I love Howard Dean, and in 2004 his candidacy was like a breath of fresh air for me. For once I not only liked the Democratic candidate but was also excited about the possibility of changing the way we operated, to ignore the Republican smears and not be afraid of who we were and what our values were.
Even though I respected Howard Dean and all he'd done up to that point, in watching his speeches I always had the thought floating in the back of my mind that he came across as angry, and he somehow didn't seem presidential. I'd hoped that he would grow into the role and learn as he went, but he didn't seem to significantly change as time went on. His harsh partisan rhetoric played well among Dems but ended up turning off the general public.
He didn't end up being the candidate and we lost the election, but because of him my involvement in the Democratic party continues to this day. I'd never felt an investment in the Democratic Party until he became head of the DNC, where he was trying to break the corporate, DLC stranglehold on the party. His energy, skills and intellect seem a perfect fit for his current position as he is doing a wonderful job and has a chance to remake an organization that gets its direction from the bottom up rather than top down.
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