The End of the Beginning, 2008
by Trapper John
Thu Jan 03, 2008 at 05:53:55 AM PDT
Four years ago, when I was just cutting my teeth as a "front pager" on a mildly successful political website (or "blog") called Daily Kos, I wrote a post on the morning of the 2004 Iowa Caucus called "The End of the Beginning."
It's a crisp, clear, cold day in Iowa.
A little over a year ago, we turned our gaze from the bitter defeat of the 2002 midterms toward a new hope -- a hope that out of our wounded party would arise a champion, a leader who would defeat Bush and return decency and sanity to the White House. Over time, nine men and one woman came forward to vie for our affection and loyalty -- some of them were new faces, some old hands. It's been a remarkable journey, one during which we've learned a lot about all of those struggling for the party's backing:
We discovered Howard Dean, who reminded a host of disillusioned Americans that there is hope at the core of politics.
We saw John Kerry anointed the nominee by the press, and then topple from his perch -- and just as we were ready to write his obituary, we saw him demonstrate a resilience that we din't know he still had, and catapult back into the heart of the race.
We took another look at Dick Gephardt, the old warhorse, who disapppointed so many of us with the last few months of his role as House leader, and we saw him reinvigorated by the campaign trail, a happy warrior for working Americans.
We watched John Edwards as he developed that awesome potential into something more, and became a bona fide contender.
And we saw the entry of a former General, Wes Clark, whose journey to our party mirrored the experience of so many Americans.
It's been a fun ride -- and tonight is the end of the beginning. A lot of questions will be answered tonight, and the race will look a lot different tomorrow.
I liked that class of candidates a lot, and I thought it important on the cusp of actual voting to pay tribute to the manner in which each of them (other than Lieberman) contributed to the campaign, and helped advance the cause of progressivism.
But I really like this class of candidates. It amazes me when I see folks obsessing on their downsides, or hating on the entire campaign. When I look at the Democratic field, I see three Americans who could rise to become great presidents, not just good nominees.
I see in John Edwards a genuine tribune of working America, one who cast aside his 2004 packaged Southern Dem campaign, and who has fearlessly spoken truth to power while running the most authentically pro-worker campaign in a generation.
I see in Hillary Clinton perhaps the smartest politician of my lifetime, but one with the political savvy to match her intellect, and with a steely will that makes it difficult to imagine her ever really losing -- the nomination, the presidency, or the advancement of her agenda once in the White House.
I see in Barack Obama a transformative figure who can truly move people across every spectrum -- ideological, geographical, demographic -- in a manner seen just once or twice in a lifetime, and who is deeply committed to a more humane and just America.
And I see one more candidate who won't be president, but who has shown the fortitude and the chutzpah to lead the fight for the next president's agenda in the halls of the Senate. Because throughout this presidential campaign, with his leadership on so many issues, Chris Dodd has shown us that he might just be the right choice to take the torch from Harry Reid in the Senate.
It's been an extraordinary campaign, with extraordinary candidates. And tonight is the end of the beginning.
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