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Dean’s tiny but trusted inner circle
A Vermonter trusts instincts, and his friends
OTTUMWA, Iowa, Dec. 2 — Howard Dean likes to travel fast and light. When the former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential candidate swept through this state one day recently, dashing to campaign stops covering nearly 200 miles in a few hours, only one senior aide was with him, a 39-year-old Vermonter named Kate O’Connor.
BY HER ESTIMATE, O’Connor has seen or talked to Dean almost every day since she came to work for him 14 years ago when he was Vermont’s lieutenant governor. It was in her living room in Burlington in 2002 that Dean mapped out the themes of his campaign.
Today, as Dean rises in the polls and soars beyond his Democratic rivals in fundraising, much has changed — and not much at all. Although his campaign staff has been growing, O’Connor remains at the heart of what is still a tiny cadre of advisers whom Dean consults on ideas and strategies.
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Inside the Dean Campaign