In a nation increasingly dominated by the large and the mighty, the rich and well-connected, there is always hope when a voice from rural America strikes a responsive cord from places big and small, and from places and people who are foreign to who we are and what we have accomplished. That is also the power of a free press, a free nation and a political system within reach of all Americans.

[...] What he has is the fundamental understanding that people, once ''awakened,'' can do the right thing, that evil has no subjective power, that it is explained by people who have not been sufficiently motivated to fill that vacuum with good deeds. People sense the gravity of Dean's cause, and the sincerity of his character, which is why, despite all odds, he is now counted among that top tier of a crowded Democratic field. That's the scorcher and it's just now beginning to catch fire.

[...] Despite his tough, often defiant rhetoric, Dean has stayed well within the mainstream on specific issues. On his signature concern of universal health care, for example, his plan is far less ambitious than that drafted by Rep. Richard Gephardt. He also stresses the importance of a balanced budget and knocks the Bush administration's school reform plan as an unwarranted federal intrusion into education, traditionally a state and local matter. Those positions hardly justify accusations that Dean is a rabble-rousing maverick.