My Dream Dean Advertisement
I fell asleep last night wishing that this was the ad they would do.
Dean (in shirtsleeves, naturally) sitting at a kitchen table at home. He looks tired, he looks at the camera, and he says:
Hi, my name is Howard Dean. You might have heard some weird stories about me, about how I'm angry, pessimistic, clinically crazy. You might have seen or heard my "lets get together and win this thing" speech to the troops and been told by the mass media that I was off my rocker. Hm, my personal favorite: ferret on crystal meth.
You know, I've heard this kind of thing before. John McCain, a man I greatly respect, was called "unstable" and was accused of having an illegitimte black child during his South Carolina race with Georget Bush; Al gore, a man who served his country in vietnam and for 24 years in the Senate was called a serial liar; General CLark, a man who is a rhodes scholar, an educator, and a four star general has been accused of being dangerously unstable, and even crazy.
Look, you don't have to like my policy positions, you don't have to like my suits, my shirt, my teeth, or my wife. But ask yourself is it really possible that all these people are crazy liars? Is it really possible for me to have been governor of vermont, a state in which the voters really know you personally for ELEVEN YEARS and be, somehow, nuts?
There are a lot of people in this country with the desire, ability, and drive to run for president and to be good presidents. The media wants to annoint george bush to a second term, george bush and karl rove really want that second term. But do you want to give them another four years?
The fact of the matter is that all of the current democratic candidates are honorable men, and all have served their country in one way or another that is measurable, that is part of the public record, that is signficant. All of us would make great presidents. So give us a chance to make our case on the merits, not with mud slinging, and not with cries of "crazy." And you know what? I'll do the same with George Bush. I've never said, and I never will say, he's not a nice guy. He is a nice guy. But he has to run on his record of accomplishments: endless war, a huge expansion of government power under the patriot act, deficit spending, budget busting, 3.2 million people without jobs or hope, handouts to his corporate friends.
Here's my take on things: listen to us, come to your own conclusions,and vote your conscience in November. We'll all have a new start then, whichever of the Democratic candidates you pick.