...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Thursday, June 26, 2003
      ( 9:00 AM )
 
Dean, Kucinich and Choices

Daily Kos has Dean as this week's "How They Can Win" subject. It's an insightful analysis, and with Dkos' political knowledge, it's probably as good a predictor as we are going to get right now. I also received a fundraising letter in my email today on the Dean mailing list from none other than Martin Sheen. Martin Sheen's endorsement of Dean, while not new news, is interesting. The fact that Sheen is now fundraising on behalf of Dean is an even bigger leap of committment.

Obviously for activists, Sheen's name carries a lot of weight. He practices what he preaches over and again. But Sheen is far more liberal than Dean, so it's interesting that someone of Sheen's liberal-leaning seems to have picked the candidate he believes could actually win. I was pointed to this website comparing Kucinich to Dean by Emily at Strangechord. The comparisons point clearly to the fact that Dean is not "ultra-liberal." But most Dean supporters already knew that. While Kucinich has the progressive platform that we all dream would lead our country, it's also not realistic to think that he could be a serious contender. You may be thinking, "But Mama, you voted for Nader last election - have you completely lost your ideals?"

In a word, YES. But I have to qualify that with a "but not really." It is almost impossible to compare 2004 to the 2000 election. As I've said many times before, 2000 was Gore's to lose and while he technially DID win, it wasn't enough of a win. But the fact remains that there were no true options for Democrats in 2000 - so Nader represented two important things: 1) the grassroots of the Democratic party and 2) the breaking up of the 2-party political stranglehold in national elections. In 2004, Issue #1 is being addressed by several of the candidates this time, and issue #2 is simply going to have to take a backseat. I do not think Nader will run this election, but I would not fault him for continuing his efforts. However, my progressive ideals and my disgust with the Democrat Party's desire to be Mini-Republicans - the two major motivating factors in voting for Nader - have been tempered by 1) Knowing that we HAVE to get Bush out of office and 2) feeling like the DLC has lost a lot of its controlling power over the voters in the party this time around. This is also why I decided to register as a Democrat for the first time in my voting life.

It's time to leave the last election behind us. The person who is in office doesn't deserve to be there, but getting him out will not entail moaning about how he got there. It will require active participation by all the rank and file citizens of this country who realize what a slippery slope he's led us to. It will require an overwhelming victory against him in 2004. And I believe that is possible. The Democrats are motivated to win. Republicans are divided between the very conservative and the majority of the party, which are moderates. The libertarians are mad at Bush as well.

Liberals may not like it that Dean has gotten good marks from the NRA and that he feels gun control beyond the gun show loophole is a state issue. I frankly don't give a damn. It's high time the Democrats took a liking to weaponry. The liberals of this country have got to get over the "wimp" factor. Liberals may not like that Dean doesn't want to make marijuana legal. Well, in my view, this is not a huge suprise since he is a medical doctor... his medical biases are going to be very strong. But this is not an issue that should make a difference for us at this point. Liberals may not like it that Dean didn't get full-on marriage for gays in Vermont, settling only for "civil unions." But let's look at the other 49 states and see what they've done to progress the rights of committed gay couples. He is a Washington outsider: so was Bush. He doesn't have a lot of foreign policy experience: neither did Bush. He is fiscally conservative - which at first may seem scary, but on the other hand, he is very pro-social justice and walfare. I don't agree with him on several issues. But this one fact remains: I believe he can win, and I believe that he can best represent the American people right now. If another Dem wins the candidacy, then I will gladly vote for them in the general election. But for now, my money and my vote is on Dean because he's not the same old thing and he's got a very good chance.

| -- permanent link