Blogtrek

A post card for Dean

Well, today was the Big Day. Yesterday I got a post card from a campaign worker asking that I vote for Howard Dean. She did it on a special Dean postcard, and it was handwritten. I could tell that she was fairly young. This is how I like to see it. She appealed to me with a handwritten, rather than a typewritten or computer printed note; this takes more effort to do. She told me the reasons: he would improve health care and so forth.

I feel this candidate has gotten a bum rap. It seemed strange to me as to why his candidacy floundered. He made some "gaffes", but so did the other candidates, such as Gephardt with his negative ads and Kerry with his flip-flopping on support for the Iraq war. The "Dean scream" was no more than the shouting that occurs at a football game. His ideas are mostly similar to the other Democratic candidates. I don't think Bush is to blame, unless he is to blame because he wants him to be his opponent. I don't think the other candidates are to blame. Mondale and Hart had a war with each other in 1984, and it did not affect their candidacies; Hart usually finished strong and Mondale won the nomination. I don't think voters are to blame, unless it is because they don't read things critically, but that touches on who the real culprit is.

The hypermedia. That's who. They pick every statement of his apart. That was the way with the Osama remark, for instance. Dr. Dean insisted on the presumption in this country that a person is innocent until proven guilty, and Dean defended even Osama's rights under that presumption. The media would rather that he deny Osama this privilege, an action that violates the Declarational principle that all people are created with equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The same with the other mistakes Dean has made, although the other candidates have made mistakes, also.

Well who did I vote for? I wish I could vote for all the Democratic candidates. All of them would be better than Bush. I went with the Lichtman Keys in picking who I voted for. The only way the challenging party can affect the outcome is to nominate a charismatic candidate, and Edwards comes the closest to being charismatic. So I voted for Edwards.

I thank the post card writer for sending me that card. It did make me consider voting for Dean briefly. We need to see more of that personal touch in politics.