A birthday gift for Howard Dean

For the last couple days several ideas have been bantered about on DailyKos (and elsewhere, no doubt) regarding how to thank Howard Dean and the new, improved DNC for putting the 50 State Strategy into motion, and showing earlier-than-expected success with the 2006 election victories. Then, of course, today we learn James Carville thinks Dean has done such a great job that he should be replaced by Harold Ford. Many members of the D.C. Dem establishment just don't like Dean and seem to really get cheesed off by his success, as well as how much the rank-and-file Democrats love him. So, in order to say "Thanks, Howard!" and "F.U., James!" simultaneously, because we are efficient like that, we're organizing a birthday gift to Dr. Dean in the form of massive donations to the DNC to coincide with his birthday next Friday, November 17. Think in terms of the roses we inundated Senator Boxer with on Valentine's Day 2005.

First, I must stress that none of these ideas were mine. But so many are flying around that I thought it would be helpful to try to coordinate them somewhat. I certainly don't expect that everyone will follow them to the letter, that's just asking too much!

So far, the only thing everyone seems agreed upon is that we want to make the DNC contributions in time for Dr. Dean's birthday. The amounts and methods of delivery just differ. So far, proposed methods are:

• Send birthday cards to Dean at the DNC office by snail mail, with check or money order enclosed;
• Donate via The Bat, which someone started on their own and which has already raised over $4,000;
• Donate via the "We've Got Howard's Back" ActBlue page.

Proposed amounts are:

• $20.06, to signify the successes of this week;
• $20.08, in anticipation of even greater success in 2008;
• Any amount with 50 cents tacked on, in honor of the great 50 State Strategy

Just my .02: my personal favorite is a birthday card - made from recycled paper of course ;-) - with a check/MO donation. The beauty of this is it will make a big visual impact, good for PR purposes. However, this would rule out being able to put it on a credit card, and we couldn't time it so that all the cards got there right on his birthday, both of which could be accomplished via Web donations. However, I think if we just start mailing them tomorrow and over the next few days, they'll arrive throughout the week, and that would be fine.

I also prefer just adding on 50 cents to any amount. This makes it appealing to those who are tapped out from the past election cycle, but can still scrape up 5 or 10 bucks from someplace. If you can afford more, great - just add another .50 to it. And if you genuinely can't afford anything, just send a thank you note! I'm sure it will be appreciated just as much.

Honestly, though, as long as it pretty much coincides with Dr. Dean's birthday, I don't think the delivery method or amount matter a great deal. Naturally, the more we all try to do the same thing, the bigger impact it will have, but I don't think it's worth bickering over or going into major planning. (Mainly because I'm lazy, disorganized, and don't really feel like doing it. Heh.)

I'll update by Sunday evening with the final plan. I hope you all will consider participating! Dr. Dean has done a terrific job but just doesn't get the credit he deserves from his peers.