Charley,

you should support the candidate you want to support. Don't change your mind due to a poll in another state. If we did this based on polls, rather than waiting for caucuses and primaries, Dean would already be the nominee.

Less than ten percent of delegates have been chosen. Ninety percent of Democrats have yet to vote. Please don't let the conventional wisdom and the ten percent of early voters decide this crucial election.

The Democratic establishment is telling us we'd be stronger if we united behind a single candidate early. I disagree. Kerry has not yet been thoroughly examined by the press or the people. He looks strong because nobody knows anything about him.

For example, did you know that, according to his wife, he has violent nightmares in which he pounds on the walls until she thinks he will break the house down? That's what she told Rolling Stone. And when papers asked if he was still having these dreams, he lied and said no. Heinz Kerry corrected him, "and mimicked him having a flashback. 'Down, down, down!' she screamed." (The Guardian)

Now, if the American people were spooked by the Dean scream, and by reports that he's "too angry to have his finger near the button," do you think the American people will relish having someone who has actual flashbacks and thinks he's in a war? How about if they're accompanied by violent behavior?

I also know that everyone's saying he has to win because a poll claims he would beat Bush if the election were tomorrow. This almost always happens during primary season. The day after the 1988 convention, Dukakis led Bush by 16 points. It's meaningless.

I'm not pointing this out to slam Kerry. I'm just saying that he's completely unknown to most people, and the press, including many of the right-wingers out there, are repeating the mantra that he's unbeatable.

I think the way to pick a strong candidate is to let the press do their job of fairly examining EVERY candidate, and the people do THEIR job of voting for the one they like the best, not the one who looks like he might win somewhere else. If this is fought all the way to the convention, the victor will be stronger, not weaker, when the second place finisher endorses him.