Austin Rally Report

Derek writes from deep in the heart of Texas:
Howard Dean spoke at Plaza Saltillo in East Austin Monday night. One thing is certain: Dean has MOMENTUM. A crowd estimated at 3,200 -- reported to be the largest turnout for any candidate outside his home state -- came to hear him speak. Glen Maxey, his Texas campaign coordinator, hoped to raise $10,000 during the event, but this threshold was crossed at least 20 minutes BEFORE Dean took the stage. The total amount raised will easily exceed $15,000.

Dean is a quick-witted and passionate speaker. I think he will do very well debating Bush and speaking with voters.

* When a crowd member yelled out, "Give 'em hell!", Dean replied "I don't give them hell, I just tell the truth and they think it's hell."

* Speaking of Texas' recently-ended legislative session, Dean said (paraphrasing): "In my state, we balanced the budget without raising taxes and without kicking 100,000 kids off health insurance. So take that, Governor Perry!"
UPDATE: The AP article
The physician took on President Bush in the president's own state -- blasting the war in Iraq, deficit spending and the latest round of Bush-backed tax cuts.

"If you say 'you have a choice, you can keep the tax cuts or you can have health insurance that will never be taken away, you can keep the tax cuts or you can fully fund special education so your class size doesn't expand,' ...people are going to choose jobs, health care and education because they didn't get the tax cuts," Dean said.
UPDATE 2: Additional stories in the Austin American-Statesman and the Daily Texan (the paper for which I was a columnist in my previous life.) To try to put a crowd of 3200 showing up to see Dean in perspective: I saw Clinton speak in public in Austin at the parallel point in his first campaign (June of 1991) and the crowd was about 75 people.

UPDATE 3: Excellent coverage on News 8 in Austin. Here's a direct link to the Windows Media file.

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