  According to this urlLink article , the Dean Scream wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. Apparently, he was using a microphone designed to filter out noise from the audience. People who were actually there to see Dean speak could hardly even hear his now-famous shriek, the audience was cheering so loudly. So, contrary to my previous assumption, Dean didn't really screw it up for himself (though the speech in itself was pretty terrible).
The media screwed it up for him. I finally took the initiative to find out Dean's positions on the issues. I agree with him on most points - I tend to agree with the Democratic Party in general - but there are a few key exceptions. For instance, he supports the death penalty and the right to gun ownership. So I don't particularly regret not supporting him from the beginning. I then took a urlLink quiz to test how my opinions match up to those of the candidates. My results are as follows, from best match to worst: Ralph Nader, Carol Moseley Braun, John Kerry, Wesley Clark, Dennis Kucinich, Dick Gephardt, Howard Dean, Al Sharpton, John Edwards, Bob Graham, Joe Lieberman, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush. Yes, Bush is dead last, as expected. I am a little surprised that Kerry is so high on the rankings.
I guess I'm just not thrilled with how he's running his campaign. (On the other hand, I liked how Kucinich ran his. Too bad he's a hopeless dweeb and therefore never had a chance in hell. ) Really, when the so-called most liberal member of the senate is using his military record as the focal point of his campaign, we have a problem. Which brings me to my next point. I've recently become interested in the urlLink Green Party . I believe in the importance of environmentalism, non-violence, social justice, and grassroots organizing - the four main ideas to which the Greens are committed. The two major parties are both ruled by corporate interests, while the Green Party is truly government by the people for the people. It's time that the duopoly over US politics is broken. So, check out the website, register Green when you're old enough, and maybe together we can build a party to rival the Democrats and Republicans.
I know, I know - the problem with being a Green is that voting Green just takes votes from the Democrats. This is why we need Instant Run-off Voting. Using this system, people would rank the candidates on the ballots. For instance, let's take the 2000 election. Voters who supported Nader would've ranked him #1, Gore #2, and Bush #3. The ballots would've been counted, and since no candidate would've gotten over fifty percent, the candidate with the least number of votes (Nader) would've been eliminated. His votes would go to the second choice on each of the ballots - generally Gore. This system eliminates the risk of third party candidates spoiling the election for major candidates. Also, it allows small parties to grow by giving voters no reason to fear giving the election to the Republican.
And if we had used this system in 2000, Bush would not be our president. Here ends a rather long and unorganized post that truly doesn't deserve the title "Poor Howie" as it's not about Howard Dean as much as it is about the Green Party. Oh well. That's just how I work. So, my first post to this blog, and you can surely tell from the randomness of it that I don't really belong in a blog for intelligent people... 
