OK, I haven't actually been counting. But beyond his positions on the issues, there's a connection here. Something that makes me feel positive about things political for a change. Something that makes me feel like there's somebody running who remembers that politics isn't just a game, isn't just about paying back your friends and donors, but that it affects the real lives of real people every day. This is from The American Prospect, which has rapidly become my favorite political magazine.

TAP: Vol 14, Iss. 10. Shock of the Old. Garance Franke-Ruta. :
"One astute observer has credited Dean's appeal to the doctor's grasp of psychology and the contemporary rhetoric of self-empowerment that laces many of his speeches. But Dean's grasp of the American political psyche is firmer than that: Dean's bet is that somewhere -- buried in some back corner, under layers of Oprah and American Pie, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Eminem and the latest Field Poll from California -- there's a little bit of Thomas Paine in each of us."