Brenda Stardom [ PUNX FOR DEAN and Kimmy Cash ]

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Last 15 Articles

14-1-2004 - PUNX FOR DEAN and Kimmy Cash

12:43 pm GMT

I spotted a post on a punk message board from some old friends, read it, and went to the site to which it referred - punxfordean.org. Wow is all I can say. I first clicked a link to an article about the person who singlehandedly began this political punk movement, Kimmy Cash, to learn a little more about her. Wow, again.

"To understand the Howard Dean phenomenon, you have to break out of the usual paradigm of candidates running for office and look beyond to people like Kimmy Cash. Cash is a 28-year-old punk from Ontario, California, who first heard about Howard Dean at an anti-war rally back in February. After meeting him in late September – by crashing the VIP section of a Dean event at Union Station – she decided he was the coolest politician she had ever come across, and determined right there she was going to help him become the next president of the United States. Her mission: To politicize America’s two million or so punks, most of whom are young, disaffected, and would never normally dream of voting for anyone. The way she figured it, if America’s punks got their act together – decided, in her words, to stop saying “fuck the system” and tried instead to change it – they would be numerous enough to tip the entire balance of national politics.

The night she got home from Union Station, she set up an unofficial website called punxfordean.com. Soon, she was spending her weekend nights roving the punk venues of the Inland Empire – places like Gotham and Lyrics, located in and around San Bernardino – to distribute flyers and spread the word. And the message caught on. Spectacularly.

Three months on, she has a staggering 13,000 volunteers in all 50 states, Howard Dean tattoos on both her forearms, and is busy planning a nationwide series of concerts to get both bands and punk fans committed to the cause. Everyone who attends the concerts will be required to register to vote, and she intends to have registration forms on hand for anyone who has not done so. “Nobody’s ever tapped into this demographic before, and it kicks ass,” she said. “People are signing up all the time, and I’m getting 60 or 70 new e-mails each day from people who say they love it.""

I wrote her, congratulating her on such an undertaking and labor of love, and heard back swiftly. I swear, I could feel the high she was on just by reading her reply. As coincidence or synchronicity would have it, I just now got a signal that I had mail and it was from Kimmy Cass. I love this kind of stuff. In its entirety.

"----- Original Message -----
From: Punx for Dean
To: brenda@somewhereoutthere.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2004 5:01 AM
Subject: punx for dean joins the dean camp!

Punx for Dean get's on board the Southwest Victory Express!

Punx for Dean is teaming up with the Dean Camp and other Dean supporters! On the weekend of Jan 30th we will be going to Santa Fe New Mexico to help Dean WIN this state! Remember that Al Gore carried this state by only 322 votes in 2000. We don't have time to mess around. Punx for Dean volunteers can make New Mexico a landslide win for Dean.

We need to get there and get out the vote! We are going to help New Mexico with precinct walking. There are other weekends and states available if you can't make this one. In addition, Punx for Dean is throwing a gig! This is a major press event and we will be filming for our documentary Nicole Panter, former manager of The Germs will also be attending and speaking at the gig! Last minute details are being worked on now. We will update ASAP.

To sign up or find out more about the Southwest Victory Express, go to http://swve.deanforamerica.com/forms/notification. Please remember to check that you are riding with Punx for Dean when you fill out the form! Buses are paid for, food is paid for and lodging (with other supporters) is being taken of as well! Free trip, gig AND a bus full of Punx for Dean volunteers getting rid of Bush!? What more could we ask for?! Sign up and ++EMAIL++ me if you are coming!

Sign up everyone you know~~

http://swve.deanforamerica.com/forms/notification

xoxo
Kimmy Cash
So Cal Regional Committee
Founder, Punx for Dean
Founder, Hip Hoppers for Dean
Co-Founder S.H.A.R.P.for Dean
Member Dean Core Network
(The Urban Outreach!)
-http://www.punxfordean.org/deancore.html
-http://www.punxfordean.org
-http://www.hiphoppersfordean.org
-kimmy@punxfordean.org

All I can say is, you go girl. What an inspiration she is. I haven't seen this level of dedication or such emotion for a cause in anyone else. Nope, no one comes close. This is as grassroots as it gets. Oh, to believe that strongly in something. The site itself is so cool, colorful without being obnoxious, perfectly punk. Whoa, she's had more publicity since my last visit, not just from a small Los Angeles paper, either, the UK, Germany and Ireland plus MTV. The LA Times did an somewhat amusing piece though the title is condescending and sucks, "Whither the 'left-wing freak show'?", about the search for a the kind of person sneered and maligned on an elderly husband and wife anti-Dean ad. Cass was his discovery.

DailyKos reported December 29, 2003:

"A few months ago, Kimmy Cash was just another disaffected 28-year-old California punk with a pierced nose looking for a cause to believe in. Then she stumbled on Howard Dean, the man who would be George W Bush's Democratic challenger in next November's presidential election, and her life changed in dramatic and unexpected ways.

She didn't just become a convert, converts being part and parcel of any half-decent campaign for high political office. She didn't just become a volunteer, because the word volunteer suggests someone who licks envelopes or makes phone calls at the candidate's behest. Rather, she has turned into the queen of her own pet enterprise, which is to politicise America's two million punks and get them interested in electoral politics for the first time in their lives."

I have to confess that I've never seen Howard Dean on TV -- just in pictures online -- and since I don't live in the states anymore I don't see the news, ads or debates, so I'm not qualified to make any endorsements. My focus and reason for this is that it comes from the wonderful world of punk, hopefully dispelling urban legends and myths about the scene and shining more light on the unity that exists. Wrapping up with something from punxfordean.org.

"If you haven't yet heard.. we are creating a 'zine "Voices from the Underground" to better reach those that DO NOT have computers. It's also a way for our rad volunteers to show their creativity and have it handed out to THOUSANDS. This is your chance to REPRESENT your local scene/band and/or yourself! The Dean Scene Zine will be available for download IN the downloads section for you to grab and hand out!" There's also a call for bands in many genres to participate in CD's and shows. Take a look, there's too much there to list.

"We are more powerful than people might like to think."
--Kimmy Cash

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