[...] In my opinion, Howard Dean has done more for this country in the last six months than the sum total of all sitting presidents during the last three decades. I admire him more than any other public figure I've ever seen or read about. In my opinion, he and Lowell Weicker stand alone in post-war US national politics in terms of their willingness to put themselves painfully and publicly on the line for what they believe in, no matter the consequences, knowing full well that they are only human and that the public irrationally demands the illusion of perfection in all of their 'heroes,' then loves to tear them down when they turn out not to be perfect.

On that basis alone, I've never seen any candidate who has deserved my support more than Dean does. And he's going to get it, absolutely all the way, without reservation, for as long as he chooses to stay in the race. Period. I don't care if he can't win a single delegate. As long as he's willing to put himself out there again and again for what he believes in, I'm going to stand with him. [...]

The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again,
who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions,
and spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement;
and who, at the worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly,
so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt
Citizen in a Republic
April 23, 1910