WASHINGTON - Sleepless in Seattle, Spokane or San Antonio? Anxious in Austin? Counting sheep in Chicago?

Dr. Howard Dean, Democratic presidential contender, will visit all five cities, and four others, over an 80-hour period starting on Saturday, touting a prescription for insomniacs worried about their jobs or safety -- vote Dean in 2004.

"There are millions of regular Americans who are sleepless over the state of the nation today," said Courtney O'Donnell, Dean's deputy communications director. "While for many, summer means vacation, this year a lot of Americans are facing a season of anxiety."

The former Vermont governor's campaign has asked Americans to go online and explain what is keeping them awake this summer, whether it be the sluggish economy, fear of terrorism, the war in Iraq or something else.

Dean's latest Internet-driven bid for support takes aim at what his campaign believes is voter unrest over economic and national security.

On the Web site (www.DeanforAmerica.com), Denise from California wrote: "I am sleepless because I have kids that will inherit this disastrous national debt and worldwide ill will."

With the presidential election more than 14 months away, prospective candidates need a gimmick to grab the attention of vacationing voters and potential donors.

For Dean, that is the "Sleepless Summer Tour," three days of nonstop travel aboard a chartered plane dubbed the "Grassroots Express" with rallies at sites ranging from a barn in Falls Church, Virginia, to an aircraft hangar in Milwaukee to a downtown park in New York City.

The campaign, which already has a huge database of names and e-mail addresses, has solicited people to sign up via its Web site for events in Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Spokane, Washington; Austin, Texas; San Antonio; and Chicago. By Friday, more than 15,000 had done so.

Dean also wants to capitalize on his surprising surge as the top money-raiser among the nine Democratic hopefuls during the second quarter. With the $7.6 million he collected in April, May and June, Dean now has a campaign budget equal to those of better-known candidates like Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt.

Dean's fund-raising success, his ability to fire up the Democratic party's rank-and-file and his rise in early polls, have alarmed rivals, some of whom hope to curb his momentum with summer tours of their own.

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who warned Democrats that Dean's anti-war stance and liberal leanings would relegate the party to the "political wilderness," has launched "Joe's Jobs Tour," an across-the-country jaunt where he talks about his plans for turning around an economy that has shed almost 3 million jobs since George W. Bush became president.

Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina kicked off his New Hampshire "Real Solutions Tour" this week, a six-day bus trip to discuss his plan for middle-class tax cuts.

Kerry's campaign is pushing a series of "Fresh Air Forums," chances for voters to share sunshine and conversation with the candidate. Florida Sen. Bob Graham invited the press to join a caravan of recreational vehicles for a Graham Family Vacation -- in Iowa, where the first presidential caucuses will be held next January.

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Ltd

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