Majority of Dean funding comes from smaller donations

This article was in yesterday's Washington Post under the headline, "Kerry Leads Democratic Hopefuls in Funds Raised". The point of interest for Dean supporters is that it breaks down who raised how much and from whom. While John Edwards was nabbing $2,000 checks from his fellow lawyers, Howard Dean was getting his money from the street:

Dean, who has been running a campaign geared in part to smaller donors, raised $530,000 -- or 20 percent of his $2.6 million raised last quarter -- in $2,000 contributions. Dean had by far the largest percentage of small donations, many received through direct mail or via the Internet. A total of $760,891 -- or 29 percent -- of Dean's contributions was in amounts less than $250, and 60 percent in amounts less than $1,000.
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The detailed reports show interesting patterns of contributions. Dean, a medical doctor, raised $81,500 from physicians, and he also raised nearly $60,000 from educators and students.

Politically, this is great news. It confirms what we already know: that Howard Dean has the backing of an energized, grassroots base. And being in fourth place in terms of cash-on-hand (ahead of the Lieberman campaign by a few hundred grand) is an incredible position for a grassroots campaign to find itself in.

Update: More good news

The Washington Times has some additional information on the sources of Dean's campaign funding:

The second-highest group of Democratic donors were retired people, who topped the contributor list of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who collected $218,000 from them.
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Mr. Dean drew from the creative crowd, garnering more than $14,000 from artists, with writers kicking in more than $41,000. Even professors and teachers seemed united behind Mr. Dean, giving him $37,000.