Dean preview

Democratic presidential nominee candidate Vermont Gov. Howard Dean will speak Sunday on the lawn of the Kohl Center in Madison as part of a four-day, seven-city “Raise the Roots Tour.”

The tour is aimed at giving Dean a chance to speak with young people. During the summer of 2003, Dean relied on young people using the Internet to organize “meet-ups” where groups of policy-minded individuals and Democratic voters discussed the benefits of a possible Dean presidency.

Dean is hoping to parlay this grassroots movement into the mobilization of the voting potential of the country’s college and university campuses.

“I think that Dean definitely has a strong organization here in Madison,” said Seth Boffeli, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

One major criticism of the current field of possible Democratic Party nominees is a lack of direction or clear leader. According to a poll conducted for Wispolitics.com of 405 likely Democratic Wisconsin voters surveyed Sept. 21-23, there is no clear candidate for the Wisconsin’s Democratic 2004 presidential nominee, as 32 percent of likely Democratic voters say they are still undecided.

Retired Army General Wesley Clark, who just recently joined the race, held the top share in the Wiscpolitics poll with 18 percent.

“It’s still really very early,” Boffeli said.

The Republican Party sees the Democrats’ inability to decide on a single candidate as a Democratic Party weakness.

“The polls have repeatedly shown that there is no clear front runner,” said Chris Lato, spokesman for the Republican Party. “They aren’t really impressed with the candidates so far.”

The Democrats, however, remain patient that a strong candidate will emerge.

“I just think this is exciting now. Dean has a presence in Wisconsin,” Boffeli said.

Dean has come out supporting the Tyson Foods worker’s strike at a processing plant in Jefferson by asking people to bring a non-perishable food item.

“America’s labor unions have played a critical role in protecting the rights of workers and helping to build the middle class in this country,” Dean said in a press release. “We must do our part to help support the workers when they are on strike. UFCW Local 538 is fighting to preserve good wages, health care benefits, and pensions–basic rights that all workers should be entitled to.”

Utilizing grassroots campaigning over the Internet, Dean became the leading campaign fund-raiser among Democratic hopefuls during the summer of 2003.

“Generation Dean is proving that young people deeply care about the future of their country,” Dean said on his website. “These young people are tremendous, and we need every one of them if we’re going to re-engage Americans in our democracy again.”