Over the pass several months I have shared a front row seat here at the
dailykos for one of the wildest ride in recent political memory.
"Oldtimers" will recall the run up to the war wherein many of spoke out against this Administration and it policy of " full speed ahead" in pursuit of getting its " war on." We railed, we vilified, we villainized, and showered utter contempt on the pResident, and his minions, for the cocky, arrogant, almost ruthless way they lead our nation and military to fight in Iraq.
The war began and casualty ensued and you could find a more disheartened group then in the community here at dailykos. We consoled ourselves and offer sympathy to the families of young men and women who name showed up on casualty lists. It was a very low point. Late winter turned to spring and spring to summer. Many of us were cognizant of the fact the war though " won," peace was far from becoming a reality.
Soon the upcoming primaries and the various candidates began to attract attention within the community. Early, many of us looked at the field of announced Democratic candidates and found it wanting. Many hoped that a candidate would enter the fray that would inspire us to raise our hopes, and yes even our belief, that aWol could be defeated. Why Markos even started a website devoted to attracting a certain retired four star general to enter the race and carry the banner of our party at a time when we did not even know if he was in fact " one of us?"
I believe that for a period no one candidate was highly touted over any other. Sure there are those who held deep convictions that candidate X would be a better candidate then say candidate Y, but for the most opinion was pretty mixed.
Then a couple of things happened. Markos began doing some consulting work for the Dean campaign , while at the same time the good Governor's anti- war message began to strongly resonate. Added to that was the fact the Dean campaign showed the ability to raise huge some of cash and,WOW, the next thing you know these parts were being populate by "Deaniac's."
The ensuing months saw the campaign demonstrate its prowess in raising funds and many came to believe that the massage and the money would swamp the field. Arrogance by the candidate, and his supporters here, was palpable. Hardly a day did not go by that a veritable, and virtual, food fight between Deaniac's and the supporters of other candidate did not take place.
For the true believers it was only a matter of time before the inevitable would happen and Governor Dean would win the nomination and go on to defeating G. Bush in November.
A funny thing happened though. As the media spotlight grew more intense, and as the Democratic primary voters finally tuned in,the Governor stumbled. He spoke from the "gut" instead engaging his mind first and now watched as his angry man persona, that had been so reflective of core supporters feeling, was now turning off the very voters he should have been wooing.
As the Presidential nominee vetting process went forward, and Howard Dean's popularity continued to fall precipitously, his "Deaniac's" found many scapegoats. Push polls, the media, the DLC, the DNC, Terry Mc Auliffe, the Clintons were amongst the suspects. Forget Howard's own missteps, misspeaks, the firing of Trippi (the same Jedi Master Trippi), internalizing these miscues was the last thing that was going to happen.
Governor Dean deserves credit and kudos for energizing legions of new voters. He deserves credit and kudos for his use of the Internet to tap in vast sums of money. He deserves credit and kudos for his use of the Internet to energize "old " Democrats, "new" Democrats, enlarging the base and awakening the deep feeling of contempt for all things Bush.
I am sorry that some take the Governor's short-term political demise as a reason to not support Sen. Edwards or Sen. Kerry. I am also at a lost to understand why Governor Dean not being the nominee is in it self the reason to not support whoever the Democratic nominee is as Ihave read bantered about in the community over the last week or so. The Governor offered himself for consideration, the voters looked, the voters chose, and in the end he was unable to close the dealperiod. In politics that happens. As the Governor has said " Any one of these candidates would be better then George Bush." That is true! Let all work together to insure that November 4, 2004 Bush "43" suffers the same ignominious fate that befell his father...one term in office.
