Remember those heady days of 2004, when the Democrats thought they might have had a chance to take back the White House with Howard Dean? Well, we all know how that turned out. But it turns out a bunch of people took that whole grassroots, Internet, "taking back the Democratic wing of the Democratic party" stuff seriously enough that they started a group called Democracy for America, dedicated to furthering the mission throughout all levels of politics -- from local to state to national. Members of their local branch, SF for Democracy, were kind enough to sit down with SFist and outline what exactly it is they do.

[*disclosure: your correspondent has met some, but not all, of these interviewees socially before -- but is not a member of either SF for Democracy or Democracy for America.]

So do I understand that one of you has a Howard Dean Scream cell phone ring tone? Where do you download that?
Will Easton (communications director): That's me. www.jivjiv.com/deantones. It used to be free, but unfortunately they forced me to start charging 99 cents for it.

What's your group's mission, and how do you differentiate yourselves from other local political groups in San Francisco?
WE: We want to take back citizens' ownership of our democracy by mobilizing grassroots participation in the political process. About half of eligible Americans do not vote -- that's a huge problem. San Francisco is a little better -- but we have a ton of room for improvement.

Picture of Will Easton and Howard Dean from the SF For Democracy website.

More of SF For Democracy's thoughts on local independent grassroots politics after the jump!