How did you find about Dean?

[ProudToBeLiberal]

When I started to become interested in the democratic presidential nomination, I had my eyes on Kerry. He was at the forefront in demanding that Trent Lott should resign over his racial comments. I was so excited. I IMed one of my friends saying that I supported Kerry. I asked her who she supported, she said Dean. "Who the heck is Dean?" I responded.

She told me that Dean was the one who sign the Civil Unions bill into Law in Vermont. I said, "OMG it was him?" Previouisly, my gay friends at my high school mention that they wanted to move to Vermont. I didn't really know what they were talking about. I started to do research of who this guy was. I found out that he wore a Bullet Proof vest because he was going to sign the civil union bill into law. I was impressed.

I was still a supporter of Kerry. I knew that Kerry was liberal on many issues and he was distinguished in the vietnam war and later opposed it. I knew that I could count on him.

Then Bush wanted to go to war with Iraq. I was feverently hoping that Kerry would make a stand. The Iraq war was wrong. Then I found out that Kerry voted in favor. I was shocked and speechless.

Then out of that haze Dean took a firm anti Iraqi war stance. It was a daring political move. Again Dean took a courageous stance. I started to get more interested into this mysterious candidate. I went to his website and his old blog. I search the web about Howard Dean. I went to Blogs that were whispering about this daring man caleed Howard Dean.

I started to fall in love with Howard Dean. I felt pride. I felt hope. At last a democrat was showing backbone.

Then I saw Howard Dean speak at California's Democratic presidential convention. I was blown away. I thought, "I want Dean." My heart rose as the people shouted, "we want dean," "we want dean."

Well the rest is history:P

edit-spellig

[slinkerwink]

1. I came across Dean on Dailykos, and watched a speech he made online

and I was hooked.

[JohnKleeb]

2. here, I did support him but not much officially until I found out about

Kucinich. When I found about Kucinich, I had no candiate, but when Kucinich started talking about Taft-Hartley, I had my candiate. Sorry for hijacking this is about Dean not Kucinich but memories :D.

[Rowdyboy]

3. PoliticalWire.com...Taegan Goddard

(I think have the name right)... Posters were preaching Dean MONTHS before he became even a semi-serious candidate. Those guys BELIEVEWD in Howard Dean!

[Melodybe]

5. I randomly heard CNN say he was too liberal for President

way back in July. I thought to myself, we need somebody really liberal right about now. Then I didn't think about him again until my friend Jeremy told me that he liked Dean and I should go to his site. I did and I was hooked from then on. He is going to win and when he does we will have the biggest block party imaginable!

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. My friend, ex-colleague and co-webmaster

of a political website we used to run told me to look into Dean.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

6. From DU...

I have been active on DU for a while. I remember hearing about Dean from the discussion board.

He was my first choice until Kucinich joined the race. I had wanted Kucinich to run since his "Prayer for America" speech from February 2002.

TWL

[JohnKleeb]

8. same but I hadnt known much about Kucinich

[ThirdWheelLegend]

10. I had a friend that worked for Clearchannel

Don't really want to subthreadjack this thread, but... :)

I live in Cleveland. A friend of mine worked for the Clearchannel 'talk' station here. That asshole Glenn Beck was spouting off about the speech that Dennis K. gave, asking if it was patriotic and all the typical poop. My friend printed it right off of Glenn Beck's website and gave me and another friend a copy of it. We both read the speech and then looked at each other and said, "Man, I wish he would run for President."

This was only a few days after he gave the speech. I began to hear rumblings that people were pushing Dennis to run and it finally happened. I immediately jumped on the Kucinich peace train.

Cheers John,

TWL

[JohnKleeb]

12. Oh neat

No one told me :(, still as I said, it was him talking about Taft-Hartley that got me on the train.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

13. link in case you are interested

link to the 'prayer for america'. People have to remember that this was Feb. 2002 when he was denouncing the admin and speaking out against war.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_01/02.23C.Kucinich.Prayer.htm

TWL

[JohnKleeb]

14. hey thanks but I got this already

how about you start one for us.

