Presidency beckons for a Yale prankster

The Yale Daily News presents a glimpse at Dean's background at Yale, graduating in 1971, and identifying with the Beatle's Walrus:

"He loved the album, ran around singing it all the time, and seemed to land on 'I am the Walrus,'" Bill Kerns '71 said. "When you ran into him singing 'I am the Walrus' you knew he was identifying with it and laughing at himself in the same breath. We all sang along with Howard, buzzed by his phenomenal energy."

Now, the former Beatles-belting Yalie and longtime governor of the nation's 49th-most populous state is trying to harness this energy in his campaign for the presidency....

Robson, an Iowa native and resident, said he has been following Dean's progress in the state, which holds the nation's first caucus and has traditionally played a key role in the presidential nomination process. Robson said politicians often think the race comes down to "who can pump the most money into the media machine."

But Robson added that the American populace is "not that stupid."

"He's going to surprise a lot of people," Robson said. "I've had a dozen different people in Iowa come back to me after meeting him and say they were very impressed with him, with how he relates to people. I think people are underestimating how well he'll do, especially in Iowa."