2016 Postmortem

eridani

(51,907 posts) Thu Jul 2, 2015, 01:13 AM Jul 2015

The Dean Scream—what has changed since 2004?

Reposted by request from the Sanders forum--

Regardless of who your candidate was that year, if you posted on DU or Daily Kos, you knew perfectly well that the endless repetition of sound from a single mic seriously misrepresented the high level of ambient noise that Dean was trying to speak over. Posting this in the Sanders forum, but O’Malley can probably expect the neocons and Third Way types to cook up something like this for him as well. Dean’s campaign couldn’t deal with it in 2004. How can we deal with this in 2016?

Think of all that has changed since 2004. I attended my first Democratic Party caucus that year, and helped with the delegate allocation calculations. We collected email addresses, but about half of the attendees didn’t have email, or didn’t want to share the information. I didn’t have a cell phone until 2006. We collected some cell phone data, but the numbers were mostly landlines. The voter database that the state Democratic Party used was badly in need of updating. The use of Meetup software for organizing was state of the art revolutionary at the time.

We need to effectively blend old-fashioned doorbelling with social media outreach. I think we can do an end run around the MSM and the party hierarchy. Look at what has happened since 2004.

YouTube went public in 2005

Facebook was an Ivy League hookup app until 2006, when it was opened to the general public.

Twitter first went online in 2006

Blackberry PDAs and various precursors to modern smartphones were in use in the early 00s, but widespread smartphone usage did not take off until the iPhone in 2007 and Android phones in 2008.

Now that everyone can be a media outlet, our public discourse on race has been completely altered. Many white people knew about the school to prison pipeline and overpolicing of people of color before, but this was mostly just intellectual. A constant stream of videos of police abuse has finally connected on a gut level—not only can people of color more effectively mobilize public outrage, but more and more white people are really mad about this now, and not just intellectually. #BlackLivesMatter could not exist without modern social media.

The 2008 Clinton campaign was run as if it happened in 1996. I’m sure she has learned something from that, but Samders supporters are far more energetic and committed, and that will count for a lot. We should be able to make antidotes to any “Dean Scream” moment go viral very quickly.

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The Dean Scream—what has changed since 2004? (Original Post) eridani Jul 2015 OP

The Dean campaign helped build technology for campaigns. Brand new campaign type. madfloridian Jul 2015 #1

I think most voters now are less swayed by corporate media. lovemydog Jul 2015 #2

The generational divide is actually those in the middle with job and family responsibilities-- eridani Jul 2015 #3

Oh, interesting and good point eridani. lovemydog Jul 2015 #5

The American people are more liberal. n/t Admiral Loinpresser Jul 2015 #4

I think so, too. madfloridian Jul 2015 #6

Plus the blogosphere is much more influential, Admiral Loinpresser Jul 2015 #7

madfloridian

(88,117 posts)

1. The Dean campaign helped build technology for campaigns. Brand new campaign type.

Reply to eridani (Original post)

Thu Jul 2, 2015, 01:18 AM

Jul 2015

Think of all that has changed since 2004. I attended my first Democratic Party caucus that year, and helped with the delegate allocation calculations. We collected email addresses, but about half of the attendees didn’t have email, or didn’t want to share the information. I didn’t have a cell phone until 2006. We collected some cell phone data, but the numbers were mostly landlines. The voter database that the state Democratic Party used was badly in need of updating. The use of Meetup software for organizing was state of the art revolutionary at the time.

Nice post.

lovemydog

(11,833 posts)

2. I think most voters now are less swayed by corporate media.

Reply to eridani (Original post)

Thu Jul 2, 2015, 01:24 AM

Jul 2015

There is more social media that can correct that nonsense (I mean, the way corporate media tried to run Dean down) and quickly.

There is also more consciousness of wealth inequality now. Occupy Wall Street really helped raise everyone's awareness of it, and also it has grown to absolute crisis that must be fixed.

Maybe less of a generational divide too, in the sense that the younger people I know don't care if you're old or young or make a mistake or whatever. They want to see how committed you are to genuine change.

Also, I thank and credit Dean supporters for laying the grass-roots groundwork that helped elect President Obama and Vice President Biden. I have nothing but respect for Howard Dean and his supporters!

eridani

(51,907 posts)

3. The generational divide is actually those in the middle with job and family responsibilities--

Reply to lovemydog (Reply #2)

Thu Jul 2, 2015, 01:32 AM

Jul 2015

--sitting things out. Understandably. Sanders meetings in my area tend to be divided between old retired farts like me who still think that the New Deal was a good idea, and Millenials angered by income inequality, police violence and climate change. Defending Social Security trends older, and fighting student debt younger, but the pattern still holds.