Mickey Mouse could beat George W Bush because...

it is not about the candidate - it is about the message. For those Democrats scratching their heads and wondering how Howard Dean is the frontrunner for the Democrats, it is not about Dean - it is about his message. He might be short, he might look stiff, he might blink his eyes - it is not important.

The people that are supporting Dean cannot define truth but they know it when they hear it. Intentional or otherwise, Dean has tapped into that undefined "truth" that people have been holding in escrow for the right candidate. They are angry with the way Bush stole the election in 2000. They are angry with the way he went to war under false pretenses - he lied. They are angry with the way he gave the huge taxcuts to a few wealthy friends and, in the process, has run up the largest deficits in this nation's history. They just wanted their anger validated and Dean has done that...because he is angry too. And we all have a right to be angry. Better to take out our anger at the polls rather than with violence in the streets.

So the Democrats that are playing "politics" and being very careful not to say the wrong thing or to be perceived the wrong way, are out of touch with the people. They don't have to be Mickey Mouse - they can be Daffy Duck so long as they have the message that resonates with the Democratic voters. Unfortunately, at this time, Dean seems to be the only one that has touched this raw nerve. And people are supporting him because he has a grasp of their reality.

he doesn't sound like a politician. I see a man who agree or disagree with him, he's telling you how he really feels.

I agree with every word of what you just posted. And, it's probably the most succinct and sound description of Dean's effect on the public that I've read anywhere.

It's with profound relief that I listen to Dean's words. It's like the pleasure of hearing a Green candidate frankly discuss the mess in politics, without any of the pain of realizing you're listening to a third-party candidate without a chance in hell.

The fact that he's saying the stuff he's saying AND (in so doing) taking the lead is the best news about America (and for America) in years.