There's been a lot of talk about what Dean supporters are going to do if Dean doesn't win, and I hope the answer is to be inspired by him, look to the future, and keep fighting...
You have the power. It feels really good to hear Howard Dean say it, but you don't need him to say it for it to be true. You always had the power, and you'll have it in 2006, and 2008. So now's the time to start thinking about the long view. How are we going to infuse backbone into the party? Probably not by electing one person, regardless of the office. My guess is that even if Kerry drops out tomorrow and Howard Dean is elected in a landslide, he's going to have a tough time getting much done with our current Congress, even if the balance of power tilts back our way a bit. So we need to change who's in Congress.
So let's think about it...who is going to be running for Congress, Senate, and the Presidency in ten years? Probably people who are just starting to get their feet wet in school boards, city councils, and statehouses around the country over silly little things like bike paths. We need to start now to elect the kind of people we want working for us in Washington a decade from now - take this energy and unleash it on your own neighborhood. Make the first meetup after Dean drops out a campaign meeting to oust a lazy park board member or start planning your own run for house in 06. You have the power, and it all counts.
It's already happening some places. Somebody posted Ro Khanna's link in the open thread. He might be a much needed change for the party. Personally, I'm volunteering on a campaign for an open state rep seat in Minneapolis, where the outgoing DFL rep has been pretty passive sitting in a very safe district. If we didn't get involved, the replacement would probably be another moderate seat-filler. Next year, our neighborhood will have a strong progressive advocate.
Let's start launching Howard Deans all over the country. If you can't stomach door-knocking for a hypothetical non-Dean nominee, volunteer for an inspiring local race. GOTV is GOTV and the small races might mean more in the long run.