Democratic Boot Camp Trains New Generation of Politicos

[Kadie]

Democratic Boot Camp Trains New Generation of Politicos

JESSE HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, July 24, 2004

(07-24) 11:29 PDT BOSTON (AP) --

Move over, James Carville. More than 2,000 young Democrats drilled on Saturday to become future party politicos, complete with blogs, their omnipresent cell phones and unquenchable desire to get Democrats into office.

snip...
While the professional Democrats are celebrating over at the Fleet Center, young Democrats will be at the Hynes Convention Center learning the political skills they need to take home and work for Kerry and the Democrats.

Called the "Kicking Ass Training: 101 Days, 101 Ways to Victory," that boasts training sessions with names like "Takin' It To the Streets: Getting Out The Vote" and "Fear Factor: Campaign Finance 101," Democratic GAIN (the Grassroots Action Institute and Network), clearly wants to speak on the level of its 18-to-35 target audience.

snip...
When Teresa Vilmain, the Democratic National Committee's general election strategist, asked some wannabe operatives the best way to communicate with voters, she heard e-mail, snail mail, community meetings and speeches.

Then one guy shouted, "Message boards!"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/24/politics1429EDT0527.DTL