I've spent the last few weeks pondering the end of the Dean campaign, in which I was pretty deeply involved. I've read a score of post-mortems, culminating in Howard Kurtz's transcription of the Trippi worldview in yesterday's
Post.
Yes, I know John Kerry's going to be the democratic nominee. Yes, I also know that HD is unlikely to threshold anywhere in my home state of Maryland. And, in case you're worried, I'll vote ten times in November for Kerry, if I can get away with it.
But tomorrow, I'm voting for Howard Dean, because I still believe he's the best candidate on the ballot to beat Bush, and would make the best President.
About 14 months ago, at the urging of a couple of friends, I went to hear Dean speak at the National Press Club. What I heard was a sensible, no-nonsense guy with a nuanced grip on the issues and some well-constructed solutions. I asked him a question about the deficit and Social Security, and he answered it clearly, completely, and cogently.
When I left the NPC, I called my wife and said "Geez, if this guy's still in the race by our primary, I'm going to vote for him. I mean, there's no way he will be, but if he is . . ."
Within weeks, I was involved with his campaign, and stayed active through the magical spring, the MTP bat, the Sleepless Summer Tour, the unions and Gore endorsements, the Iowa spiral, the Scream, and the end.
But it was never about any of that stuff for me. It was never about the Internet, or the blog, or the high-profile events, or the magazine covers.
It was about a smart, experienced, mainstream Democrat with an intelligent worldview and some hair on his ass, talking straight to me in a small room.
That's still worth my vote.