to unify the country."

For those interested, the Citrus County Meetup for Dean is held at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the Happy Dayz Diner on U.S. 41 S in Inverness.

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