This is why I like Dean......

Don

Howdy from Massachusetts to all. I guess because this is my first post (I've been reading the forum for a few weeks), I cannot start my own thread, but I think what I want to say basically fits under this post.

I do not think Howard Dean can generate more than 30% of the vote in any state in a Democratic Primary. I think he already peaked his support, and is past the point of getting new voters, now his has to win back his old ones. Where JFK appeals to a wide range of voters because of his steady hand, Dean seems to appeal only to the most angry, the most disenfranchised.

I went to NH on primary day to volunteer for JFK, and my experience led me both to further support his candidacy and hope that Dean does not win the nomination. There seemed to be a lack of civility around Dean supporters (I cannot speak to all of them, but I did meet quite a few) that, if off putting to me-an 18 year old liberal democrat-I am sure will be, and is, off-putting to voters going to vote. At one point during the day, my friends and I were going back to JFK volunteer HQ for lunch, leaving Kerry somewhat lacking in visibility at the polling station. I commented on it to my friend, who assured me that the Dean people were working against themselves and for us, so we could go ahead and get some lunch. And it really felt that way...between yelling at little kids, and voters, and being generally rude, the Dean supporters seemed to dissuade more voters than they did persuade them for Dean.

I think it's over, and more campaigning by rabid Dean supporters will only solidify that.

I realize some might think I am overly generalizing. I am. But I talked to many people who had been in NH for weeks and all of them felt similarly. So while I doubt all Deaniacs would tear down rivals' signs and get arrested at St. Anslem's College, enough do (or would if giving the opportunity) to tarnish Dean's campaign.

Also, that homemade commercial is crap, and over-simplified. Leftist reactionism is not a good replacement for compromising centrism. We need a President who thinks before he screams. A President who understands that issues are not black and white, not even shades of gray, but multi-colored and multi-dimensional, who understanded issues and problems, instead of reacting to them.