Advantage: Dean

I'm still working on my full account of the weekend's festivities, but here are a few tidbits:

Dean kicked butt in the Democratic convention straw poll:

--Combined total: Dean (203), Kerry (50), Kucinich (27), Graham (19), Edwards (18), Gephardt (10), Moseley Braun (5), Lieberman (4), Sharpton (2), various write-ins (14).

--Delegates/Alternates: Dean (126), Kerry (33), Kucinich (16), Edwards (10), Gephardt (8), Lieberman (3), Graham (3), Moseley Braun (1), Sharpton (1), various write-ins (7).

--Official guests: Dean (77), Kerry (17), Graham (16), Kucinich (11), Edwards (8), Moseley Braun (4), Gephardt (2), Lieberman (1), Sharpton (1), various write-ins (7)

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel didn't seem to care:

In winning a convention straw poll of Wisconsin Democrats on Saturday, presidential hopeful Howard Dean showed he has done as much as anyone in the field to stoke the passions of committed party activists.

But the media-sponsored straw poll, the first one in any state this year, may not signify more than that.

So I wrote them a letter:

I was very disappointed by the headline in this morning's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel--"Straw poll victory may not signify much for Dean"--and its accompanying article, especially compared to headlines from Reuters ("Dean easily wins Wisconsin Democratic straw poll"), Green Bay ("State Democrats favor Dean in informal poll") and elsewhere around the state and country.

You dismiss former Vermont governor Howard Dean's victory as insignificant, but the victory happened for one of three reasons, any of which bode well for Dean's campaign here in Wisconsin:

1. Dean's grassroots support may have been the best organized. That means that, unlike better-known and -funded candidates, Dean's ever-growing base of local supporters is the strongest This is key now that Wisconsin has again become a battleground state. Advantage: Dean.

2. Dean's supporters are so committed to their candidate they will stand against the position of party "officials" to do things like vote in straw polls. Already we've seen "establishment" Democratic organizations, like the Democratic Leadership Council, take stands against Howard Dean because they view him as a threat to their chosen candidates. Dean's supporters will not bow to establishment pressure. Advantage: Dean.

3. Dean motivated the convention-goers with his speech Friday night far more than any of the other candidates speaking, so they voted for him in larger numbers. If you were in the convention hall Friday night, you would have seen that the delegates--most of whom were not Dean supporters before he spoke--were on their feet more often, cheering more loudly, and moved more strongly during Dean's speech than during firebrand Kucinich's or self-annointed front-runner Kerry's speeches. Advantage: Dean.

I am also disappointed that you failed in your article to mention the endorsement Howard Dean has received from Jon Erpenbach, the top-ranking Democrat in the state senate, even though you listed endorsements from other candidates.

Howard Dean is not just a candidate; he is a movement. This straw poll victory is certainly just the first of many victories--unofficial and official--to come.

Again, more later. Keep checking back!