About Last Night....
Feb. 19th, 2004 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleSo last night wasn’t too bad. Well, except that we had one person talking for a majority of the evening, and I think some other folks wanted to be a bit more active. We had someone from the Hoeffel campaign, and some ward leaders. The one concrete thing that came from it is the plan now to go out on a voter registration drive. Arlen Specter (one of our Senators, folks) and Bush are going to be hitting the Philly suburbs hard, because Bush HAS to win the state to win the election, and if he does, it’s going to come from those areas. So we have to be quicker and cannier. I already know we’re better. Muhahaha!
So Josh, who’s running for a seat from Upper Darby, was also there last night, as usual. He was wearing a button that read, "Another African American for Dean," and I offered my condolences, as it’d only been a few hours by then. "Are you kidding?" he said. "We’re not done!" For a moment, I thought he was going to be like one of the folks still trying to get Witchblade back on the air, but thankfully, that’s not at all what he meant.
Dean, for all the good it did him, created an astonishing infrastructure for activists. He got people motivated and involved. Trippi, his web guy, created a campaign movement that was and should be the model for getting folks politically aware and involved. It’s unfortunate that Dean himself imploded, but hey, that’s what a primary is for. We start with a wide choice of candidates, then see who can’t handle the world political arena.
Nevertheless, though Dean’s out of the race, he has an enormous resource of active, politically engaged, passionate voters. And he’s vowed to keep fighting, and I’m glad of it. Not for the Presidency, but for change. His slogan was "Dean for Change," and now, as Josh and I were discussing, he may turn it to "Americans for Change." I don’t insist that everyone vote the way I vote—though I’ll always argue for my candidates!—cos that’s not what a democracy is for. No one person or party can serve everyone. But I DO think that getting more people involved in the running of their own country is a good thing. I can’t stand hearing my friends whine about their taxes or their school funds or potholes or anything, and when asked if they vote, hearing, "Well, no." Dean’s campaign reached thousands of those people, and if he wants to continue to help those people affect their government, I’m all for it.
I think we’re lucky in one respect this election. We had a very good field of serious candidates for the Dem nomination. Clark, Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Kucinich—they’re all good men, and most Dems can get behind their campaigns. It’s not that they’re interchangeable and indistiguishable, it’s that they all hold to a far different set of ideals than Bush, and I think we all know that’s to our advantage. Not everyone’s going to be happy their candidate got culled, but I don’t think anyone’s going to go hide in a closet and sob, refusing to vote at all. I think Kerry’s coronation is all but inevitable, and I’m glad—and not just because, for the first time in my memory, I backed a winner from the beginning! I think it’s because Kerry’s a good enough candidate and human that others’ supporters will be able to rally behind him come the general election.
I just hope I’m right!
So Josh, who’s running for a seat from Upper Darby, was also there last night, as usual. He was wearing a button that read, "Another African American for Dean," and I offered my condolences, as it’d only been a few hours by then. "Are you kidding?" he said. "We’re not done!" For a moment, I thought he was going to be like one of the folks still trying to get Witchblade back on the air, but thankfully, that’s not at all what he meant.
Dean, for all the good it did him, created an astonishing infrastructure for activists. He got people motivated and involved. Trippi, his web guy, created a campaign movement that was and should be the model for getting folks politically aware and involved. It’s unfortunate that Dean himself imploded, but hey, that’s what a primary is for. We start with a wide choice of candidates, then see who can’t handle the world political arena.
Nevertheless, though Dean’s out of the race, he has an enormous resource of active, politically engaged, passionate voters. And he’s vowed to keep fighting, and I’m glad of it. Not for the Presidency, but for change. His slogan was "Dean for Change," and now, as Josh and I were discussing, he may turn it to "Americans for Change." I don’t insist that everyone vote the way I vote—though I’ll always argue for my candidates!—cos that’s not what a democracy is for. No one person or party can serve everyone. But I DO think that getting more people involved in the running of their own country is a good thing. I can’t stand hearing my friends whine about their taxes or their school funds or potholes or anything, and when asked if they vote, hearing, "Well, no." Dean’s campaign reached thousands of those people, and if he wants to continue to help those people affect their government, I’m all for it.
I think we’re lucky in one respect this election. We had a very good field of serious candidates for the Dem nomination. Clark, Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Kucinich—they’re all good men, and most Dems can get behind their campaigns. It’s not that they’re interchangeable and indistiguishable, it’s that they all hold to a far different set of ideals than Bush, and I think we all know that’s to our advantage. Not everyone’s going to be happy their candidate got culled, but I don’t think anyone’s going to go hide in a closet and sob, refusing to vote at all. I think Kerry’s coronation is all but inevitable, and I’m glad—and not just because, for the first time in my memory, I backed a winner from the beginning! I think it’s because Kerry’s a good enough candidate and human that others’ supporters will be able to rally behind him come the general election.
I just hope I’m right!