And this just in from Howard tonight!

The Democratic Party
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We're going to show that the 50-state strategy has the financial backing of ordinary Democrats across the country, and we're going to do it in a new way -- we're going to count the number of people donating on our web site, and reveal the amount at the end. Will you stand up and be counted? http://www.democrats.org/peoplecount

Dear Lonnie,

I want to write to you today about a problem. I talk a lot about the successes of our 50-state strategy and ways you can get involved. But today I want to talk very frankly about the obstacles we still face.

We have seen so much rapid progress in so many places (sweeping four special elections in Mississippi, flipping three state legislature seats in New Hampshire that had been Republican-held for nearly 100 years) that it's easy to forget that the 50-state strategy is a controversial plan.

It boils down to this: participation politics. We're building an entirely new kind of political party -- one where every single person matters as much as the next, where each one of us has the power to take our future into our own hands. It's a new way of operating, but we know it will work because we believe in the extraordinary potential of millions of Americans united in common cause to make our country better.

We are at a crucial moment in our party's history, and it's up to us to show that the 50-state strategy has the financial backing of ordinary Democrats across the country. But we're going to do it in a new way -- we're going to count the number of people donating on our web site, and reveal the amount at the end.

Will you stand up and be counted? We're aiming for 5,000 donations for a 50-state strategy. Make a donation to support a 50-state strategy now, and watch the number grow as Democrats across the country join you:

http://www.democrats.org/peoplecount

For most of us the 50-state strategy seems pretty obvious: a truly national party must build the infrastructure to fight everywhere for every level of office, period. The Republicans realized this over 30 years ago and have a monopoly on our government because of it.

We have a moral obligation to build a party infrastructure that can compete with what they have created. The bad news is that they have a 30-year head start on us. But the good news is that our movement will grow faster and stronger. We've made history leveraging the Internet to turn online action into offline results -- whether though your record-breaking small-dollar donations last year or the national organizing events like the 50-state canvass.

We are transforming the political landscape by building a party that focuses on people. People are deciding to take back our political process, and they are discovering that when many of us act together we can organize more people and raise more money than our party ever has before.

The only way we can change the Democratic Party is to keep proving again and again that we will not be silent, and that we are going to change the way we do business. Make your donation to support the 50-state strategy now:

http://www.democrats.org/peoplecount

Some critics say that our early investments in a permanent ground operation will hurt our chances to win this year.

That's a false choice. The fact is that our 50-state strategy has already laid a nationwide foundation for victory this year, in 2008 and beyond. Unprecedented organizing at the local level has already fielded more candidates for office and more competitive races up and down the ballot than anyone could have imagined.

Our work now will have a huge impact in November -- the difference is that unlike spending everything on TV ads that literally evaporate after Election Day, our operation will keep growing.

After this November, and for many Novembers to come, people will look back on this time as the moment when Democrats decided to get up and fight -- and started winning.

With a donation now, during this drive for the 50-state strategy, you can say that you knew the 50-state strategy would work, and that you made it happen:

http://www.democrats.org/peoplecount

For the next two weeks you're going to be hearing a lot from us -- facts about the 50-state strategy and testimonials from the ground across the country about how it's already working.

Please take the time to forward this message. Now is the time to get the word out: we have a choice to build a new Democratic Party and a new way of doing business, and it's up to ordinary Democrats to stand up and be counted to make it happen.

Thank you for your leadership.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.