Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., buried their past as Dean announced his endorsement of Kerry Thursday at a rally at George Washington University.
\I know who I trust. I trust John Kerry. And that's who I'm voting for and that's who I'm working for,"" Dean told the audience, according to CNN.
Before Dean dropped out of the Democratic primary race, he accused Kerry of betraying Democratic Party principles. And although Dean and Kerry disagreed over tax cuts and the Iraq war, Dean told his supporters their most compelling goal could still be met by voting for Kerry.
""In the end it's Generation Dean voting for John Kerry for president of the United States that is going to send George Bush back to Texas where he belongs,"" Dean said, according to CNN.
It is unlikely, however, that Dean will sway new voters toward voting for Kerry, said Donald Ferree, UW-Madison associate director of public opinion research.
""You have to be a little suspicious of assuming that a candidate can move his or her body of supporters over to another candidate just by endorsing them. It just
doesn't happen that way,"" Ferree said.
The only way Dean's endorsement might significantly boost Kerry's campaign is if the endorsement includes the e-mail and mailing lists of Dean supporters, he said.
""Kerry could then, for example, use those lists and send out an e-mail saying 'I know that you supported Howard Dean and I respect your view but Howard and I share a great deal of visions', that might be effective for him,"" Ferree said. ""But earlier in his campaign Dean was not talking about making his lists available to anybody.\
