This last week I had a doctors appointment and mentioned to him that I had listened to Howard Dean at Ruta Maya the day before. He replied that Dean was a doctor and I then said, "of course you are going to vote for him aren't you?"

This started a real conversation. He said he leaned toward being a libertarian and voted republican. Then he continued by saying he was discusted with the turn to the far right the party had taken, especially how much the current administration had been eroding our civil rights. GWB was a puppet for the wishes of his neocon supporters.

He was impressed that Howard Dean was straight forward and not following a party line. Though my doctor had no position on gun control he was glad to see Dean bucking the democratic party line by being against gun control. That and openly coming out for same sex contracts.

I told my doctor that Howard Dean was the first politician in a long while that made me optimistic about the future. He replied, "That what a leader should do!"

So talk to your republican friends and neighbors about Howard Dean. You may be surprised about how much they hate the turn our country has taken.