"So we will continue to fight. This is the end of phase one of this fight, but the fight will go on, and we will be together in that fight. We will continue to bring our message of hope and change to the American people."
Howard Dean changed my life. Let me just put that out there.
During the first debate in 2003, I decided with my Grandfather, a life long Democrat, that Dr. Howard Dean had the prescription for America. It only took me a couple of hours and a few clicks of the mouse to www.DeanForAmerica.com before I fell hook, line, and sinker.
Unlike so many others, he didn’t engage me in politics – I had already spent time volunteering for campaigns and, as a senior in High School, had already been accepted into the George Washington University in DC.
Unlike so many others, he didn’t draw me into the Democratic Party – I was raised on the ideals which my party exposes and had lived much of my short life working for them too.
Unlike so many others, he didn’t turn my views on any issues – like most progressives I probably agreed wholeheartedly with the vast majority of Dean’s platform.
Unlike many others, he didn’t just give me hope ... he got me to believe.
During this election I often find myself missing the People Powered Howard. Every time I see John Edwards on TV, I want him to tell me that "Only You have the Power" to change Washington. Quiet honestly, Edwards is the only candidate who has truly picked up the progressive banner. But while he has picked it up, he’s not waving it incessantly like Dean did and making me believe that he will follow through without compromise.
But although Dean’s campaign failed, he got me to believe in this country and our political process. For the rest of my life I will always look to the field of Candidates and try to find the second coming of Howard Dean.
I’m doing it right now. I follow the campaign day in, and day out. I lean to one candidate, hate another, but could handle really all but one candidate.
But what I am missing is the candidate I can believe in. They don’t exist.
Obama gives me hope, no doubt. He is a great speaker with a fantastic and uplifting message. And it’s not that I don’t buy what he is saying. It’s that I just don’t think he has the fire and devotion that Dean does.
When Howard Dean told you he was going to do something., you friggin believed it.
When he told you that those lobbyists in Georgetown are going to have to find a new salon, you could envision pinstripe suited old men jumping out of their chairs mid pedicure.
When he told you he was going to finally follow through on Harry Truman’s goal of "Healthcare for everyone," you could practically pull out your calendar and pencil in a reminder to finally get that check up.
Howard Dean made me, and thousands of others, believe.
Believe in the Party.
Believe in the Country.
Believe in him.
But most importantly, believe in ourselves.
Howard Dean made you feel like you weren’t just voting for a man, you were joining a cause ... a movement ... even a revolution.
From the fundraising "Believe!" bats that made me shell out money I didn’t have as a struggling college kid, to the meet ups that I went to and met folks of all ages, Howard Dean made me want to drive to Iowa and knock down 5,000 doors.
"Mouse pads, shoe leather, and hope."
That one line made perfectly described how I felt about the world, and more importantly, how I wanted the world to be changed.
"The biggest lie that people like me tell people like you at election time is that, If you vote for me, I'll solve your problems. The truth is the power is in your hands, not mine."
That one sentence made me realize that not all politicians are sound-bite machines, and that people can rise in the polls while simultaneously telling the truth.
"Why can't we talk about jobs, health care and education, which is what we all have in common, instead of allowing the Republicans to consistently divide us by talking about guns, God, gays, abortion and all this controversial social stuff that we're not going to come to an agreement on?''
That one paragraph changed the way that I looked at politics, and how if we as a party, were ever going to reach out beyond our common constituencies.
Howard Dean, for so many reasons changed my life ... and I hate him for it.
I hate him for it because I will always look for a candidate who will doesn’t sugar coat the issue and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.
I will always look for a candidate who refuses to compromise on what they believe is right for our country.
I will always look for a candidate that makes me believe again, and they are simply hard to find.
And so this year, although I will eventually have to commit to a candidate and stand in his corner, I am having a real hard time believing in one candidate in this, the first Post-Dean Presidential election.
And as a result, I constantly remind myself of Howard Dean’s words.
He reminded us that the campaign is bigger than one person. It was a movement. It was a progressive cause. It was something that would live on after he lost.
And that’s why he kept his delegates, that’s why I signed on to be one, and that’s why I went to the State’s convention and proudly and loudly stood for the man who made me believe.
Now I just need to keep on believing, which is why I share what keeps me going on those hard days with you now.
Let's not just change presidents. Let's send a message to this country that we want vision, we want change, we want job opportunities. We want a Democratic Party that's not going to just play the game to get elected and elected and elected. We want a Democratic party that's going to stand up for the ordinary working and middle class people, all of whom vote republican and independent and democratic but they vote in fewer and fewer proportions because they don't believe in the American Dream anymore.
Let's take the American Dream back.
And why we cannot stop ... and must press on with our cause.
Change is difficult. You cannot expect people with great privileges taken at the expense of ordinary working people to surrender them lightly. But the history of humanity is that determined people will overcome obstacles.
And we will overcome the problems that this country is facing as a result of George W. Bush and as a result of a Washington establishment that has forgotten who sent them there.
Change is hard work. Change does not happen simply because you go to a rally and simply because you make phone calls -- and I know how hard everybody here has worked. But change is a process that you can never give up on because change is the state of America and change is the state of humankind.
So we will continue to fight. This is the end of phase one of this fight, but the fight will go on, and we will be together in that fight. We will continue to bring our message of hope and change to the American people.
We will speak out. We will fight on. We will continue to stand up against the dangerous foreign policy which weakens our security, and stand up against this president who weakens our civil rights.
We will continue to stand up against special interest that prevent change. And we will stand for America's working families for jobs and health care, investment in our children, the chance of all Americans to pursue their dreams.
We will continue to stand up against the divisive policies of the far right. We will no longer be divided by race. We will no longer be divided by gender. We will no longer be divided by sexual orientation. We will no longer be divided by religion. We will no longer be divided by income. And we will no longer be divided by George W. Bush in the White House.
No matter what happens this election, will will no longer be divided by George W. Bush.
But there will be more Bushes in years to come. So I hope that you all will join with me in remembering the movement we participated in, to ensure that when the next Bush comes along, we'll know better than to let it happen again.