WATERVILLE – National Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean took a look at the crowd waiting to greet him and knew instantly that he was among friends.

Dean was in the Elm City to promote voter registration, and it didn’t take him a second to realize the sign-waving enthusiasts standing before him at City Hall Plaza on Friday morning would not need convincing. Some held signs for presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen.

One woman was wearing a “Dean for President” T-shirt, a reminder of the former Vermont governor’s failed run in 2004.

“We need your help in getting other people registered to vote,” Dean told the 50 or so Democrats gathered around him. “If you come to a 9 a.m. rally, you probably already are registered. We need you to register others.”

Dean said that even though the national party had placed a number of paid staff in Maine and would be conducting phone banks in the weeks leading up to the November election, grass-roots organization would be key to victory.

“The most effective thing is to knock on your neighbor’s door. Not once, but three times,” he said. “Find those folks who are not registered and get them to the polls. … What you are is the network.”

Dean told the volunteers to urge their friends to encourage early and absentee voting. He said it was hard to predict the weather in November and he speculated that because of the slumping economy many people working two jobs might not have the time to go to the polls on Election Day.

Dean said the country is longing for change and that Obama is the person who would heal America and restore the country’s moral authority in the eyes of the world. He said the country does not want to be in Iraq for another 98 years as John McCain alluded to earlier this year.

“Ninety-eight years is a long time to be putting money into another country when you could be putting it here in Maine for schools and roads,” he said.

Dean also urged the crowd to give its support to Senate candidate Allen, who is Maine’s 1st District congressman. Dean said that while Sen. Susan Collins is a “nice person,” she has consistently backed the war in Iraq.

“Every single vote George Bush has asked of Susan Collins she has given him,” he said. “It’s great to be a nice person, but we need Tom Allen to represent Maine in the U.S. Senate.”

Dean said he believes Illinois Sen. Obama will carry Vermont, Dean’s home state, as well as Maine and New Hampshire. He said northern New England may represent only 11 electoral votes but that “11 electoral votes have made the difference in more than one election in recent times.”

After his talk at City Hall, Dean walked a few blocks over to Atkins Printing Service to meet the employees. Atkins is one of only two union printers in Maine, and Dean received a warm welcome from the workers.

Shop steward Leonard Cobb, a 28-year employee, described himself as a proud Democrat and told Dean he planned to support Obama.

“I think he’s the right man for the job,” he said. “The country needs some serious help and I think he can do it. I’m worried about this winter, but all we can do is pull together and support each other.”

Before leaving City Hall, Dean reminded the gathering that Waterville was the hometown of former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, a man he described as “one of the most illustrious figures in the history of Maine politics.” He commended Mitchell for his work in the Senate and as a key player in negotiating a peace agreement in Northern Ireland that still stands. Waterville was justly proud of its native son, he said.

“There are tens of thousands of Watervilles all over America,” Dean said. “If we can win those, we can win the election.”

wgriffin@bangordailynews.net

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