Thursday, Aug. 7, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.
In a few days an unsuspecting New Hampshire man will receive a handwritten letter in the mail from Las Vegas resident Rich Mathias, urging him to consider voting for Howard Dean in his state's Democratic presidential primary in January.
Mathias is not a campaign worker, but a schoolteacher who has never before participated in any kind of political activism. And his pen pal won't be alone -- at least 70 undecided New Hampshire voters were targeted for personal mailings Wednesday night by participants in a Las Vegas "meet-up" to support Dean's candidacy.
The local event, which drew about 40 Southern Nevadans to the Sunrise Library on Harris Avenue, was one of more than 350 across the country Wednesday night. Organized via the Internet, Dean's meet-ups have played an integral role in building momentum for the former Vermont governor's campaign, organizer Paul Gohranson said.
"I think this is a brilliant way to do it: Get people involved, give them a little homework, and let them know that Dean knows they're on his team," Gohranson said. "Dean is running on the premise that if we get people involved in the election process, they'll actually feel like, 'Hey, I made a difference.' "
That was one of several common bonds among the participants in the meet-up, Gohranson said -- they're looking for something different from "business as usual" in Washington, D.C. They said they're attracted to Dean, originally considered an outsider in the race for the Democratic nomination, because they believe he brings a gutsy, straight-talking approach to debates about hot issues such as gay marriage and the war on terrorism.
"I like his push for health insurance and his push for equality as far as equal rights for all," Mathias said.
Dean's support for same-sex civil unions and his adamant stance on balanced budgets were also popular among meet-up participants, but what stood out was their unanimity in opposing the policies of President Bush.
Harriet Trudell, political director for the Nevada Democratic Party, said Bush's policies have mobilized people who have shied away from political involvement in the past. About half of the crowd at the meet-up raised their hands when an organizer asked who was participating in a political campaign for the first time.
"I personally think it's an uncomfortableness with this administration," Trudell said. "They're beginning to look at what they can do."
Las Vegas schoolteacher Diane Ladue said: "I feel I have to get involved because there appears to be an effort (by the current White House) to take over our representative government."
In recent months, a groundswell of grass-roots support has thrust Dean to the top of the Democratic Party heap, according to recent polls that have him leading more established candidates in the crucial primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Dean made the cover of recent issues of both Time and Newsweek magazines.
Gohranson said Dean has separated himself from the rest of the Democratic Party candidates by being more direct in his opposition to Bush's policies.
"He tells it like it is," Gohranson said. "The four leading candidates besides himself are trying to be more like Bush."
Dean's bold rhetoric has also earned him some detractors. Party leaders reportedly worry that Dean's stance against the Iraq war makes him unelectable in a post-9-11 political environment. And Gohranson said Nevadans are concerned about his support for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.
If his efforts are successful, Gohranson said he believes attendance could double again for the next local Dean campaign meeting Sept. 3.
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