Mrs. Dean takes stage to offer a boost

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- As she did the Sunday before the Iowa caucuses, Judy Dean stood by her husband's side yesterday, smiling raptly and at times offering a look of delighted astonishment, as when a crowd of supporters at a campaign office here let out a series of frenzied whoops.

The appearance was her third since Howard Dean embarked on his bid for the presidency, and the campaign hoped she provided an infusion of domestic tenderness to the image of a man dogged by temperament questions.

Mrs. Dean, who practices medicine as Judith Steinberg, MD, is a New York native and Princeton graduate. She has avoided the trail until recently, attributing her absence to obligations to her family practice and teenage son. But recently she has made exceptions to read scripted comments -- both starting with "My name is Judy Dean" -- and flash smiles at her husband's appreciative supporters.

Dean appeared to revel in his wife's appearance, as he looked rested and restored after struggling with a cold much of last week. At a rally at Southern New Hampshire University, Dean also seemed acutely aware of her spotlight reluctance, understatedly introducing her and pumping her fist in the air only once, and delicately.

The crowd was far less restrained, chanting her name as Mrs. Dean stood with her hands clasped, a pose she maintained even as the chants and hand-clapping turned to her husband.

Mrs. Dean, dressed in a charcoal gray suit and turquoise turtleneck,

nodded as her husband told the university crowd of his support for Title IX, which seeks to ensure funding parity in sports and other school activities between genders. She spoke only when he prompted her to tell the story of her high school's elimination of a playing field for girls sports teams.

Mrs. Dean then kept her comments to script, telling voters: "Whether it is our careers, raising our children, or being there for the ones we love, we all struggle -- and juggle -- to do it all. And I'm here to tell you that Howard gets it. So, with that, let me say thank you again and introduce my husband, Howard Dean. And say that I think he would make a wonderful president."

Supporters offered glowing praise for Mrs. Dean, calling her genuine and inspiring for her insistence on having a life and career of her own, with plans to keep both intact should her husband win the White House.

"I respect her," said Tanya Woodall, 36, a pilot from Center Conway who is considering voting for Dean. "I like that she is independent."

The campaign made the most of Mrs. Dean's time, scheduling her appearance at three campaign stops and on five television news programs. Meanwhile, campaign workers handed out nearly 75,000 video copies of the couple's appearance last week on ABC's "Primetime Live," her first television interview and one that campaign officials said was vivid and flattering evidence of their candidate's other side, that of a family man.

Dean has been a rarity among politicians in refusing to make his family a part of his campaign. His son has not made public appearances and his daughter has made only one. Mrs. Dean made two before yesterday, one at Dean's kickoff and once before the Iowa caucuses, where Dean placed third.

Dean has made little mention of his family in his speeches, saying that he is a private man and that his wife has a life of her own.

Mrs. Dean appeared publicly yesterday at a time when her husband is dealing with criticism about his raucous speech to supporters after the Iowa caucuses.

Yesterday, Dean was also joined on the trail by his brother, Bill Dean, a banker who lives outside Boston. And Dean's mother, an art appraiser who lives in New York, campaigned separately, appearing at a bingo game in Dover and lunch at a retirement home in Concord.