Anti-Climacus

QUOTE: Ryan Lizza in TNR, on HoDo:

"For all the genius of the house parties, which the campaign says raised $500,000 from 22,000 people, they also provide evidence that the Dean campaign isn't really moving beyond its base. The campaign met its goal of attracting 450,000 online supporters by the end of September. Months ago, the campaign also set a goal of having one million online supporters by tonight. They're almost 450,000 people short of that goal. In September, the campaign also organized an evening of nationwide house parties, and Deaniacs responded by hosting 1,400 of them. The goal for last night was an ambitious 3,000 parties. "[I]t seems we will undoubtedly break our own record," one party-planning document on the Dean website explains. But Dean's supporters didn't even come close to the larger goal. Once again, there were 1,400 parties.

That far exceeds what any of the other campaigns are doing, but it does little to convince people that the Dean campaign is really moving beyond its now familiar base of college kids, urban young professionals, and latte-swilling social liberals. In small ways, even the slick house party kits confirm these stereotypes. They are tailored for people who live downtown in apartments and condos ("Is your buzzer clearly marked?"), people who immediately understand a reference to Craigslist.org, which the campaign suggests using."