Who I am and why I support Howard Dean

I'm Michele Gray, a 43 year old stay-at-home mom in Central Pennsylvania. I have two boys, Ted who is 3 and John Michael who is 21 months.

I also write a monthly garden column for the local paper. I have never donated to a political candidate before. I have never done anything like this before. Usually I don't even vote. Six months ago I didn't even know what a blog was. Now I'm doing my own because I believe Howard Dean is the best choice for President of the United States. From where I sit, he is the only choice.

Howard Dean doesn't just promise us yet another "plan" to fix the health insurance system in this country. He's actually done it in Vermont. His innovative Success-by-Six program slashed child abuse rates. As a governor he understands first hand that schools can't effectively teach our kids when they are saddled with trying to meet unfunded federal programs.

The other candidates running understand only too well how to make speeches, propose programs, and pander to interest groups and constituencies. But they don't know about the fear of a mother with a really sick child in the middle of the night debating whether or not to go to the hospital because her insurance might not cover it or else she doesn't have insurance at all. Dr. Dean knows, and he's proven that he will do something about it.