Iowa was a blow -- not so much for the third-place finish, but for reasons that it happened: poorly prepared precinct captains (unforgivable) and negative campaign ads (understandable, I guess, given the beating he was taking, but still not the way I wanted him to go).
But an encounter today, plus some scrutiny of the other candidates, is reminding me why I'm proud to be part of Howard Dean's campaign:
The encounter was with a young man who is a bagger/checker at my local supermarket. He recognized me as "that lady who was talking about that guy - Dean." We got into a conversation in which he asked several questions about the primary process and the difference between a caucus and a primary. The only reason I was able to answer him is that, through my involvement in the Dean campaign, I am a much more educated voter.
Anyway, once he got an idea of how the delegate system worked, he asked, "how does someone get to be a delegate?" and, long story short, he asked how to get in touch with the county Democratic party saying, "I don't think there's probably many people where I live who are getting out there to represent us."
Isn't that great? My wearing a Dean button and talking enthusiastically about a political race may bring this young man, from what I'm guessing is a poorer neighborhood, into political action. I know that local Democratic organizations and other campaigns would have provided the information I have if I had asked -- but the Dean campaign trumpeted these things on the website and, through Meetup, caused me to meet people who could talk with me one-on-one.
Meanwhile, the other candidates aren't getting me excited at all:
- If Dean was seen as being too NE intellectual for the South, how on earth can we nominate Kerry? Oh and then there's the pesky issue of his voting record...
- And there's General Clark, making two really unfortunate comments about his rank and service vs. Kerry's that just solidifies my opinions of him (see my diary entry "My Confession about Clark") and not for the better.
- And, oh look over there! John Edwards campaign had plenty of negative stuff going on -- just not in his speeches or ads. And I still have to look into the subjects of his personal injury lawsuits because if he did, as I've heard, do "the delivery doctor caused cerebral palsy" suits, I'm going to do quite a bit of investigation before I support him. And then there's the pesky issue of his voting record...
It's Dean, people. Dean and his barbaric yawp and his junkyard-dog-fight-until-we-drop campaign. I'm there.