[xxqqqzme]

7. about a year ago CSPAN re-ran Dean

delivering a speech - I don't know the forum. I could hear but not see the TV. His oratory forced me 2 listen...I liked what I was hearing and got up so I could see who was speaking. I liked what I heard and saw. That started my quest 2 learn more about him. Once I found the website and discovered all the others - thru meetups, events, etc. 2day I went 2 LA, heard Joe Trippi, heard the intricacies of campaign finance, signed-up 4 the SouthWestVoterExpress,...I'm in 4 the duration.

[clarknyc]

9. I was all ready to support Al Gore...

But then he withdrew. So, I thought, Kerry seems to be the obvious choice. And he was until Dean made his "What I want to know is, why are so many Democrats..." speech to the California Democratic Convention back in February 2003. I went to the Dean MeetUp for March in NYC, saw the doctor electrified by the crowd and never looked back.

I'll vote for any Democrat against Bush, but I'll work my heart out for Dean...

[slinkerwink]

11. hi!

:hi:

[clarknyc]

15. Hi slinkerwink!

Glad we're on the same side!

G'nite for now. Got a debate to look forward to later today...

[Le Taz Hot]

19. I was at that speech

standing about 10 feet away from him. We had just heard Edwards speak and all applauded politely (except when he started justifying his vote to go to war in Iraq). Then Dean came on and started with his "What I wanna know . . ." speech and the crowd went insane. Even people on the dias stood up and applauded him several times (remember, these people are not supposed to support one over the other this early). The crowd was energized and electrified. That day, Dean gave voice to the rank-and-file frustration perpetrated BY THE DNC on it's own supporters. I've been to literally hundreds of political gatherings and watched countless candidates, including presidential, and have never seen anything like it.

I walked away saying, "That is our next president."

[virtualobserver]

29. that is essentially my experience.

I had seen some quotes from Dean, and they sounded good, but I had thought that it was pretty unlikely that the Governor of Vermont would be a very impressive candidate. Then I heard the "What I want to know..." speech, and it was exactly what I wanted to hear. I was so infuriated with the Democrats for letting Bush walk over them. Dean gave me hope.

[monarch]

16. It was probably here on DU

I went to a meet up back in May just out of curiosity and was pleased to recognize some of the local liberals. I made an early contribution without really committing to him just so he wouldn't fade away. My enthusiasm grows daily.
Last night, I went to a small (maybe 80 people) local gathering attended by Howard's mother and his brother, Jim. I loved them both! After stating that "I don't do speeches," his mother said that "he was an ordinary little boy with an ordinary childhood. We did not talk politics at home and he certainly expressed no early ambitions about being president. What I remember most about him as a child was that he was very kind."
Jim was very unscripted, relaxed, articulate and funny. He talked about how the campaign was making things up as it went along. Like his mother, he seemed almost bemused by the idea of Howard as president. He was asked about Howard's "anger" and replied that it was pretty much a media creation. Like all of us, he is angry at what the Bush administration is doing to this county but that his brother is "not an angry man."
The evening reminded me of how hard John Kennedy's family worked for him and of what an asset an appealing family can be.

[Jacobin]

17. I was firmly against the war and spent time emailing and

calling Congresscritters during the IWR vote. Exceedingly frustrating time that had me beating my head against the wall.

About the same time, Dean began making pronouncements about the war. I gravitated toward those, and then began reading about his other positions.

I found that I agree with 80% of what he says (quite high for me). I listened to the pundits say that his Iraq position was "so far out of mainstream" that he was history. I listened to him continue his fight for his position in the face of the pundits having written him off. I continued to read his position statements as events unfolded and found myself knowing that this guy is a statesman and a true leader....one who would take positions even in the face of the blitzkrieg of media hype on war.

