The Media Still Doesn't Get It About Dean, but the People Do....

[slinkerwink]

Dean gathers steam; others question odds of beating Bush

By Roddie A. Burris
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BEDFORD, N.H. — Near the end of five frenzied days when Howard Dean crisscrossed the country campaigning in five states and three time zones, a New Hampshire radio host asked Dean a bottom-line question: "How do you respond to the criticism (that) you might do well in the primaries, but in the general campaign they'll eat you for lunch?" As the clear poll leader in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary Jan. 27, and locked in a statistical dead heat with Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., in Iowa, where Democrats vote in caucuses Jan. 19, Dean hears that question increasingly, yet more from the media than from voters. Dean is moving fast to solidify his front-runner status. Enthusiastic crowds greet him at every stop. Both avid supporters and undecided voters are more likely to ask Dean about the war in Iraq, education, health care or the economy than whether he can win.

<snip>

People at Dean rallies voice no doubt. "I never saw anything like this, and it's only the primaries," said Cindy Montgomery, a professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She was speaking of the excitement Dean generates among true believers as she attended a raucous party celebrating Dean's 55th birthday this month at a D.C. restaurant. "He's a decent man who can do a better job" as president, said Chris Foster of Germantown, Md. "That's all we want, and that's what we're going to get. He's not Moses come down from the mountaintop. He's a decent man."

<snip>

While many analysts say that Dean's drive for his party's nomination may be unstoppable if he wins Iowa and New Hampshire in January, Dean says the nominee won't be determined until the March 2 Super Primary, when 10 states vote, including California, New York, Georgia and Ohio. "The critical battleground in this election is going to be the state of Ohio," he said.


link can be found here at:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001803936_dean30.html