Howard Dean: Democracy must be nurtured

[Update: I posted pictures of the Austin Register for Change rally to my Picasa albums -bmk]

Greetings from Austin! I am currently working in the DFA booth here at Netroots Nation, encouraging people to sign our giant thank you card to Howard Dean. I've managed to swipe quite a bit of swag for my fellow DFMC-ers, so I'll return to Bloomington bearing gifts.

This morning was some of the informal caucus meetings, and the big DFA caucus is tonight.

At noon, there was a rally in the little park across the street, featuring the Chairman of the Texas Democratic party and Howard Dean. Ostensibly, Dean was encouraging people to register to vote - but as he's always said, voting is the bare minimum of democratic participation. The general theme of Dean's remarks, though, was that democracy has to be nurtured. It isn't enough to work to get people elected. After the election, we have to continue to work to secure the future of America.

That is the vision I have for Democracy for Monroe County - to become the organization that provides a consistent progressive voice in local and state politics.

I'll update the site with pictures later, and fill you in on Governor Dean's keynote address tonight.