Howard Dean addresses crowd at Huston-Tillotson
By: Jitin Hingorani
Howard Dean
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean made a stop in Austin Sunday to motivate Texas Democrats to take back the White House. Hundreds of supporters showed up at Huston-Tillotson College in East Austin to hear Dean's message. They call themselves Deaniacs for Kerry - supporters who believe Dean is making an impact on Texas Democrats. "Howard Dean got us energized, and I think we are tired of what's going on and we're finally saying enough's enough. We're gonna' take it back," Austin Democrat Joene Grissom said.
The crux of Dean's message is that Democrats need to take back Texas by relying on grassroots organizing. "We've been away from that too long, and I'm pretty optimistic. I don't want to give up on places like Texas," Dean said.
Mr. Dean comes to Austin
Howard Dean is encouraging Texans to become politically active on the grassroots level.
Dean showed his support for candidates on the Dean's Dozen list - people like Richard Morrison, who is running against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and David Van Os, who is running for Texas Supreme Court Judge. "I'd like to think that there are a sufficient number of Texans who are angry with what's going on, including the outsourcing of jobs, including the reduction in health insurance for Texans that we will get out and vote," Austin Democrat Odessa Pierce said.To make sure of that, more than 400 volunteers from around the state received political training over the weekend. "We've learned mainly how to target our voter base, how to identify the Democratic vote, how to get out and get them out to the polls," Houston Democrat Steve Gross said.Dean said the Democratic political fervor in Texas is exciting, but it's still going to take every voter to turn the tide.
"American voters are pretty smart. They're much smarter than people in Washington give them credit for, and they basically sort this out themselves," Dean said. "This is the most energized I've ever seen the Democratic Party in Texas and we're really trying. We're all working hard," Gross said.
Democracy for Texas organized the event. The group is part of
Democracy for America, an organization Dean founded.
