"I became interested in Dean in June because he has a message that is compelling to me.  He also has a lot of courage, a rare quality in elected officials.  His stances on the Bush tax cut and civil unions are good examples of this.

"I knew that we wanted to have a kickoff event for my campaign, and I decided to try Dean. The county attorney's slot appears just above dog catcher on the ballot and we knew we would need someone with stature to draw a paying crowd.  As it turned out, he was planning to be in the state on 8-18 and didn't mind swinging by.  I think he is glad he did.  He ate about half a watermelon while waiting to give his speech.

"We turned out sixty-five people, the largest Democratic event in the State since the County Pig Roast in June.  We had Tom Lantos, the Califormia Congressman, both NH Democratic gubernatorial candidates, our Congressional candidate, (Katrina Swett), the former Ambassador to Trinidad-Tobago (Terry Shumaker), a state Senator, (Sylvia Larsen) eleven state representatives, and ten candidates for office.  And it was all for just one candidate.

"It was a sultry August day.  We served about a hundred pounds of fresh fruit, and seven cases of juice and water.  Governor Dean delivered his compelling message about health care and fiscal responsibility and got lots of applause."