...in a
NYTimes editorial "observer" on the NH primary scene. The last two paragraphs read as follows:
Howard Dean's most passionate supporters aren't worried about electability -- in fact some believe Dr. Dean's power as a candidate is so great that terrified Republicans engineered his defeat in Iowa. "They were afraid of the grass-roots movement he'd lead," said Heather Strassberger, who was at a Women for Dean rally yesterday. She was watching the event on C-Span in a backup room for overflow crowds -- not even the good overflow-crowd room where Dr. Dean himself dropped in to console his disappointed supporters.
Can we take a moment, gentle readers, to tip our hats to the audiences? Contemplate, for one minute, the fact that there are still American citizens -- overflow numbers of American citizens -- who are willing to drive considerable distances in ridiculously cold weather to watch a politician give a speech. "My wife wanted to sleep in and I didn't want to miss this," said Brett Pingree, who drove up from Massachusetts with two children under the age of 3 to spend his Sunday morning in Dr. Dean's overflow-overflow room. He gave an excellent argument for the Dean candidacy ("He has a proven record on health care and balancing budgets") while attempting to resolve a dispute between two toddlers over a Baggie full of trail mix. The campaign actually missed a great bet by not having Mr. Pingree on stage for the women's rally, and getting him to tell the part about letting his wife stay in bed. The New Hampshire women would have known immediately that the soccer moms in Ohio would love it.
Well. That was nice. Wow. And it captures the spirit of the Dean campaign (and, I imagine, those enthusiastic about other campaigns as well). It's nice that someone's noticing the people that are out there finding out for themselves what's up, rather than depending on news reports. Yay us!