Chairman Dean in Palm Springs

This is a nice write-up of a private fundraising stop by the DNC Chair in Palm Springs, and the connection between his message and the message we present almost every day on this site is striking.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says his party will need more outreach than money to win California in 2008.

The former presidential candidate and Vermont governor was in Palm Springs Saturday for a private fund raiser, as reported on thedesertsun.com Saturday.

"The strategy in California is not to spend $30 million on television," said Dean, who addressed the media outside.

"People want to be contacted door to door, and they want to be contacted on the Internet, and they want their opinions to matter," he said.

"If we don't start doing grassroots politics in California, we're not going to be able to count on California in the foreseeable future."

A-frickin-men.

Taking this state for granted the past 16 years has led to an apathetic voter class, a Republican governor, and a general weakening of the state Democratic Party. There's no cohesion because there's no outreach beyond the big urban centers. The fact that Dean made this pitch in Palm Springs is in itself significant.

Kevin Corcoran, a sales and marketing consultant, said he hosted Dean's reception in his Palm Springs home "to begin the conversation for 2008."

Too often, he said, candidates bypass the valley and head to Los Angeles for outreach and fund-raising efforts.

"It's a great opportunity for the people in our community - the access to Dean to learn about what he's doing, what the party's doing and start to develop a point of view," Corcoran said.

We need a 58-county strategy in California for the future of the party. The demographic shifts are tremendous and we need to go where the people are going; namely, to the interior counties that offer the best chance for party growth.

Fortunately, the burgeoning of the state progressive blogosphere and other outreach developments have given Democrats across the state the opportunity to band together and offer a real alternative. But this is only a beginning.

I hope Gov. Dean attends the CDP convention and makes it just as clear there how we need to mimic his "Be everywhere" strategy for this state, which is a message that Art Torres and everyone in the Party must internalize.