Howard Dean was running late (don't politicians always run late?). Turns out his plane arrived on time but he took the A train from Kennedy Airport to the F train…
And you know the subway. Especially on an inclement day.
Rain was pouring down and fifty or so Skaller supporters and press squeezed into the small temporary storefront office of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) waiting for the man who might have been president had it not been for a scream.
The excitement was tangible. Today is the first day of petitioning and the candidate must get 900 signatures on petitions to get his name on the primary ballot in September. The training has been done and his troops are going door to door tonight. This morning they had volunteers at every F train station in the district, as well.
But Sunday's announcement that Howard Dean was coming to Park Slope to endorse Skaller added even more enthusiasm to an already exciting and competitive race.
"As soon as Dr. Dean gets here we'll start," Chris Owens, Skaller's campaign manager, told the crowd. Skaller supporters walked around the room with green petitions and encouraged people to sign for Skaller, Jo Anne Simon (the candidate in the 33rd council district endorsed by CBID), Tony Avela (candidate for mayor) and other candidates.
"I'm stalling here," Owens said.
"Do you know how to tap dance?" someone in the crowd asked. Owens laughed.
"How many of you were with Dr. Dean from the beginning? I shouldn't ask this but how many of you were with Obama from the beginning/ I know many in this room were," he said.
"He's here," someone shouted from outside. "But he's talking to someone. Just like a politician."
Finally Howard Dean looking fit and thin in a red tie and a blue suit entered the small storefront. He gave Skaller a big hug as Owens introduced the man the crowd was waiting for.
"This man will always be our hero, Dr. Howard Dean," Owens said excitedly.
"The first thing Josh should do is fix the A train and the F train. Actually the subway is pretty good. But it could always be better," Dean said by way of an introduction.
"I work for Democracy for America and we're endorsing Josh Skaller for City Council in the 39th district because he's a real community organizer from the grass roots. He's worked with CBID knocking on doors. And we're going to need someone like him in the City Council to fight, well, we don't even know who's going to be mayor yet. And to help in the state senate (we'll have plans for them later)," Dean said referring to Monday's defection of two democratic state senators to the other side of the aisle in Albany.
"We want Josh to do well. He's a person who does grassroots. He's independent minded. On the streets all the time, knocking on doors. We need independent minds like Josh’s in the City Council," Dean said and then introduced Skaller as "the next councilman from the 39th District, Josh Skaller."
Skaller delivered a strong stump speech obviously fueled by the excitement of having his hero's endorsement.
"If it weren't for Howard Dean I wouldn't be here…"
He hit on most of the points I've heard him discuss at the forums but his speaking style is much stronger in front of a crowd of supporters.
"We have the largest number of independent donors. But not the most money per donor – something I'm very proud of. We're interested in one person at a time. No one big developer at a time."
The first question from the press was about the double endorsement of Skaller and Lander. Dean was open and forthcoming in his explanation of a sticky situation.
"I was at a party for Jerrold Nadler {Representative of the
8th District of New York} and I met Brad Lander and he volunteered for me for president and I told him that I
would not endorse anyone in his City Council race. Then I found out
that it was the race that Josh is in. If I was more of a research
oriented person and had done my homework I wouldn't have spoken so
fast. It's a delicate situation. So I'm personally going to endorse
both Josh and Brad. But the Democracy for America (DFA) endorsement is for
Josh and Josh only. They're both good progressive candidates and no one
working for them was willing to say anything about the other candidate.
But the DFA chapter is here is one of the most active and we want to
see progressive people run for office…"
Eventually Skaller, Dean and a gaggle of supporters marched over to the 9th Street subway station and waitied for commuters to enter the 9th Street F train station in front of Smiling Pizza. There wasn't much of a crowd as it was around 10 am and rush hour was over but Dean did shake hands with a handful of startled commuters.
"Hello, I'm Howard Dean and I'm supporting this man, Josh Skaller who is running for City Council."
Some of the younger commuters seemed not to know who Howard Dean was. Some commuters did whatever they could to walk out of the way of the Skaller supporters and the man with the red tie and the blue umbrella. Others were excited to meet an American hero.
While waiting for more subway commuters to arrive Dean made small talk:
"I remember standing at the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue subway station with Ed Koch and him saying. 'How'm I doing? How'm I doing?'"
A reporter asked him about living in NYC:
"I went to Columbia, then to Albert Einstein for Medical School, I worked on Wall Street. But after 1978 I never came back," he said happily.
I asked him if he was endorsing any other City Council candidates in NYC.
"I'm not. But DFA has a whole list of endorsements. They do it through a process. That's how they endorsed Josh. Through a process."
"Do you usually endorse city council campaigns?" I asked.
"Not really. Were you at the press conference before? Did you hear what I said about Brad Lander?
I told him I heard.
"Turns out Brad gave money to my campaign, too. He worked for me. It's a delicate situation. But I think I handled it right."
I asked Dean and Skaller what they were doing next. Were they going to hang out all day or what?.
"I have a bunch of appointments. None of them work related. I'm meeting with an interesting guy, a very important guy who made a lot possible. He's a real link between our campaign and now. His name is Joe Rospars, who started Blue State Digital. He helped online with my campaign, the DNC," he told me.
"You know I don't believe in the great person theory of history. I believe in the grassroots. The people. Six years ago I listened to what the young people were saying. And that's how I got in."
Later a video reporter asked him why people should sign Josh's petiton to be on the ballot:
"You can let democracy wither by not being involved. But by getting involved you insure that hardworking, grassroots people will get into government."
It was time for Dr. Dean to be on his way. He shook hands with Skaller and wished him well. And then he disappeared into the F train station on his way to another meeting in the day in the life of Howard Dean.
Afterwards standing in front of Smiling Pizzeria I asked Skaller if Dean's double endorsement made the endorsement by his hero any less sweet.
"Not really. I'm just glad to have had him here and the endorsement of a great grassroots progressive like him." Skaller told me with a big smile.