McGrath, the problem is that most Americans do not personally research the substance of politician's views and actions in order to inform their opinions. They rely on the media "hype and spin" to form their political views. If you asked most people what Dean did in Vermont (balanced budgets, decreased child abuse, created jobs, revitalized small towns, protected the environment) they would have no clue. If you asked them what Bush did in the past (shirked his military duty, failed in business) they would have no clue. Americans, unfortunately, are ignorant of the real facts behind the politicians and just soak up the quick sound bites that get spun on television "news entertainment" and right-wing talk radio. The exciting thing about Dean is that has energized average American Democratic voters who had given up on politicians, to become more informed and more involved in the process. The Dean blog is constantly bringing up discussions of facts and issues. People following Dean's campaign are more engaged in finding out the facts and the "meat" of the issues than I have ever seen before. I think Dean's plain spoken manner where he will go in to detail and speak off the cuff, bring up examples of how he has succeeded, and what needs to be done in the future, has really awakened interest. Most other politicians, including Bush, drone on with "canned" phrases and sanitized speeches that put the electorate to sleep, while they hypnotize them into believing "the spin" instead of informing them to believe the truth.

Alice