''A Dean Democrat -- Finally''

"There's a grassroots groundswell building over the Internet that started this past weekend. Certain diarists, blogs, and bloggers like Dana Blankenhorn in the blogosphere have finally decided to stand up and be counted. The catalytic issue?

Howard Dean.

I'm not going to reference all the press the DNC chair has been getting in the last few weeks -- just type in the man's name in any search engine to see what he's been saying lately -- nor can I possibly relate all the ways in which the right wing spin machine has taken those words out of context and spun them into untruths. Nor do I wish to document the shameful behavior of high-ranking Democrats who are so afraid of the right wing attack dogs that they'll cannibalize their own party rather than take a stand (for this one, search on "Joe Biden" OR "Bill Richardson" OR "John Edwards" + "Howard Dean"). What I am going to do is what I always do. I ask you to get informed on the issues, then decide what you think. If you like what Howard Dean is doing (as I do), please consider sign an online petition that tells the Democratic leadership in that Howard Dean does indeed speak for us -- and that we wish they would, too.

For too long, the Democratic party's communications has gone one way: From the top down. They tell the party membership what to think, the party membership sends them money. And don't them with what the party membership really thinks or feels. From what I've seen, Howard Dean is already changing that, and has the potential to change it even more. He's paying attention to what mainstream Democrats want to see, and is willing to call spades in order to show them that he's listening. The Republicans don't like it, nor do their "propaganda outlets" like FOX News. In fact, our notorious Veep, Dick Cheney, said in a taped interview to be aired today, that "I think Howard Dean's over the top. I've never been able to understand his appeal. Maybe his mother loved him, but I've never met anybody who does."

This, from the man who told Senator Patrick Leahy to "go f@ck yourself." I wonder which side of his mouth the VP was speaking out of, this time...?

In any event, Howard Dean is making a lot of waves right now, and giving the Democratic Party the shake-up it's so desperately needed if it's ever going to regain a reputation as the party of the people. Keep it up, Howard. You've got this dyed-in-the-wool undeclared voter ready to declare as a Democrat. Note to other, wimpier Democrats: As with most other Americans, where my loyalty goes, my pocketbook is sure to follow."-from
the post on the meta4life blog.