He has not disappointed since then. Raising money to Beat Bush a hundred dollars at a time seems to me to be a re-birth of democracy.

I hope he gets the nomination and I pray that he wins. I think he has the best shot.

[HFishbine]

18. My Brother

The same guy who turned me on to Howard Zinnn, Noam Chomsky, David Korten and DU, told me last winter about this guy from Vermont who was runiing for president.

[Zynx]

20. I heard of him early on, but didn't take him seriously.

I said "Well, maybe if he was from a bigger state he might be a more credible candidate.". Then I heard him on C-Span at some Iowa dinner and I was impressed. That's when I decided to back Dean. I switched to Clark for a while, but now I'm back to Dean.

[slinkerwink]

21. welcome back!

:hi:

[ProudToBeLiberal]

31. glad to have you back

[Larkspur]

22. I was an Al Gore supporter and Howard Dean was my 2nd choice

I participated in MoveOn.org's anti-Iraq War campaign last year, going to Lieberman's Hartford office to protest his support of the war, and I wrote letters to Lieberman and Dodd every week until Oct 10, 2002.

After Al Gore bowed out, I didn't go right to Dean. I told myself that I'd give all the Dem Prez candidates, including the ones who voted for the war, another chance to impress me. Only one did. I watched Dean's "What I want to know..." speech that he did in Sacremento, CA on his web site and was impressed. That speech echoed my feelings exactly. What finally pushed me into signing up with the Dean Campaign was Dean's op ed in Commondreams.org in mid-April. He wrote it to respond to a critic of his anti-Iraq war position. It wasn't so much what he wrote but that Dean took the time and effort to write it and get it published on a Progressive web site. I felt like Dean was listening to us and was willing to be our leader.

Since I signed up in mid-April, I've only gotten more impressed with Dean and his campaign. Howard Dean is the Democratic canidate I've been waiting for for 30 years. He will definitely usher in the "Emerging Democratic Majority."

[Lisa0825]

23. Some random stranger posted a link to his site.

I post at a non-political discussion board, and someone posted his website on the board. I had been depressed about lackluster campaign promises.... no one seemed *different*... no one had a spark... no one seemed capable of inspiring anyone. and then I found this little asterisk of a campaign, with the most energetic troupe of supporters behind him, and I had to know WHY they were so motivated. I started reading more and viewinig speeches, and I was hooked.

[Hep]

24. Someone asked me what I thought of him in late 2002

And I'd never heard of him. I look at his website and was really turned on by many of his policies. A few weeks later I was talking to a friend who I consider to be incredibly compelling in his political arguments. He worked for Jim Hunt back when Hunt ran against Jesse Helms in 1984, one of the craziest races ever. Dean was the first candidate he supported since Hunt, and he told me about a meetup.

It all blew up from there.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[UTUSN]

26. I Just Hit "Alert" on This DEAN Attacker

and--------SEE? I'm a KERRY Supporter.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

27. Thank you

I think little Larry the Tiger is not going to be with us long.

[Upfront]

28. Ann Richerds

Was on the larry King show about 11/2 years ago and King asked her who she liked that was running as a Democrat. She responded: Howard Dean, as he is the only one saying anything. I have great respect for her so I begin to look into Dr. Dean. I then heard him speak and he called out B**** on issue after issue, and man, he was exciting. His leadership has changed the direction of all the other candidates in that, they are also attacking B*****. Most of them are now acting like true Democrats. He has broken the money chain of Corp. interests. He will be the next President of the USA.

[slinkerwink]

30. Ann Richards is totally a class act!

Let me tell you---she and my grandmother are good friends. I've met Ann Richards a few times----she's got an amazing wit! Her glowing talk about Dean was also what turned me onto him.

[Endangered Specie]

32. I first saw Dean

(and subsequently, became a Dean fan) when they were debating back in April at the CDF center (childrens defense fund). His particular speech about being proud to be a liberal. Look up a transcript, its toward the end of the debate.