An imaginary conversation between myself and John F. Kerry
This is completely imaginary because John Kerry will never deign to speak to a lesser mortal such as myself. I know this because I have tried to reach him. I always try--make a real effort--before I write someone off as beyond hope.
I have tried very hard to maintain a tenuous balance for the past 8 months. I have been throwing myself into this campaign, fully supporting Howard Dean and doing whatever was in my power to help get him elected--while at the same time always aware that I might eventually have to vote for one of the other Democrats in the race in the general election. On the outside, people can easily see what I am doing in support of this campaign. What people can't see is that all the while I have *also* been making a continuous, concerted effort not to despise one of the other candidates so much that I felt unable to vote for him or her in the general election.
Kerry has not made this easy, but I have done what I could. When I read the news articles that he and Gephardt were coordinating their efforts in a "tag-team" attack against Howard Dean, I wrote letters to each of them, politely and sincerely asking them to reconsider their approach. I warned that their actions would make it difficult for many of us to support them if one of them became the nominee, but that it was very important to get Bush out of office, so could they kindly stop.
From Gephardt I received no acknowledgement at all. From the Kerry campaign, one month after my letter, I received a form letter thanking me for my letter, telling me what a great guy Kerry is, and asking me to send money to his campaign. Those requests for donations went on for quite a while, incidentally, as I had trouble getting off of his mailing list.
I have never even voted in a primary election before, let alone actually been involved months in advance. Unfortunately, this means I have seen first hand a lot of ugly details that most Americans have not. I *saw* him, in effect, beat up my candidate and steal his message. I know that he is one of the people behind vicious attack ads against Howard Dean. I know that one of the people with whom he coordinated these attacks (Gephardt)has since dropped out of the race and endorsed him.
So, the press repeats the mantra that Kerry is electable, and, in an ongoing call and response with the public, has polled the American public into agreeing with them (Kerry is electable, Kerry is electable--are you getting this? There will be a quiz later...)It is working. What can I do?
I imagine myself having this conversation with John Kerry...
"Stop it! Stop acting like this, or I'll--"
"You'll what?" he sneers arrogantly.
He's got me. I know that. He knows how desperately I want to get Bush out of office, for the good of the country and the world. He has all the cards, though I know he has played a dirty game--aided and abetted by the DNC and the corporate media.
"I'll---vote for you in November but feel really sick about it," I answer softly.
It is in this context that I once again find myself in awe of Howard Dean's courage. He is speaking the bold, uncensored truth--that which many of us are saying to each other but are never heard in the press. He has actually addressed the latest news, which many of us have been discussing in the blog:
"Seizing on a fresh report about the financing of critical ads, Democrat Howard Dean assailed front-runner John Kerry (news - web sites) on Wednesday for being part of "the corrupt political culture in Washington."
Struggling to right his winless campaign, Dean focused on the disclosure that former Sen. Bob Torricelli, who now raises money for Kerry, donated $50,000 to an independent group that ran controversial ads in three early-voting states.
One commercial showed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden as the group sought to raise doubts about Dean's national security credentials. Other spots focused on Dean's previous support of NAFTA, his past comments supporting slowing the growth of Medicare and his eight endorsements by the National Rifle Association while he was governor of Vermont.
"The link is unassailable," Dean said, describing Torricelli as "ethically challenged." Amid an ethics scandal, Torricelli quit his 2002 re-election bid five weeks before Election Day.
Torricelli declined to comment.
Nearly all the donors to Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values were backers of Dean rival Dick Gephardt the Missouri congressman who staked his candidacy on Iowa and was in a head-to-head battle with Dean there weeks ago.
"What we now see is John Kerry is part of the corrupt political culture in Washington," Dean told The Associated Press in an interview. "That's exactly what I'm asking Wisconsin voters to stand up against."
That took tremendous courage, in the bizarre political culture that rewards style over substance, brutally punishing any true honesty. And it is absolutely true.
On the same day he criticized Kerry's links to the ads, Dean said John Edwards would be a better candidate against President Bush in the general election.
"I think that Senator Kerry has an enormous advantage. My fear is that he (Kerry) won't be the strongest Democratic candidate," Dean told CBS News in an interview to air Wednesday night. "I've actually said on the record that I thought Senator Edwards would be a stronger candidate against George W. Bush than John Kerry because when Senator Kerry's record is examined by the public at a more leisurely time when we're not having primaries every week he's going to turn out to be just like George Bush."
Wow. I can't help thinking of the biblical story of Solomon, in which the contested infant's true mother revealed herself, by saying she would surrender her son to the other woman rather than see him destroyed. Howard Dean, in his recent remarks that will no doubt be parsed, and spun, has similarly shown us that he is the true patriot. He knows what is at stake, and, as someone who is genuinely in this election for the good of this country, candidly told the truth about the relative merits and electability of two of his opponents.
So, is there still hope for his campaign? Only if the American voters can find in themselves the wisdom of Solomon.
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