One point completely missing from the discussion here is just how many Democratic Party grassroots officials and activists have been Dean supporters.
The Democratic Party is just like any other organization -- the grassroots members have different politics and priorities than the top-level officials.
Any "real Democrat" (as opposed to the assholes here who talk about "whining cry babies" and "marching orders from Burlington" and "stay home Deanie babies, you're not real Democrats, and we don't need you anyway") knows that real Democrats want and need every vote they can get.
Real Democrats know that turnout is their friend. And real Democrats welcome anybody who comes to a local Democratic Party meeting and is willing to help, no matter which Democratic candidate they support for president.
In California last Sunday, we caucused to elect potential candidate delegates to the Boston Nat'l Convention. Kerry caucuses were poorly attended, and well over half (38 of the 53 districts statewide from my quick count) were unable to elect a full slate of delegates because of a paucity of candidates.
In my own Assembly District, our caucus for Howard Dean had 109 people participate in the vote, and 27 different candidates! (This is huge, historically speaking.) I don't know exactly how many people attended the Kerry caucus in our district, but I do know they couldn't put together a full slate, and I also know the local paper reported that the #1-ranked Kerry delegate won with only 9 votes.
And who organizes these local caucuses? Candidate volunteers new to politics? Hardly. Most Democratic voters in California don't even realize these caucuses take place. They're organized by the local Democratic Party structure, the local party chairmen and women (our county chair is a Dean supporter), local elected officials (we have a number of those, too), and longtime activists and volunteers.
So don't let the insults here deter you, Dean supporters. If you're determined to continue the fight to reform the Democratic Party and to Take Our Country Back, joining up with your local Democrats is exactly what you need to do. And you might well be surprised at how many allies you find there.