Dean gains voter support in Indiana

FORT WAYNE -- Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's campaign is winning him some fans among Indiana voters -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- intrigued by his message and grass-roots campaign.\nAuburn resident Patrick McCormick campaigned for the Bush-Quayle ticket in 1988 and has always considered himself part of the GOP.\nBut Saturday night he and his wife, Patty, hosted one of the hundreds of parties around the nation celebrating Dean's 55th birthday.\nMcCormick has also handwritten 38 letters to undecided voters in the upcoming Iowa caucus. And he's formed a Dean group in Auburn.\n"With family and friends, instantly they're questioning: Why are you getting so excited all of a sudden?" McCormick told The Journal Gazette for a story published Sunday.\nDean has sparked interest among Hoosiers even though presidential candidates generally ignore Indiana at this point in campaigns because the state's May primary comes late in the primary season.\n"Most top-tier candidates wouldn't build an infrastructure (in Indiana) because the state is not relevant, and it's not a Democratic state, so it's not like you're building it for the general election," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report.\nStill, the Hoosier Dean machine is revved up as if the November 2004 election were just weeks away. And many Dean supporters are political newcomers.\nAt a meeting of Dean supporters in Fort Wayne earlier this month, 30 of the 45 people who were there had not previously been involved in the Democratic Party, said Dennis Tropp, the chairman of the 3rd District Democratic Party, who has been a political activist for 30 years.\n"I have never seen this early on that many people that involved with a presidential candidate," he said.\nMany Dean supporters are connecting with each other through the Internet. An online service, http://www.meetup.com, allows visitors to type in their area of interest plus their ZIP code.\nIf there's a nearby meeting of like-minded people, the location and date appears on the computer screen.\nAlmost all the presidential contenders have supporters who connect this way, but Dean's 141,000 far outnumber the rest.\nIn addition to everything else it does in politics, money measures a candidate's popularity. On that benchmark, Dean has surged in Indiana as the other Democrats have sputtered.\nOf the $131,483 that Hoosiers donated to the nine Democratic contenders during the summer, Dean's portion was almost half, and it was nearly twice as much as the next most prolific fund-raiser, Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.\nMany of Dean's donors -- both in Indiana and nationwide -- are repeat givers of small amounts.\n"Small donors are worth much more than big donors because most big donors will give only money, while small donors give cash repeatedly plus their votes and energy," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia.\n"They turn up at caucuses and primaries to vote; they put yard signs up; they will stuff envelopes and all the rest."\nMarthe Rosenfeld, a Fort Wayne retiree, mailed Dean's campaign six checks totaling $1,200 this summer.\nShe said she was attracted to the former Vermont governor because he signed legislation to allow civil unions in Vermont and because he opposed the war in Iraq.\nRosenfeld said Dean isn't in concert with all her concerns, "but he's a real contrast with regard to President Bush. He would give the voters a choice"