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Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean sat down with The Dartmouth on Aug. 5 to discuss the upcoming presidential race, the state of the American left and his own personal plans for the future.
In an interview, Dean said he would fully dedicate himself to Democratic nominee John Kerry's campaign for the next three months leading up to the presidential election.
"I'm going to do pretty much whatever [Kerry] asks," Dean said, including raising money and traveling on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards campaign.
During the Democratic primary season last winter, Dean ran a hard-nosed campaign and had been critical of Kerry's positions on several issues, including the war in Iraq and health care coverage for poor Americans.
However, Dean dismissed such disparities as immaterial to his present support for Kerry.
"The policy differences between me and Kerry are really tiny compared to the policy differences between me and George Bush," Dean said.
After his defeat in the primaries, Dean has thrown much of his energy into Democracy for America, a grassroots liberal organization that draws much of its leadership and support from the ranks of former Dean organizers.
The former governor said he hopes Democracy for America will address the Democratic Party's inability to craft an effective grassroots movement in the past 20 years.
"Republicans have been successful at the grassroots because they know who they are," Dean said.