I live in Massachusetts and volunteered for Kerry's senate runs in 1990 and 1996.

I was totally psyched when Kerry announced his run for president and was prepared to spend many many hours volunteering for him. Especially in August of 2002, when he published an editorial in the New York Times saying "We must not go to war because we want to, only becuase we have to." Not to mention that the day MoveOn sponsored meetings with senators across the US in August to try to stop the war I was with the folks who met with Kerry's staffers, and they came down and told us that Kerry was with us 100%.

Then, after saying that, he voted to give Bush a blank check to go to war. There had been an amendment requiring Bush to go back to congress before declaring war, and given everything he had said Kerry should've refused to vote for the war unless that amendment was in there.

I mean, for crying out loud, TRUSTING the crowd that stole the 2000 election, violated nearly every campaign promise, screwed us on refusing to fund No Child Left Behind, and countless other ways!?! *TRUSTING* them!!! Hell, Kim Jong Il is more trustworthy than Bush!

It's often said that the one thing worse than the enemy is the traitor, and most of us felt personally betrayed by Kerry's war vote. Whatever the polls may have said, by making that vote Kerry alienated most people who would have been his core volunteers, myself included. Most of us gravitated to Dean, who is currently polling ahead in Massachusetts. (I'm undecided, but leaning toward Dean.)

I'll also ad that, while it has improved recently, the Kerry campaign was clueless for much of 2003. Example: not having a single volunteer at the Boston Gay Pride march in June 2003, despite the fact that Kerry had personally marched in the parade in previous years, and has a very honorable pro-gay rights record. Meanwhile, the Dean campaign of course had a table and lots of volunteers passing out stuff.