I'm disturbed by people who are so quick to abandon Dean.
Dean's meeting with Kerry in DC this week, and now we hear that his fundraisers (as well as those of other candidates) will be meeting with Kerry's people as well.
So the bitching begins!
Complaints that Kerry is "for sale". Word from one kossack that he'll vote for Nader if this is true. This type of griping has been going on since the early days of the Dean campaign - if he doesn't do X, I'm going to Kucinich; if he doesn't endorse my platform for NASA reform word-for-word I'm voting for Lessig; if he doesn't come out now in favor of my incredibly obscure idea for nano-technological voting machine security which I submitted to the campaign in the form of a 47-page manifesto, I'm not voting at all...
Jeezly crow! And still this crap continues.
Listen, as far as Dean "bundling" for Kerry, what would you have him do? What would you have Kerry do?
All Democrats have realized the value of Dean and his work...including Kerry. With a $98 million gap between him and Bush, he'd be a moron to not seek this type of help.
Dean, on the other hand, if he has integrity (and I think he does), has only one option available: Raise money for the nominee. Bundle if necessary.
You see, he made it clear during the campaign that he would support the nominee if it wasn't him. He also made it clear that it wasn't just about him winning the White House, it was about reclaiming the Democratic Party, about taking back the White House, and about taking back the country.
Since suspending the campaign, he's made it clear that he'll do everything he can to get John Kerry elected President.
Therefore, he's doing nothing but showing deep integrity and commitment to something larger than himself - the Party.
Now, I hate John Kerry. I'll give to DFA v2.0, and I'll bust my ass for local candidates. I'm forming a 527 called Take Back Washington to work with DFA v2.0 on local candidates and we're going to pour cash all over the Evergreen state to get Democrats elected. But I won't give money to Kerry.
But I would be greatly disappointed in Dean if he didn't put his considerable resources behind getting Kerry elected. Dean was never an ideological dream come true. He's not even a progressive, and I can't believe that I keep finding lefty progressives who are surprised by this. But he was right, he was strong, and he was exactly what this Party needed. And he's still leading from the sidelines. He might become the Party's greatest player/coach, if DFA v2.0 becomes what I think it will.
So, voting Nader because Dean's supporting Kerry? I say you were always going to vote Nader anyway.