  I just voted for Howard Dean to opt out of federal matching funds. He put the decision out for his supporters to make. He's so cool. I voted for because I felt like the primary is where all the cookies crumble. Taking the funds caps the amount you can spend, and I feel pretty confident Dean supporters will give over and above the $14 mil he would have gotten. Plus, the more financially committed supporters he gets, the more votes he'll get in the primary.
He should spend every dime he has between now and the primary. Right now his average contribution is small because his base is the common man. After he gets the nomination, he'll have the support of all those rich blue dogs who are just voting to beat W. When you urlLink go vote on whether or not he should take the funds , you're lead through a few after questions, spreadsheet style.
One asks if you can urlLink commit to supporting financially between now and June. The next asks if you will urlLink pledge to vote for Dean in your primary . What a well conceived system. I was just going to vote, but then after voting I had to agree to support him at least a little bit, so I pledged. Then, I was afraid I'd forget to actually give the amount I pledged, so I went to the credit card form and gave the money.
And of course I pledged to vote for him in the primary. It was like when you buy concert tickets and after you pay they send you to another operator that peddles some vacation package discount book on you. I always fall for that one. The Dean campaign started a new blog, in addition to urlLink Blog for America , he now has urlLink Generation Dean , a blog for young people to learn about the election process. New Mexico's Isleta Pueblo is already participating. 
