|
Dean fervor comes in various forms, some with shorter shelf lives. Andy O'Connell, a senior at the University of Washington, also heard Dean speak last summer, and likewise was taken. Then came Dean's loss in Iowa, and then his loss in New Hampshire. "There's a sentiment that he's too negative," O'Connell said. "It doesn't bother me, but I'm worried that it will bother others."
<snip>
"I know people who are gung-ho about Dean," said Laura Daniels, 28, an environmental scientist. "But maybe Dean is a little too gung-ho, and I want the candidate who will beat Bush."
That sentiment could deliver a potentially deadly blow to Dean.
<snip>
Yet evidence of the youth vote that Dean courted with an antiestablishment message is difficult to find. At the University of Washington, Kerry Dawgs are out in force, but at a recent meeting of the university's Young Democrats, support for Dean seemed tepid at best, with Representative Dennis J. Kucinich, retired Army General Wesley K. Clark, and Senator John F. Kerry receiving more votes than Dean in an informal poll. "There was a lot of hype about Dean," said David Owens, 23, a senior who attended the meeting and plans to vote for Clark. "But his whole thing seemed to be about not being Bush, and there are five other guys who are against Bush too."
Meanwhile, the environmental vote, a key Democratic bloc on the West Coast, appears increasingly favorable to Kerry, particularly following his recent endorsement by the League of Conservation Voters in New Hampshire. "I am an environmental voter," said Rachel Brombaugh, 33, of Seattle, who once considered Dean but recently decided he was failing to connect with the more moderate voters who will be key in the general election. "The endorsement from the league was a big check mark for me with Kerry." http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/02/02/fervor_for_dean_starting_to_wane/
|