It seems most people don't pay that much attention to primary politics. This year, with so many new people in Dean's grassroots movement and such a loud media buzz, there is more awareness yet not much understanding of the primaries.

The candidate who gets the largest number of votes in a state primary does not get all of the delegates. Actually, Dean leads with the delegate count. Dean gained 15 delegates from Iowa and New Hampshire, 114 Super Delegates have pledged their support to Governor Dean, and he leads the other candidates with a total at this point of 129 delegates.

Dean is still stronger than Kerry in the grassroots support of voters in all 50 states who worked through 2003 and continue to work in an unconventional way to organize themselves and support their candidate. Kerry does not have the massive volunteer organization or the numerous small donor support that Dean has. Dean's grassroots campaign support is the largest in history, with over 627,000 US citizens signed up to support him. More than 186,000 Americans supporting Dean meet every first Wednesday of the month in every state and on six continents. No candidate has organized such deep and growing support in the history of American politics. Kerry can mortgage his house, but Dean is gaining his goal of one million Americans giving $100 in donations to challenge George Bush's wealthy donors. The number of contributors is over 320,000 people. The average contribution is now just over $100 total. Only 3400 people have contributed the maximum of $2000. Thus, the campaign can be sustained even if no new donors join. More than one-third of the donors joined the campaign AFTER NEW HAMPSHIRE. The media wants to choose the Democratic candidate by spinning the negatives and annointing the poll leader. Look at the strength of support that Dean has to beat Bush, not at what the pundits on the tv networks say. The candidate that goes up against Bush will need the financial support that Dean has, and Kerry has not, to gain the White House. I am incredibly inspired by all the small donors who stepped up and gave their hard earned dollars to support an "outsider" candidate who spoke his mind and stood up to the Iraq decision. They are committed supporters, 55% giving more than once to the campaign. More people are joining Dean's campaign every day, giving what they can from each paycheck.

The power of those people who at one time felt powerless is the essence of what Dean says when he tells people to "take their country back". We used to sit by while the parties set their candidates up on the chess board and played out their campaign games. Now, with DEAN, average citizens have gotten involved, and with their dollars, time, effort, and hope, have created a block of power that the pundits don't understand and the Party insiders (like the DLC) fear. The average citizens behind Dean are affecting the campaign in ways that the insider puppet masters did not expect or want. They don't want the power taken away from them... they want to select the next president. Examine Dean's record, his support, and his real stand in the race, leading in the number of delegates. www.montanafordean.com

Alice