George,

I fear that a significant portion of Dean supports may well drop out if their man does not get the nomination, although I think it repugnant that Dean is trying to make that case for his own candidacy. I recall similar results in past elections, most notably the Eugene Mc Carthy run back in 1968. So what? It is much more important that the Democratic candidate have broad appeal and support within and, as necessary, outside the party itself.

I do not doubt that Dean has brought many young people into the process, however, McAuliffe must make it clear to Dean that Dean must support the candidate chosen by the Party and that he (Dean) should do all in his power to encourage his supporters to support the Democratic candidate whomever s/he may be. The important thing is to remove the reactionary, wealthy class syncophantic Bushites out of control of our country.

Bob Johnson (electronic mail, December 29, 2003)