Vermont Gov. Howard Dean appeared at the Capitol City Brewing Company for a campaign fundraiser Tuesday afternoon calling on students to support his presidential campaign.

“The thing that means the most to me…is actually that banner right there : ‘Students for Dean,'” the Democratic presidential hopeful said to a crowd of young professionals and some students, including about 15 from GW.

“We have become the unofficial Dean street team. Folks who are here are sold on Dean,” said junior Ari Mittleman, a volunteer for the Dean campaign.

“A lot of students who came out are not your average CNN junkie, something clicked,” Mittleman said. “Dean is the one who approached us, he has a son who is 17, and a daughter at Yale, he is really about the students.”

GW freshman Ruth Link-Gelles said she supports Dean’s health care policies.

“Ninety-five percent of children in Vermont have health care, no other candidate can say they have done anything like that,” she said.

“I also like that he is anti-war, it is fantastic that he can actually stand there and say he is against the war,” Link-Gelles said.

Dean said his campaign is about getting “people between 18 and 35 to believe again that they can change America. You can change America.”

Dean added he is “motivated and pushed hard by a generation that used to be not interested in politics because it had no need to be.”

After being introduced by Vermont Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and James Jeffords (I-Vt.) Dean held up a bumper sticker “Hey Texas, don’t mess with Vermont,” before asking the crowd to follow his campaign online at www.deanforamerica.com.

While the governor was leaving the restaurant he stopped to take a photo for the Web site with the group of GW student volunteers.

Prior to Dean’s arrival a handful of protestors were gathered outside chanting “Dean is a drug war fiend” while the student volunteers countered with Dean signs.