2004-02-19 - 10:36 a.m.
Ding dong, Dean is dead.
I was so sad to receive an e-mail today at 1:15 a.m. announcing the death of Dean�s campaign. In his letter to everyone who�d registered on his Web site, he thanked supporters for believing in his cause and urged them to keep on fighting. �We have led this party back to considering what its heart and soul is,� he wrote. What a true statement. For all the times he put his foot in his mouth, or didn�t exhibit a strong enough stance on some of the pertinent issues, he did succeed in making young people believe in the political process again. For that, I say he�s a winner. I knew people who never cared about politics, never voted, and thought the whole system was bullshit -- until Dean came along. These people were planning to vote, and felt an affinity for Dean�s honesty and his willingness to directly attack the Dubya.
For me, as a card-carrying Democrat (what the fuck? When I registered in Pennsylvania they actually sent me a card. I plan to keep it buried under a removable stone in my basement, in case the Republicans ride during the night, lynching African-Americans and Democrats) I thought he was a diamond in the rough, who, with the right coaching and a little bit of polish, could have really done this country some good. Political pundits have all weighed in on why he failed; was it because of the �I have a scream� speech, as the NY Times put it, was it his focus on his own hype and Internet fundraising rather than sticking to the issues? Who knows?
I think Kerry and Edwards could both take a page from Dean�s book and wake the fuck up. Feel some passion about what they�re doing. Passion begets passion, and that�s one thing Dean had an abundance of. It was contagious, and if you can make people feel something you can spur them to action.
I�ll end up voting for whomever the party chooses, though I kind of hope it�s Kerry, because Heinz has 57 varieties and he let the guy from Peter Paul and Mary sing �Puff the Magic Dragon� at a campaign event. Rock.
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