About DFA-Marin
The History of DFA-Marin
You cannot tell the history of Democracy For America-Marin without
mentioning the name Howard Dean. It was Howard Dean who convinced us
that our grassroots efforts could make a difference. It was Howard Dean
who taught us that we have to fight to change America for the better,
and it was Howard Dean who told us that we have the power to take our
country back.
Although DFA-Marin was officially started in December of 2004, the idea
of it first came into being with Howard Dean's campaign to win the
Democratic nomination for President. For many of us the adventure began
in March of 2003 when we tuned into Meet The Press and were astounded
to see this feisty, little-known, former Governor from a tiny New
England state saying what no other Democrat had had the nerve to say
during the past 3 years - President Bush's domestic policies were an
absolute disaster for the country and that it was wrong for the
President to send troops to Iraq. Iraq was not a threat to the United
States.
Naturally, all the pundits declared that the poor naïve Governor had
just committed political suicide and that his candidacy was dead in the
water. However, thousands of people who were watching disagreed. They
appreciated his honesty and were bowled over by his courage. The
mainstream media may have disdained him, but the Internet was only too
happy to trumpet his cause. With energized grassroots support and a
powerful new political tool, Dean For America was born.
From the summer of 2003 until January 2004, Governor Dean and his
supporters had quite an amazing ride, and although he was not able to
win the Democratic nomination for President, Governor Dean's candidacy
rejuvenated the party and attracted millions of new and highly
motivated voters. It was clear to the Governor that all of this newly
organized grassroots energy should not be allowed to dissipate and go
away. He converted Dean For America into Democracy For America, an
extremely pro-active, socially-progressive, fiscally-responsible,
political organization, dedicated to fighting the influence of the
radical Conservative agenda. One of the first things they did as an
organization was identify candidates across the country running for
local, state and national offices, who subscribed to the DFA principles
of governing. Those candidates became officially known as the "Dean
Dozen", although there were actually 102 of them in all. Of the 102 DFA
endorsed candidates, 33 were elected to office, some in states like
Utah, New Mexico, Mississippi, Georgia and many other places that
hadn't elected a Democrat to any office in many years.
Since the election, an astonishing number of DFA's have sprung up from
one end of the United States to the other. The membership is now larger
than the original Dean For America membership and steadily growing
every day. Howard Dean has recently left DFA to become Chairman of the
Democratic National Committee, but his brother, Jim Dean, has stepped
in to head DFA and insure that it remains true to its goals and ideals.
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