GOVERNOR DEAN BACK IN IOWA – PART II

 
At the Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner, June 11, 2005,
 are: (left to right) Caroline Vernon, Dr. Alta Price, Howard Dean,
 Molly Regan, and Chuck Galer.

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As promised, more pictures are here.  One week ago, a
large-sized group of IOWA Democratic Party activists listened and
watched as our FIESTY, COMPACT, TRUTH-TELLING,
BRING-YOUR-GAME-TO-THE-NEXT-LEVEL national chairman GOVERNOR HOWARD
DEAN brought us to our feet cheering and applauding.




GOVERNOR DEAN turned on the heat that evening.  He said we need to
speak boldly about who we are.  We are Democrats because of our
moral values.  Making sure kids do not go to bed hungry is a moral
value.  Moral values include personal responsibility and
individual freedom to make choices about our own lives regarding life
and death.
 



It is a moral value not to take money from someone who may try to
influence you.  Community is a moral value.  Honesty in
government is a moral value.  Social security is a moral
responsibility.  A responsibility not just to those elderly who
may not have enough income to live on, but it is also an obligation
that we each have to our parents and that we have to our
children.  These were just some of the more pointed moments of
GOVERNOR DEAN'S speech.




Making our presence known in every state is going to escalate according
to GOVERNOR DEAN.  We will have a consistent, concise message.




Also on the agenda that evening were the awards.  One of Democracy
for the Quad Cities' finest, CAROLINE VERNON, received the RISING STAR
award.  Her dedication to health care issues and the courage to
take on Nussle earned her the plaque.  She is seen here (on the right) receiving
the award from IOWA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR & LT. GOV. SALLY
PEDERSON.  Congratulations, Caroline! You looked stunning, and you
got to sit next to HOWARD!



Others in attendance were Elesha Gayman, Davenport, DEAN delegate to
the national convention and pictured with her (below) is PHIL SPECHT from
Clayton County.  Phil, a dairy farmer, is a member of the state
central committee and was very helpful to me when I conducted the
meeting of the DEAN delegates at district convention last year.

Here is a little blurb about Phil from Elesha… “I have had a great time bumping into my good old friend, one of Iowa's
official “Electors” and fellow Deaniac Phil Specht at various events
around the state in the past few weeks. This picture was taken at the
Iowa Democratic Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids on June 11th. Phil
was a tremendous help to the Clayton County Democrats during the
election and continues to go above and beyond the call of duty with all
of his activism. Phil, on behalf of forward thinking individuals
everywhere, thanks for all of your hard work!” -Elesha

Elesha Gayman and Phil Specht

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Several others who were there for the reunion with GOVERNOR DEAN were
(once again in no particular order) Buddy, Christina Butts, BFIA's Trish Nelson and Ellen Ballas, who co-coordinate Rapid Response – Iowa, Dick Stater (Linn Co. Dem Chair), Dave
Leshtz, David Loebsack, Sally Troxell, Sarah Swisher (Johnson Co. Dem Chair), and Dr. Julie Thompson, who bid on and
won the necktie signed by GOVERNOR DEAN.  Also on hand were Jeff
Goetz, Monica Kurth, and Sue Astley.  I apologize to those of you
whose names I have not mentioned.

Howard Dean with DFQC activist Cliff Day. Our thanks go out
to Cliff for providing us with these photos of the evening.

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Now that we have had our HOWARD fix for a while, it's time to continue
the GOOD FIGHT.  There is a lot to do locally and across the
state.  We have 4 to 5 people interested in the 1st congressional
seat since Nussle will be vacating it.  See, we do have good
things happen to us occasionally.  Now, on to keeping him away
from Terrace Hill.

Here, Dr. Alta Price's daughter, Meredith, is painting
the GOVERNOR's gloved hand.  IOWANS For
Health Care are obtaining palm prints from 18,000
people across the state to show that many IOWANS
are without health care.

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Reporting from Eastern IOWA, this is your DFIA environmentalist still
reminding you to:
CPR…CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE