I was curious about the Howard Dean rally Tuesday night in Bryant Park, so I walked by to check it out. As I was heading into the park, volunteers were herding people into two lines: one for people who had "pre-registered", and one for people who hadn't. If you didn't register for the rally, either on the spot or in advance, they didn't let you into the park.

I'd gotten numerous e-mails from the Dean campaign urging me to register for the rally, but I didn't realize that it was compulsory. I'll admit to not reading the fine print here, but I figured that they were asking folks to RSVP ahead of time so they'd have an idea of the expected turnout, and to get people to commit to attending.

I didn't want to register, for various reasons (privacy, general lack of enthusiasm for registering anywhere, the fact that my media-organization employer doesn't like its employees to publicly support political candidates, being tired from a long day at work and not relishing the thought of standing in a long line), so I decided to skip the rally and thus headed home. I have some unanswered questions, however:
--There's a longstanding tradition of anonymity in American democracy, most notably in the rules guaranteeing a secret ballot. Is Dean not in favor of this? (Yes, I'm aware that I'm making an absurd argument here, and that attendance at a rally is not the same as voting. It still strikes me as hinky, though.)
--The campaign already knows that I'm a supporter; I gave them my e-mail address. I'm in their database already -- why do I need to sign up somewhere ELSE? I asked a couple different volunteers about this, and no one had an answer.
--Bryant Park is a public park, as far as I know. Could the Dean campaign limit access to it?

I'm not exactly out to pull a Gilmore over this. But having to give my name (even a fake one) in order to attend a public political event -- for a candidate that I'm not sure I'm even going to vote for -- seems odd, and certainly contrary to the grassroots spirit of the Dean campaign.

Comments

[dong resin]

You're not making an absurd argument, treating a campaign like census is a great way to lose inbetweeners, vital to a win. This is why I never buy shit at Radio Shack. Inwardly you resent shouldering the burden of their information gathering efforts. Not very savvy.

[cowboy_sally]

K tried to convince me to go to it, but I'm not one for rallies. Unless they're demo derby rallies.

him: Do you want to go to the Howard Dean rally tonite?

me: that's the guy who sang "No One is to Blame," right?

him: Um.

me: or is it the guy who played the dad in Pretty in Pink?

him: RAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[dong resin]

No, that was Dean Jones, who I think is also notorious for having sex with a passed out Sammy Davis Jrs' hollow eye socket.

[Valerie]

I heard on the radio 16,000 people showed up for the rally and that there was free beer. Perhaps that's what the registration was for.

[Antigiest]

You asked if the Dean Campaign can limit access to a public space...to which the answer is yes. Part of my job is getting permits from the city, so he (his campain folks, whatever) had to have a rough estimate of the turnout to know how many police, insurance policies, stantions, etc to provide. However the personal information of the attendees is in no way necessary to obtain a permit. You just need a number. That's all. They could have refused to let you in because they had passed their people-limit, but not because you wouldn't register.

You were right. They just wanted your info. And like Dong said, no one want's to give up a cheek-swab just to buy a f**king battery, certainly not to participate in something historically, constitutionally, anomyous.

[Vidiot]

Thanks for the info, Antigeist.

They could have refused to let you in because they had passed their people-limit, but not because you wouldn't register.

I can certainly understand that. But I would have thought that the people in charge of denying access to the park in the event of it being over-full would be NYPD, not Dean campaign volunteers. As I understand it (and as you point out above), part of the reason you have to estimate potential turnout in applying for an event permit is so they can see how much of a police presence to schedule.

[rene' in Texas]

...from volunteering at Dean rallies, the sign IN is for a an accurate head count...put pinocchio on there if you want to, you dont have to sign UP for Dean , when you sign in...dont have to put your email or anything, just take a slip they can count, or however they were doing it, no , signing ON is not compulsory, the signing IN is a requirement for an accurate Headcount, better to tell if the estimates are right...next time, sign IN Online, and you can choose how much info you give, it's casual..i dont know what the 'volunteers' were telling you, but the campaign doesnt want to force anyone to "sign UP" for Dean...
i'm sorry your experience was so unpleasant...i am always very careful about folks privacy and try to word it so that they know anything beyond the bare bones info is entirely voluntary.

[jonmc]

Stop with the rally-going. It only encourages them.