I am a Deaniac, and I believe that there are fair criticisms of Dean. I even posted a diary entry about it called
Critiques Of Dean From a Deaniac Perspective. Many of the fervent supporters of other candidates have, from time to time, brought up potential weaknesses in Dean that we will have to deal with. Some of these criticisms are substantive, and some are not, and that goes for us Deaniacs as well. However, I believe that
most of the attacks by the other candidates themselves are just talking points that misconstrue Dean's statements and positions.
The more that I think about it, the more that I think that the other candidates are trying to call us stupid. They are saying that we are stupid for supporting Dean. At the same time, they are saying that we should support them. They should make posters that say, "Hey Stupid: Vote <insert candidate name here>".
They tell us that Dean is not the liberal that we think he is. As if we are all crazy hippies or we don't know how to judge weather someone is liberal or isn't or whether we actually want a liberal or not. They say that he would wreck the Democratic Party, as if they have done a good job with their leadership, or telling the truth somehow makes someone not able to lead a group or men (or woman). They say that we should vote for them because they have foreign policy experience, as if we don't know how they voted on the War in Iraq. They say that he is not electable, as if they have been doing a good job getting the democrats in power and we don't get to decide who we want to represent us against the president. They say that Dean offers no solutions, as if we are just stupid and respond only to talking points from a shrewd politician who is using us.
When it comes down to it, they say that we don't know our candidate. They say that we don't have a right to say what we are saying of feel what we feeling. They say that we are stupid because we didn't support the Iraq War, when deep down in side, most of them didn't either, but they went along with it nonetheless.
Do we know everything about Dean? Of course not, the same way that we don't know everything about them. Do we know that Dean will beet Bush? Of course not, the same way that we don't know if they will one day be able to inspire anyone to do anything. Do we know if Dean will let us down if he becomes president? Of course not, the same way that we know that they have already let us down in their current and past positions.
The point is, Dean could be an evil but masterful politician, and we would not know about it. But for now, he is the only one who speaks for us. That burning feeling in side that tells us that we are not going to take it anymore from Bush or the DLC/DNC. They don't understand that, and then they call us stupid because we don't get with the program.
How is it that they expect us to unite behind them if Dean doesn't get the nomination? They will do what they have always done. Call us stupid and tell us to go vote Republican if we don't like it.