Local Dean supporters look to future

Bloomington resident Scott Alber and two friends left home at 5 a.m. Monday morning for the nearly six-hour drive to Milwaukee, where former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was preparing a run at the Wisconsin primary. \nTwo days later, Dean had placed third, behind John Kerry and John Edwards and dropped out of the presidential race.\nFor Alber, Howard Dean's deputy coordinator for Indiana, the trip was disappointing but not a waste of time at all.\n"We were hoping for a miracle and that he would have been in John Edwards' place," Alber said. "It was disappointing to actually wake up in the morning and to know the final numbers, even though when we went to bed we knew what would happen."\nAlber spent the time in Wisconsin canvassing neighborhoods and passing out literature in support of Dean. Even though Dean didn't win, Alber said he was proud of all of the campaign supporters who helped up his numbers from 8 percent the week before to 18 percent in the Wisconsin primary.\nDespite Dean's dropping out of the race, Alber isn't quitting. He spoke with the Governor via a conference call Thursday and said Dean will not endorse any of the other candidates until the Democratic National Convention to be held July 26 through 29. Until then, Alber will continue to promote Dean's initiatives and is running as one of his delegates. \n"We're still going to work on keeping his grassroots movement alive," he said. "We're still encouraging people to vote. As long as he gets delegates, that means influence at the convention. We'll work so his message will be continued."\nDean supporter and IU senior Emily Solt said she is disappointed to see him bow out of the race. \n"I was very sad because I have supported Dean from the beginning," she said. "I felt him to be a breath of fresh air, especially for young democrats. It's sad to see a candidate like that have to withdraw."\nGlen Green, a post-doctoral researcher for the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change, has been a supporter of Dean since he opposed the Iraq war.\nGreen said the media had it in for Dean because he opposed the big corporations that own most of the major media outlets. He added that some of the negativity between Dean and other democratic candidates ultimately backfired.\n"He and (candidate Richard) Gephardt were kind of beating each other up -- some people called it a murder-suicide," Green said. "I always felt he was talking too negatively about other candidates. He should have tried to stay above that. If you're going to talk negative, talk about Bush."\nGreen said the loss didn't really disappoint him. He said Dean was the first candidate to criticize President George. W. Bush directly, which spurred the other candidates to do the same. That, he said, will make all the difference in the election and is something to be proud of.\n"A lot of Indiana Dean supporters were disappointed, but really, my candidate won," Green said. "My candidate did what needed to happen. If other people pick up his message, that's great. We wanted the whole Democratic Party to pick up on what Dean said and that's more important than getting him elected.\n"I'm not disappointed at all. I think it's worked out. Now, if we've got a ticket with Kerry and Edwards, it's a killer ticket. I think they'll boot (Bush) out."\nRami Chami contributed to this story.\n-- Contact campus editor Gavin Lesnick at glesnick@indiana.edu.