DVDS for America, DVDs for Democracy
(aka "Tales of a Recovering Dean Supporter")

(need to order a video? don't want to read all this right now?)

For many of us, Howard Dean was the first politician that inspired us to actually get heavily involved with political activism for the very first time. I happen to be one of those people.

I’ve always been interested in politics, but the extent of my involvement was voting on a semi-regular basis and writing an occasional letter to a politician, newspaper or corporate executive. In the early part of 2003, I was very angry about what was going on in my country, and Howard Dean was one of the few politicians that spoke my language.

The first time I saw Howard Dean was in Sacramento, California on March 15, 2003. The event was the California Democratic Party State Convention, and I happened to have a video camera with me. Unlike other politicians at that convention, Governor Howard Dean didn’t mince words with cute little side stories, tell jokes, or provide a “feel-good story” about a humble boy with big ambitions. He cut straight to the chase, and immediately addressed the most important topics of the day:

"What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting the President's unilateral intervention in Iraq?"

"What I want to know is what in the world so many Democrats are doing supporting tax cuts, which have bankrupted this country and given us the largest deficit in the history of the United States?"

Within a few weeks of the event, I posted the entire video clip of Governor Dean’s speech on a new website I created, followed by a DVD that I created on my newly-purchased computer. I also joined some local, statewide, and national Dean internet discussion groups. I attended events called “Meetups,” where I was pleasantly surprised to see my Sacramento footage widely shown in coffee shops, community centers, and sports bars.

I made a point of videotaping Howard Dean whenever he appeared in the San Francisco region. In the course of my travels, I even got noticed by Joe Klein of TIME magazine, who specifically named me as a “white, wired computer geek” in an article “Why Dean Isn’t Going Away.” I shot a lot of video footage of Howard Dean, and spent hundreds of hours editing programs that would be shared by fellow Dean supporters, via internet downloads, DVD-R technology, and VHS tape sharing. I encouraged people to duplicate my footage, and can safely say that my video programs were seen by hundreds of thousands of people that wanted a change in America. It was a hell of a ride, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

In January 2004, I was asked to assemble a special video program for the California Democratic Party State Convention in San Jose. I created a short 12 minute documentary of Howard Dean, utilizing footage I shot in the past year, and clips from the official announcement in Vermont. My documentary entitled “Howard Dean- Grassroots Gladiator” was premiered at the Camera Three Theatre in San Jose on January 18, 2004.

The very next day, the Iowa primary took place, and things went downhill after that point. One month later, Howard Dean withdrew from the race.

I have no doubt that the Dean campaign will be diagnosed, dissected, and over-analyzed for many years to come, as folks attempt to figure out what went right, and what went wrong. You can view my ongoing opinions on the situation at my EP-RANTS blog page.

On March 18, 2004, exactly one year and three days after I first saw Howard Dean, and one month after dropping out of the race, he returned to San Francisco to announce his new organization- “Democracy for America.” At the second stop of his 3-part announcement tour, San Francisco provided Governor Dean with an overflowing crowd of supporters eager to show their appreciation. Continuing the theme of empowerment, Howard Dean emphasized why his campaign wasn’t about Howard Dean, but about how the people united can truly make a difference to install a more accountable government. Speaking out on the issues that defined his candidacy, Governor Dean rallied the crowd around such topics as the economy, international diplomacy, health care, and real homeland security.

I produced a 43 minute, 3-camera video edit of this event, which I titled “Democracy for America- Part 2.” This program is available as a free download for anybody that has broadband access.
http://www.archive.org/movies/movies-details-db.php?collection=election_2004&collectionid=democracy-4A

My short Dean documentary, “Howard Dean- Grassroots Gladiator” is also available as a free download.
http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?collection=election_2004&collectionid=dean-grassroots

For those of you that would like to obtain these programs on either DVD-R, I am offering a few different options.

ORDER SOME DVDS

Democracy for America DVD
This is not an official product endorsed by the Democracy for America organization. I simply liked the title, and used it. The primary feature of this DVD is the 43 minute video production, “Democracy for America- Part 2.” I’ve included footage I shot of John Kerry when he appeared at the 2003 California Democratic Convention in Sacramento, and a collection of MoveOn Bush-in-30-Seconds contest entries. The official MoveOn DVD features 56 short films, while my DVD features 13 additional entries. All of these films have Creative Commons licenses, which means these productions can be freely shared as long they are not re-edited, or sold for commercial purposes.

Howard Dean- Grassroots Gladiator DVD
The focus of this DVD is the mini-documentary “Howard Dean- Grassroots Gladiator.” I’ve also included my video production of Dean’s environmental policy speech (July 2003), the finalists of the MoveOn Bush-in-30-Seconds contest, and a collection of television news clippings. My footage of Dean and the MoveOn entries are shared via Creative Commons licenses, while the television news clippings are shared under the “fair use” principle.

Donations are gladly accepted. If you downloaded the videos for free, or enjoyed videos I made in the past, and would like to express your appreciation for my work, I will gladly accept your money.

AUGUST UPDATE: Now, you can order a full-fledged John Kerry DVD!

DVDs are of the DVD-R variety, which may not play in older DVD machines. DVD-R was the first DVD recording format released that was compatible with standalone DVD players, and it is compatible with approximately 93% of all DVD players. Of all recordable DVD formats, DVD-R is the closest thing to a universal standard.

If you have any questions on DVD-R media, I encourage you to check out the "What is DVD R?"page at dvdrhelp.com. Exchanges may be available for defective media, but there shall be absolutely no refunds.

All of my orders are typically sent out within a few days of receiving payment, using first class mail. The standard shipping charge is $3 per orders under $50 within the USA. Those that desire priority mail delivery can upgrade for an additional $2.00. Every order has a tracking number that will be sent out to folks that pay with PayPal. I tend to ship out orders 1-2 times a week.

If you have any questions, please send me an email

OTHER WORTHY LINKS WORTH VIEWING:

JohnKerry.com

TooManyReasons.com

EP-RANTS (the blog)

A Case for a Better Democracy (a collection of presidential speeches on MP3 1933-1961)

TheFirst Tuesday.org

MoveOn PAC

Mainstream Moms Oppose Bush

Democracy for America

America Coming Together

Take Back the Media

The Smirking Chimp

The Page That Started it All..

All videos featured at this site are copyright Eric Predoehl, and are shared with others under a Creative Commons license. Videos cannot be used for commercial or broadcast purposes without written permission by Eric Predoehl