Strolling the stage of a renovated opera house Thursday, Dean made light several times of the political blunder, telling supporters with a raspy voice, ``I still have not recovered my voice from my screeching in Iowa.''
Dean's guttural yells Monday night punctuated his poor finish and raised questions about his political judgment and temperament. Even his own adviser believe the performance damaged his standing in New Hampshire.
Dean sought to put the best face on the fallout, telling a crowd of several hundred that voters will see through his faults.
``Look, I'm not a perfect person. I have my warts. I sometimes say things that get me in trouble. I wear suits that are cheap. But I say what I think and I believe what I say, and I'm willing to say things that are not be popular but ordinary people know are right,'' he said. ``In other words, I lead with my heart and not my head. That's the only chance we have against George Bush.''
The remarks reflected how high the stakes have become for Dean. He began the year 25 percentage points ahead of the pack in New Hampshire polls, the clear front-runner overall, and is suddenly talking with vague hope about keeping his campaign alive.
``This has been a great campaign and you know what you're going to do on Tuesday is make this campaign continue all the way'' until the Democratic nomination, ``and then we're going on to election day, and then one year from Jan. 20, which was a day or so ago, we're going to change this country,'' he said.
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In a lengthy question-and-answer session, one voter told Dean to take care of his voice by drinking hot tea and speaking more from the diaphragm. ``Don't carry so much tension,'' the man said.
Dean, his campaign on the line, laughed, placed his hand on his stomach and said in a low voice, ``Speaking from the diaphragm works really well.''