Me and the Screamer

During the 2004 primaries, I fell in love with Howard Dean. I loved his message of reform, his ideas, his moderation, and what he wanted to do for America. Being the utter dork that I am, I even changed my voicemail message to promote Howard Dean. He was also the first (and only) presidential candidate I gave money to because I believed everything he said.

Then came John Kerry, the Dukakis of my time, who fooled everyone in thinking he could actually win against George Bush with his boring monologues and that flip-flopping habit of his.

When I went to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, I really wanted to meet him and came very close but never shook his hand. So you imagine how excited I was when I was able to finally meet him and shake his hand. Megan was gracious enough to invite me as her guest (since this reception was only for major Democratic party players) and I had a great time meeting and greeting.

Me and Governor Dean

Howard Dean also spoke at Westminster College and Megan and I got there in time to claim our VIP seats (since we were at the VIP reception). When he spoke, he didn't use any of the crazy rhetoric you are used to hearing from him and only said sensible things (most which I agreed with...I am half-Republican).

During his speech, he rattled off a list of countries, saying "France, Germany, Poland, Canada, etc." I really wanted to yell "Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" after he finished. I actually did very quietly and the only people who heard me were Megan and this stranger who laughed.

At the end of the speech, Dean's advance man motioned for Megan and me to go backstage with some other people. When I got backstage, I asked this man why he wanted us backstage. "To meet the Governor!" he said with a smile. I wasn't about to mention that I already had my picture taken with him, so I decided to take another picture, one that would be more fun.

After this picture was taken, Chairman Dean found a cellphone on a chair and jovially said, "This is my cell phone! Why is it just sitting here?" I saw the cellphone earlier (he probably put it on the chair before speaking on stage) and didn't think it belonged to anyone important because it was a cheap phone! It astonished me that he had such an old and crappy phone that cell-phone companies give away.

Here's a picture of me being interviewed by the news about meeting Howard Dean. Okay, actually it is a posed picture. I asked the reporter if I could get a picture of him interviewing me for my blog, to which he replied, "Ah, so you are a blogger?" Yes, I am a blogger, but not a political one like he probably thought. I'm more boring and only talk about myself.