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You obviously have a few policy differences with Dean. That I understand.
What I don't understand -- and this applies to a LOT of DUers -- is why you aren't seeing something actually much bigger going on with the Dean campaign -- something that can get you to where you want to go and farther: a resurgence in the whole democratic process.
Dean is revitalizing democracy itself. I say "Dean" but it's not him alone -- it's him and his campaign supporters.
* He has already revolutionized the contemporary campaign by running the first Open Source Iterative Campaign in history (and the internet tools are a big part of that).
* He has empowered supporters to organize from the grassroots up. An awful lot of campaign work gets down out here that was never thought of, never imagined by the Campaign heirarchy. That's revolutionary too. It's revolutionary JUST in the fact of not controlling the message, but the organizing and events and outreach and so on take that quite a bit farther.
* He has revolutionized campaign finance. He's being criticized by some of the other candidates and some DUers for opting out of matching funds and spending limits, but the ONLY reason he can even contemplate doing it is because it's overwhelmingly The People who are financing his campaign. This takes all the special interests -- ALL of them -- completely out of campaign finance. That's absolutely nothing to sneeze at, and I'm surprised it doesn't get a lot more positive play on DU.
* His supporters who are newly empowered and energized are not only running his grassroots efforts out here in the various states, they're getting involved in the Democratic Party. When he says, "We're going to take our Party back," he means that too. And the Party will be completely revitalized as a result (and boy, isn't it time for THAT?).
* Those of us who have drunk deeply of this new style candidate (authentic, blunt and honest -- occasional warts and all), this new empowerment, this new energy, this new hope and promise are NOT going to be interested in "settling" for being uninvolved, disenfanchised, alienated and apathetic any longer. Whoever gets the nomination (and I think it'll be Dean) and whoever wins (and I think, barring the voting machines) it'll be Dean, are NOT going to be satisfied being passive onlookers ever again. He's promised a White House blog, for example. A small thing, but still. What other candidate is reaching and engaging the electorate like Dean is?
Clark comes closest, but he and his campaign haven't caught on to the right way to capitalize on this new, 21st Century campaign style and structure. Kucinich has grassroots support, but it is small, splintered, and basically going nowhere.
My God. The campaign finance issue alone is HUGE. But add to that the interaction and involvement of Dean with his supporters -- it really is a movement as much or even more than a campaign.
So I just don't get it why people who want dramatic, revolutionary change in this country aren't picking up on the potential.
For the entire time I've been on DU, and it's been a while now, we've ragged and bitched and moaned about how UNresponsive our elected leaders are -- and rightfully so. It's been scandalous how unresponsive they are. Finally, along comes someone who is everything we ever dreamed of and MORE in the responsiveness department, and few people can actually see it, and fewer still appreciate it.
I wrote a thread a while back which was titled something like, "It's not about policies any more," and I tried to explain some of this in that thread. We can get mired down in picking and choosing among policies (and personalities as well, to a large extent), or would we really rather see something absolutely revolutionary in a completely pro-democracy way? I'll take the revolutionary pro-democracy, thank you.
I don't like ALL of Dean's policies -- but most of them are just fine, and a good many of them WoW me. The others aren't as bad as with Clinton, frankly, and I voted for him TWICE. The ONLY candidate who would be a perfect match is myself -- and you for yourself. We Dean supporters have seen him grow and change and respond as a result of OUR input. Not in a pandering way, far from it, but literally growing in understanding of what the issues are and how people feel about those issues.
If you read his June 23 speech, you'll see just that. The campaign changed HIM, he said. And I'm sure it continues to change him. And he (along with his supporters) are changing the democratic process and ultimately America -- and that will be true whether he even gets nominated or not, let alone wins.
So when I see people complain that some of his policies aren't just so, I just have to wonder, why aren't they seeing the much, much bigger picture, because that bigger picture is awesome.
Eloriel
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