Women's Leadership Forum: Howard Dean & David Plouffe

Right after Oprah, Howard Dean got up to speak at the Women's Leadership Forum.  He said, "I guess I've learned now never to follow Oprah."

Gov. Dean gave an update on how the funding from the Women's Leadership Forum had helped the Democratic Party's Fifty State Strategy to win congressional seats in Mississippi, Louisiana, and the governorship of Arizona. 

He mentioned a number of hotly contested races of Democratic women running for office around the country, including Kay Hagen in North Carolina, who is now running ahead of Elizabeth Dole for Senate.  He said that was due to 220,000 new Democrats registered in North Carolina, which will also help Bev Purdue, who is running for Governor there.  In New Hampshire, Gov. Jean Shaheen is running ahead of incumbent John Sununu in the polls for Senate.  He said all the Democratic down-ballot candidates are being helped by the Obama-Biden campaigning.

Dean said that one thing we could all do to help the party is to VOTE EARLY and encourage everyone we know to vote early as well to avoid potential problems on Election Day.

Next up was Obama Campaign Manager, David Plouffe.  I probably get 10 emails a week from this guy, and it was nice to finally see what he looks like, and hear that his name is pronounced like "Pluff" not "Ploof" as I thought.  You live, you learn.

David had a slide presentation of a map of the United States in various colors, red for strong McCain, dark blue for strong Obama, pink for leaning McCain, light blue for leaning Obama, and gray for toss-ups or battleground states.  He said that they have many paths to the 270 electoral voes needed to win the election, but McCain's path is narrowing.  The good news that McCain had pulled out of Michigan last week was a testament to all the hard work being done in that state.

He said that the McCain campaign would likely get nastier in the weeks to come and that we should "strap on our seatbelts, because it's going to be a rough ride." 

Plouffe's presentation was very straightforward, and though he had encouraging news, he also acknowledged that nothing is certain.  He wanted us all to work hard for the final push to November 4.  He encouraged everyone to use the Neighbor to Neighbor tools, and talk one-on-one with people in your neighborhoods, make phone calls, and reach out to people.