In recent weeks, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination has been increasingly cast as an outsider vs. insider battle--pitting insurgent bad boy Howard Dean, supposedly running as a bomb-throwing revolutionary bent on overthrowing the Democratic Party power elite, against a clubby party establishment candidate, most likely Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. In Washington State, however, it's not an insider vs. outsider race. Both men have appeal with grassroots Democratic activists and state party insiders.

While it provides a compelling narrative for the national press, much of the outsider vs. insider characterization doesn't fit locally. As Betty Means, a local party activist and Dean campaign organizer, told an Internet-organized gathering of Dean supporters in Seattle in early July: "In a lot of states Howard Dean is running against the party, but not in Washington."

King County party chair Greg Rodriguez is a Dean organizer, and prominent King County Council member Dwight Pelz is actively supporting Dean, having appeared on his behalf at a Seattle rally celebrating the official kickoff of Dean's campaign on June 23 that drew more than 800 supporters.

Dean has also won the support of former state party chair Karen Marchioro, who says she went to the annual meeting of the Democratic National Committee in February as a Kerry supporter, but was won over to Dean after hearing his fiery speech and after meeting him personally. She sees a regional divide in the party, with Left Coast insiders more amenable to Dean's call for a head-on confrontation with the Bush administration and its policies. She recently attended a California party convention where hordes of party insiders expressed support for Dean's candidacy after hearing him speak, she says.

And current state party chair Paul Berendt, speaking before Dean at a Town Hall campaign rally on May 15 that drew 1,100 attendees, first described Dean as "your candidate" before amending his formulation to "our candidate." State party communications director Kirstin Brost emphasizes that Berendt remains officially neutral in the race, though she concedes that he is personally "very enthusiastic" regarding Dean's candidacy.

Until recently, the Kerry campaign locally seemed built around winning the backing of established party names. Jim Frush, a key Washington State organizer and spokesperson for Al Gore in 2000, is actively supporting Kerry, as are prominent gun control advocates and environmentalists. State Rep. Laura Ruderman also confirms she is backing Kerry. State party secretary Sharon Mast says she was won over to the Kerry camp after hearing how forcefully he has articulated his opposition to a wide range of Bush administration policies. In the biggest local endorsement so far, Congressman Adam Smith of the Tacoma suburbs has been an early and active backer of Kerry's candidacy.

But in the wake of a recent personal appearance in the state, the Kerry campaign is showing growing signs of grassroots support as well. The chair of Bill Bradley's 2000 Washington State effort, attorney Matt Bergman, is a Kerry supporter. Kerry's forceful anti-Bush speech at the state party's annual Rosellini dinner in Tacoma brought in several hundred more people than initially anticipated, and drew a standing ovation. Kerry's local meetup.com numbers have tripled since his Tacoma appearance, though they still lag well behind the numbers registered by Dean.

Political consultant Christian Sinderman says he is not surprised about the depth of support both candidates are drawing locally. "The Democrats here are truly progressive," Sinderman says. And while "the liberal core of the Democratic Party is truly excited about Howard Dean," Kerry's Tacoma speech "proved to the activist wing that he can speak their language as well."

sandeep@thestranger.com