E-Mail This Article to a Friend CAMPAIGN 2004 Deaned if you do, Deaned if you don’t BY NICK A. ZAINO III

Howard Dean dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination two weeks ago, but his voice can be heard echoing throughout Central Square at all hours of the day and night. His image flickers from the window of a corner storefront, surrounded by a collage of photos — Dean with Al Gore, Dean with Whoopi Goldberg, Dean with regular folks. The pro-Dean headquarters opened just a week before the former Vermont governor announced the end of his campaign. And as he decides what he will do with his organization, the Mass for Dean (www.massfordean.org) team is still working, independent of the erstwhile candidate’s own Dean for America. It’s a curious place, staffed mostly by college-aged volunteers handing out literature, DVDs, and videotapes to anyone who wanders in off the street.

"People will usually come in and say, ‘How come you’re still here?’" says Massachusetts grassroots coordinator Dorothy Keville. "And our answer is, he’s still on the ballot, and we’re asking you to ask your friends and your family and your neighbors to vote for him."

Although Keville and other volunteers hold out hope that there’s some way Dean can still win the nomination ("Other miracles have happened in life," says Keville), they are part of a campaign that is slowly morphing into a new pro-Democratic organization. The office is actively promoting what the staff calls "Dean-friendly" candidates for town- and city-council positions around Massachusetts, such as state Senate candidate Angus McQuilken (see "John Kerry for President," Editorial, page 4). They also may merge with other independent Dean organizations under the title Gnetwork (www.deanport.com/national).

The Gnetwork Web site lists a four-point agenda — removing George W. Bush from office, fighting corporate-special-interest money, revitalizing the Democratic Party, and reclaiming the media. Keville sees the new organization playing an important part in helping to reform the Democratic Party from within, in contrast to efforts by left-leaning outsiders like Ralph Nader, who announced on Sunday he will seek the presidency again in 2004.

"I think that people saw what happened in 2000, and they really do not want to give this election to George Bush," says Keville. "They may have different ideas of how to go about that, who they want to support, how they want to support. But I think that they will definitely, in the end, vote the Democratic nominee."

The office will close March 3, the day after the Massachusetts primary (to be replaced by a Kentucky Fried Chicken), but Mass for Dean supporters will still push their agenda through the Democratic National Convention this summer.