Editor’s note: The Daily invited registered student organizations supporting presidential candidates to write columns in support of their candidates.

People in my parents’ generation ask me sometimes why people my age don’t get involved in politics more often, or get informed, or get out and vote. I used to have a simple answer. Why should I go out of my way to support a politician when I can’t find a politician I can trust?

Then I met Howard Dean. There’s something unique about this man. Dean does what politicians often claim to do but never quite manage — he speaks from the heart and stands up for what he believes in. Sen. Tom Harkin put it well last week when he said Dean has a “powerful authenticity.” You could dumb that down a little and simply say that in a profession filled with smooth-talkers, Howard Dean is somebody who tells the truth, however rough it may sound.

Howard Dean’s authenticity was never more clear than when he spoke out against the war in Iraq. Dean opposed that war from the beginning. He opposed it despite opinion polls showing widespread support. He opposed it despite the urgings of other Democrats and the whisperings of political pundits, who said any politician opposing the war would be branded a peacenik and find his career ruined.

When an easy war turned into a difficult occupation and popular opinion began to shift, other politicians started to come around to Dean’s position. But it was too late. John Kerry, Dick Gephardt, John Edwards and other Democratic contenders for the nomination looked irresponsible last year when they voted to authorize President Bush to go to war. But when they tried to explain away their vote on the campaign trail, they looked downright foolish.

If you look at the issues, you’ll find that Dean’s steadfast position on the war is part of a larger pattern.

When this man believes something he sticks to it, even as the other candidates shifted positions to follow the polls. Dick Gephardt tried to justify his vote for the flawed education bill “No Child Left Behind,” which he then went on to criticize during the campaign.

But Howard Dean stood his ground and called for real reform. John Edwards tried to explain why he voted for, but now opposes, Attorney General John Ashcroft’s Patriot Act, which gave law enforcement agencies sweeping powers. But Howard Dean stood his ground and argued for civil liberties over heavy-handed government.

In a sense, Howard Dean is the polar opposite of your typical Washington politician. Washington politicians may sometimes do what they believe is right. But they seem to do so only after calculating how many votes it will cost them. Dean does what he believes is right first and counts the political cost later. To sense the difference, you only need to compare the way these men speak.

Quoting Tom Harkin again: Dean speaks openly and forthrightly, avoiding the “practiced, nuanced, measured emptiness of today’s political chatter.” It’s hard to phrase it better than that.

With the caucuses coming up on Monday, people in my parents’ generation are again asking me why people my age don’t vote. Now my answer is a little different. I still don’t trust the average politician. I don’t like the way they talk, or the way they avoid taking a stance on difficult issues. But on Monday, I intend to take the time to go to my local caucus, because Howard Dean isn’t your average politician. He says what he things, he stands up for what he believes in — and he’s changing the way I see politics in this country.

I’m not the only one. Howard Dean is building a movement of people who are energized and motivated to get involved, many for the first time.

A movement like that has the power to really change this country, and it starts on caucus night.

And if that isn’t worth an hour of my time on a Monday evening, I don’t know what is.

—DavidStone is a member of Cyclones for Dean. He is a senior in political science from Crystal Lake, Ill.