Even after the entry of General Wesley Clark, polls still show Governor Dean well ahead in New Hampshire. Despite lacking name recognition, Dean is leading in Iowa and among Democrats nationally. Dr. Dean is leading because he appeals to "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Dean also says, "I want to energize the base first. [I] speak to the concerns of those who have always voted Democratic."

Dr. Dean is leading because he appeals to "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Dean also says, "I want to energize the base first. [I] speak to the concerns of those who have always voted Democratic."

Dean won't abandon the base to chase after other voters. He starts by strengthening the base and builds outward, bringing people to him. This is why Democrats admire Dean. Independents, Greens and even some moderate Republicans also respond to Dean's passion, his record of success and his stands on the issues. That's the way to win the White House, which is critically important in this struggle for our nation's future.

From now until November 2004, we will settle some of the most important questions facing us today: Who controls the political process? Who is heard? Who sets the agenda? In recent years, a tiny elite minority dominated our system. Politicians appealed to Middle America, but few fought for middle class and working people. Until now.

Howard Dean expresses both the frustrations and aspirations of millions of Americans. The media pick up on Dean's aggravation with business as usual, but fail to report on the enthusiasm and optimism Governor Dean inspires. Regular people scrape up enough small contributions to keep Dean at the front of the Democratic pack, overcoming fat cats and even challenging Bush's enormous money machine. This support for Howard Dean changed the face of politics.

Dr. Dean has passion and principles which resonate with regular people. He refuses to pander by telling us we can have it all - tax cuts for the rich and still fund needs like quality education and health care for the rest. Dean says we must choose one or the other and - like Dean - most favor needs over greed. That's one example of priorities Dean understands better than his leading rivals.

Like other Democrats, Dean speaks for millions of Americans fed up with right wing Republican theocrats. As Dean says, Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwell and John Ashcroft claim they own the flag even after they turned their backs on basic American traditions and principles.

However, many voters dismiss Democrats as "Bush-lite," too tainted to fix or even care about. Millions of dropped out, seeing no use in supporting a weak alternative too flaccid to stand up against Bush's class warfare and war of aggression against Iraq. Dr. Dean is bringing back these people, offering them an understanding ear as well as hope for a better future.

Some mistake this widespread frustration - long suppressed, but now bursting forth - as "hatred" or "anger" against Bush. They underestimate Dean as just a rabble rouser, stirring up negativism only a few ideologues feel for its own sake. Wrong. Millions of Americans, awakening from shared horror over 9/11 and no longer apathetic, share Dean's passion.

The media misunderstand the Dean movement. They dismiss him as a far-left ideologue and mock his supporters as a marginal fringe. That's nonsense. Dean knows most Americans don't care about parties and labels as much as we care about results. Left / right, liberal / moderate - Dean disdains those pigeon holes.

Dean realizes we can't waste time quibbling over labels and says, "You've got your nuts on the left, your nuts on the right, and you've got me." We don't need "liberal" ideas or "conservative" ideas. We need real leadership and results. That means using the best approaches. Dean reaches beyond outmoded concepts and empty slogans. That's what good leaders do.

Most Americans agree on main goals. Most want our troops out of Iraq without spending tens of $billions to pay off bribes to the "coalition of the unwilling" and Bush's special interest campaign contributors. Most oppose Bush's redistribution of wealth to the richest from the rest through unfair tax policies.

Most Americans want the economy and government policy - trade, the budget, and all the rest - to serve their basic human needs. They want to protect the environment, provide a better future for their children, and so much more. They want progress. They want to take their country back. That's what Dean offers.

Dean is different from big-check Democrats. He and his supporters are changing the process from the ground up. This is a new kind of outsider politics. Dean may be the last best chance to take back our country from cynical fixers and powerbrokers. He won't bother trying to get big money from Wall St. and big timers who think they own our political process. He can't even if he tried.

First, they laughed at Dean and told us he was a joke. They knew he'd never get the $2000 checks from fat cats and lobbyists. They assured themselves he'd just fade away for lack of cash. Dean proved them wrong. People contributing $50 checks and clicking on line made fools of the pundits.

Now, Dean terrifies these insiders because they know this race is his to lose, and he shows no signs of losing. Dean is riding out Wesley Clark's auspicious entry, enduring the worst cheap shots his rivals can deliver, and building his movement.

Today, no one doubts Dean can win the nomination. With the nomination, Dean will be free to remake the Democratic Party. Some cynics say so what? They say the Democratic Party is a dinosaur, extinct. Still, for all its flaws, the Democratic Party remains a huge and powerful organization.

Democrats led the way revolutionizing women's rights, workers' rights, civil rights, environmental protection and so much more. Why throw out all that? Why not reinvigorate and employ this force? That's the enticing Dean prospect.

If Dean wins the nomination, he'll be free from the DLC (Democratic Leadership Council) and other inside-the-beltway king-makers who think Democrats must mimic Bush to win. Bush proved them wrong in 2002, but stubbornly they refuse to admit time has passed them by. Having learned the lessons of 2002, Dean can beat Bush in 2004

Dean talks sense. He got the job done in Vermont. He speaks with the certainty of someone who says what he means and knows he can deliver what he promises. People - Democrats especially, but independents and others as well - respond to that. The Dean campaign is reaching out, inspiring and bringing back disaffected Democrats along with Greens and Indies - even fed up libertarians.

Skeptics harp on Dean's lack of appeal in key Democratic quarters - unions and minority voters. According to a Juan Gonzalez' report in the NY Daily News, "Dean supporters so far have been overwhelmingly white and middle-class. As for organized labor, all the smart money was bet on Dick Gephardt of Missouri to get the union support and the enormous get-out-the vote machinery that comes with it." This is changing.

After watching and waiting on the sidelines, unions and minorities are moving to Dean. As the Daily News reported, "Dennis Rivera, president of the city's powerful hospital workers union, sent a signal that will be heard by labor leaders around the country [b]y raising $35,000 at a reception" for Dean, and quoted Rivera, "We have been following [Dean's] campaign ... with dramatic interest and have been extremely impressed with the passion that people have supported his candidacy."

Rivera's reception at the union Local 1199 "was not your usual Dean-for-President fund-raiser." It not only raised $35,000 for Dean. Although "not an official endorsement," Rivera's effort "was enough of a nod to raise eyebrows." This because, "The crowd was mostly middle-aged black and Hispanic hospital workers, hard-nosed New York labor leaders and their union lawyers, plus a smattering of liberal politicians - about 100 people in all."

Gonzalez added, "The gathering looked nothing like those enthusiastic Dean crowds that have sprouted all around the country. That's why it was so surprising to see Rivera, head of the state's most powerful union, suddenly running a fund-raiser for Dean, an anti-war candidate from a tiny New England state."

See: Dean could be the unions' man, Juan Gonzalez, NY Daily News, 09-25-2003: http://www.nydailynews.com/09-25-2003/news/politics/story/120659p-108629c.html

Many Democrats still support some of the other candidates. However, Howard Dean has the most (and most enthusiastic) grass-roots supporters and the widest range of contributors and volunteers. If he adds significant union and minority support, as now seems likely, the time for Democrats to join together behind Dean to beat Bush may be near.

Dean is viable because formerly disillusioned Democrats are coming back and taking back their Party. They empower his campaign with energy and money in tiny amounts which overwhelm the $2000 a plate dinners, driving the money changers out of the Temple.