It was a life-expanding experience. Net access wasn't easy, and every minute was packed, so my ambitions for blogging every day went right out the window.
I was an observer at a Caucus in a lower-to-middle class neighborhood. Dean's group was viable right away, as were Edwards' and Kerry's. Gephardt
and Kucinich were not viable. The horsetrading ended up with Dean coming in third. Three things struck me:
Dean's group looked like America to me: whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos, disabled people, middle-aged never-before political people, and people in their 20's. I was proud to be a part of them. The other campaigns' groups looked more monolithic. It felt like the America of the past fighting for its life against the America of the future. When it comes to electability, too, I think there are a lot of people (even in the Democratic Party) who don't want to see that America of the future in power, hence the hope/fear that Dean isn't electable. There's a lot of fear to break through, and we're determined to do it.
We weren't as ready as we should have been for the horsetrading. I think the idea of staying above the fray was part of the reason (for example, as the only Dean observer, I was advised not to talk with any of the Caucus attendees after the Caucus began, not to wear my orange Perfect Storm hat,
etc.). The leaders of the other candidate groups were obviously much more experienced and ready to coerce people into: a) staying when they wanted to
leave b)executing whatever strategy they had decided on beforehand, ie Kucinich people being moved to Edwards and Kerry rather than going to Dean, which would have been natural because of the other two's pro-Iraq war votes.
And the little bits of school yard bullying (ie: Gephardt and Kerry's group leaders saying nasty stuff to each other about Dean right behind me) let me know how much the candidates are not their supporters: I can't imagine their candidates condoning this behavior. I invoked Carol Mosely Braun and kept on smiling.
I wonder how many people who were committed to Dean stayed home because the media (not the campaign) were predicting we would win, so they thought they weren't needed. No hard facts here, just an impression.
We were all disappointed afterwards, of course. But, at the massive post-caucus party, when Dean came out on stage, took off his jacket and
rolled up his sleeves, I knew I was right where I should be. We all went wild, Dean gave a graceful, honest, empowering speech that was just right
for us (not for the dopey media who tried to put a negative spin on even this). As Tom Harkin said, "Change is hard, but change is coming." I wou d
add that I felt more sorry for the other major candidates' supporters than I did for us, because we thrive on being the insurgent, we fight harder when we're attacked, we'll fight smarter now that we've learned some lessons Iowa taught all of us Deaniacs, many of whom are new to the process, that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon, as Dean said. The media was trying to spin the story: Dean's going to concede (yeah, right), Dean's grassroots army was a failure and he'll try to pull us back (he asked us to go everywhere, not to give an inch), Dean supporters at the afterparty were so joyous and enthusiastic and powerful that surely we didn't realize we came in third (duh), on and on it went...
But none of it made a bit of difference. I'm learning some valuable lessons about how far to let the media spin color my own perceptions (not.very.far). I also always make the case that I will vote for whichever Democrat wins the
nomination. But I am focused on changes beyond getting Bush out. This trip renewed my determination that those who hold, abuse, and won't share power must be made to do so, wherever they are. That's why my unshakeable support
goes to the grassroots and Howard Dean.
Terri in Tokyo