Looking at Dkos now, it is very different than it was during the 2004 campaign. I think we are much happier with the Democratic frontrunner now than we were in 2004 (Kerry), but probably have similar sentiments about Obama as we did Dean.
I remember the BlogForAmerica days, when we would yell "First"! about 500 times on every thread and nobody would care.
Or when the rumors were everywhere (including Drudge, Dkos, EVERYWHERE but the Dean site officially) that Gore was about to endorse Dean, and the blog almost crashed from hundreds of posts every minute it seemed (so the Dean campaign kept making new threads with things like "wow, busy day today for you guys!")
Then the ChatForAmerica site, one that sometimes had 50 people in it then would have 0 just as fast. Fun times...
The "perfect storm" in Iowa that ended not-so-perfect, with -30 F wind chill on caucus day...
The final ditch effort in Wisconsin, one that mirrors what the Clinton campaign is doing March 4th.
I was 13 to 14 then, and Howard Dean is what got me interested (obsessively?) to politics. I really think if it were not for Dean, I would not be up some nights hitting the "F5" key to refresh results, or giving money, or canvassing, etc. And I think so many here would feel the same.
I think the biggest comparison between Obama and Dean could be this: they both really inspired so many young people to come out. They both represent less of the same and more change. So as we relish in this Obama primary soon-to-be-victory, can we take a look back and do a little roll call for the former Deaniacs now on dkos?
Dean for America, Ya'al.