Local Dean group fighting onward

Howard Dean supporters gathered at the Monroe County Public Library Wednesday for a voter drive. The group, which calls itself the Bloomington Dean Supporters, will be sending postcards to undecided registered voters in Wisconsin and Virginia and calling voters in Michigan urging them to vote for Gov. Dean in the primaries and caucuses to be held the next week. \n"Every win matters," said Eldon Robison, the Indiana deputy coordinator, to the supporters. "There are rights for people living in this country, and there are responsibilities for people living in this country."\nThe Michigan caucus allows people to register to vote up until the last day, and BDS members will be getting people registered and offering people rides to the polls, Robison said.\n"This has been an Internet-heavy campaign," he said. "We've raised $45 million (nationally) through this campaign."\nPeople who come to the meetings have different levels of involvement, Robison said.\n"Sometimes people decide to be heavily involved, and sometimes they don't," he said. \nThe supporters began meeting monthly as of April 2003. \n"We've done quite a lot of things, like sending people to Iowa," said Jennifer Perry, a volunteer for BDS. "We're trying to get the word out." \nThe group organizes its own meetings, but the national campaign tells the group where to focus its voter-drive efforts.\n"I think a lot of people wait until the democratic nominee is chosen (before voting)," Perry said. "It seems easier to wait it out, but I wish people were more interested."\nDebra Marr, a volunteer for BDS, travels to Bloomington from Morgan County to attend the meetings. She has been supporting Dean since May.\n"(This group) gives me hope," said Debra Marr. "I really think (Dean's) our only hope for real change because he's willing to do something that's not popular, but is right."\n-- Contact nation & world editor Obaid Khawaja at okhawaja@indiana.edu.