Dean calls for young voters to step up

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean came to Maine this week to mobilize volunteers for the Democratic Party.

Thursday he spoke at a Portland rally, click here for the Portland Press Herald’s report. Today he helped kick off voter registration drives in Waterville and Lewiston.

Lewiston saw a small crowd of around 40 -- about a third of them were elected officials and press. They crowded around the gazebo in Kennedy Park, and Dean spoke without a microphone or a podium. See below for video.

Calling this year’s process a “generational election,” Dean encouraged young people to go door to door to encourage others to vote for Democrats, specifically Presidential candidate Barack Obama and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Allen.

“There are a lot of people who have given up on Republicans and haven’t voted for awhile...” Dean said. “There are older people who are disillusioned, who have been promised a lot of things by politicians over the years, and now they’re paying $4.25 a gallon for gas and drive 50 miles to their jobs in northern Maine. They’re really suffering.”

State Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, introduced Dean. In her brief remarks, she noted that the day before Election Day in 1960, John F. Kennedy addressed Lewiston at the same spot in the park. People waited hours for him, Rotundo said.

"They waited for him because of what he represented,” Rotundo said. “He was youthful, he was idealistic, and he gave people hope. We made history that night, and we made history in the election. This community is going to make history again when we elect another U.S. Senator (to the White House) who is youthful, dynamic, visionary, and idealistic."