Happy Birthday, Howard Dean!
For a man who was on the cover of both TIME and Newsweek the same week less than 20 years ago, he has eased into a life of being in the background rather gracefully. Less than two years after we met, he was under discussion as a serious presidential candidate, and less than two years after that, he was such a successful--and tireless--DNC chair that he flipped both houses of Congress within two years, and the White House two years after that.
Scandalously frozen out of the Obama Administration by the grudge-carrying Rahm Emmanuel, Howard took it in stride, and took to "raising hell about causes I care about." Typically for Howard, that is exactly what he did. He gets little credit for his huge (goes back to his pre-governor days) environmental activity, or his help in organizing a march from Bangkok to the Burmese border to raise awareness about human trafficking. I think Judy has FINALLY prevailed on him to start spending some quality time at home. Unless he was overseas, Howard ALWAYS traveled back home for weekends and holidays. He mostly kept his family out of his public life, and this was deliberate.
Of course, to me, he remains first and foremost a friend who is a fellow 12 string guitar enthusiast and Leo Kottke fan.
(The "other guy" is Thomas Geisel, who was mayor of Düsseldorf at the time)
= new reply since forum marked as read
From a long-time supporter.
Like your tie, DFW. 
I'm having coffee!
But my brain refused to fall asleep, and so I got up!
I'll try again in a little while!
And omigod, you're having coffee??? It's 4:45 a.m. for you! I guess you're a true morning lark!
which would be late for me to wake up!
And occasionally we meet in the middle!
And many, many more!
from another long time supporter!
It was from activity on the website supporting Dr. Dean's candidacy that I learned about DU.
I would have been all over him like a cheap suit. 
This was me with my new baby daughter in 1983
Twenty-two years later, I was old, and she was the snack:
I woke up this morning and it took me five minutes to remember that it was my birthday. Not so exciting at 71.