TALK OF THE TOWN: HOWARD DEAN


The New Yorker’s Ben McGrath takes in two fundraisers– one with Howard Dean, the other with someone else– and reveals some reasons why people are supporting Governor Dean:

[Cynthia] Williams is not, to be precise, a young professional; she said that she had been unemployed since September 11th, and, before she discovered Dean (watching c-span over the winter), she was, she said, œon the verge of being evicted. I didn™t know what would happen to my son. Now that she™s a Dean supporter, things are looking up. œWhen I say he saved my life, I™m not overstating, she said. œLast Friday, I went to the dinner in Atlantic City, and I had to borrow the money to even get down there. But once I got there I had a hotel room waiting for me, meals, everything. We Dean supporters look out for one another, you know? They say they like my enthusiasm.

At another candidate’s fundraiser, McGrath takes a one-person poll:

A Columbia student named Meredith… had been at Downtown Dean, too. (She had changed clothes between stops.) As the Late Night party began to thin out, after midnight, she looked around… and said that she™d been more impressed by Dean. œI found him very compelling, she said. œNot necessarily arousing, but compelling. And the crowd there was more diverse.

Related Post