'New' crowd turns out to hear Dean speak

Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean appears Sunday in Columbia with U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.(Bruce L. Flashnick/AP) e-mail this story to a friend

Many brought a fire of their own, fueled by the distaste for the present Republican administration.

Few in the standing-room-only crowd of about 400 packing a downtown hotel ballroom appeared to be looking for a candidate among the field of nine. Their dark "We want the country back" T-shirts, exuberant cheers, ear-splitting two-finger whistles, and irreverence toward President Bush made it plain that Dean is their choice.

Julie Nichols, 44, said she made Dean her candidate months ago because "he takes a stand."

"Some of these other candidates talk about their voting records, but not about what they believe. Dean really does. He's been against the war, and I love his stance on health care, that every American has a right to it," said Nichols, a University of South Carolina employee.

Frank Bobrow-Williams, an Augusta, Ga., developer, drove over because a longtime friend in Vermont had extolled Dean's job as governor.

"He did a good job there, so let him do it now for the country," said Williams, 58, adjusting his dark blue Dean ski cap.

To Brian Cooney, a 30-year-old University of South Carolina graduate student from suburban New York City, Dean is "the one who's really stood out so far, the only one willing to challenge (President) Bush on the major issues. You can't beat Bush by being the same or close."

"These other candidates who voted for the war and now want to say it's not being run well, that's no going to run well," Cooney said, expressing appreciation for Dean's opposition to the war in Iraq.

"He's a good-looking man and I really like to look at him," said Nicole Hopkins, 28, a USC library science student. Other than that, "I really don't like Bush; he's awful," she said. While Hopkins is "almost sold on Dean," she's still considering retired Gen. Wesley Clark.

Anti-Bush sentiment

Dean's rhetoric, sometimes angry-sounding, toward Bush and the GOP appeared to be the toughest any of the contenders have used in South Carolina.

Erin Armstrong, a campaign intern, wore a button proclaiming, "Everybody agrees: Bush is an idiot."

At a rally in which Dean received the endorsement of Greenville-born U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Illinois, perhaps no more than 20 blacks were in attendance, although a placard on the lectern declared, "African Americans for Dean."

Jackson, whose civil rights activist father twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination, urged South Carolinians to "strike a blow to feed the hungry, to cloth the naked, to provide shelter for the homeless, health care for the sick, and attend to the stranger on the Jericho Road" by voting for Dean.

Between now and the primary, Jackson, 38, said he would campaign across the state for Dean.

The scarcity of blacks was a departure from most major Democratic events in a state where they are expected to form 40 to 50 percent of the primary electorate.

Dean, who had attended the morning service at a predominantly black church in Columbia, told reporters, "There were a lot of people of color (earlier) at the African-American church. You find people where they are."

Crowd lacks diversity

With U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state's most influential black political figure, expected to endorse fellow House member Dick Gephardt of Missouri, possibly before Gephardt makes a Saturday-Sunday trip to the state, Dean said, "We tried, but you can't get every congressman."

The crowd mystified Dick Harpootlian, the former state Democratic Party chairman who has long been involved in Columbia politics.

"I don't know who the hell they are, but Dean has energized a whole group of white people that I've not seen in politics before. If this is a beginning, this is a good beginning.

"If this is where he thinks he needs to be 60 days from now, he's in trouble," Harpootlian said, referring to the absence of party regulars, those most likely to work for a candidate and vote in the primary.

The day represented Dean's first trip to South Carolina since last spring, well before he vaulted into the lead in national polls. His previous visits, mostly to Columbia, attracted little attention.

South Carolina's Feb. 3 primary falls two weeks after the Iowa caucuses where Dean is battling Gephardt on close terms and one week after New Hampshire's momentum-building contest.

In-state polls have shown an ever-changing front-runner in South Carolina, but "undecided" still holds a long lead.

Focus on jobs, war

The primary will mark Dean's first challenge in the South, a region he has said the party must win back, partly by appealing to white men who sport Confederate flags on their pickup trucks.

One flag was in evidence, stylized across the shoulders and arms of a man who stood near the platform applauding vigorously.

Calling Bush's tax cuts welfare for Bush's rich allies and a weight around future generations, Dean said, "We've got to get these guys out of the White House before they bankrupt us."

He said the GOP "would never win elections if they came out and said their core agenda was about selling America piece by piece to their campaign contributors and making sure that wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of a few."

Dean, a physician in private life, provided no details of his programs, but repeatedly emphasized they would focus on jobs, universal health care, more money for education and putting an end to "our soldiers coming home in coffins from Iraq."

Wrapping up his speech, Dean began chanting over and over, "You have the power," a catch-phrase the crowd didn't immediately take up. When it did, Dean's closing remarks were drowned out.

Later, Dean told reporters that as the Democratic nominee, "absolutely, yes," he would return to the South. It would be a mistake to follow those Democrats who have suggested abandoning the mostly Republican region, he said.

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.