My comments on Dean’s speech formally announcing his campaign for President.
Text of “The Great American Restoration”
I’ve been watching the Dean campaign from a distance over the past year. As a Green, it speaks volumes to me about the depth to which the Democratic Party as a whole has descended, that a mainstream middle of the road liberal like Dr. Dean is hailed as the savior of all that is good and fair in our country.
I like most of what Dr. Dean has to say - but unlike most of the people posting here, I don’t see anything particularly extraordinary or challenging in his statements (unlike, say, a Nader speech on domestic or foreign policy), and I don’t expect to see anything radical change in Washington if he’s elected - is he really that much more “liberal” than Clinton was? How would he generate positive legislative results when confronted by a conservative Congress - can’t we just expect more Clintonesque triangulation? At the same time, clearly, he would be a dramatic improvement over Dubya, Inc. and sounds better than most of the other Democrats.
I particularly appreciate Dr. Dean’s commitment to the Green key value of grassroots democracy - his campaign is a model for other liberals and progressives to follow in the future, and he seems to be particularly Internet saavy and focused on/tuned into the online communities and activist networks (such as the blogsphere and MoveOn.org) that have developed over the past few years.
Re: The Green Party
The strength of the Progressive Party in Vermont during his term, and Anthony Pollina’s ability to poll 10% in a gubernational election when Dr. Dean faced a major challenge from a very conservative Republican demonstrate to me that all is and was not hunky dory between him and the progressives in his own state… why should that not extend to the national scene as well?
The Green Party is the ONLY true “opposition” party in America at this point (Dr. Dean’s rhetoric of “taking back our party” demonstrates this quite clearly); it is our challenge to the status quo in 2000 and our potential threat from the left in 2004 that has made Dr. Dean’s campaign viable, by demonstrating the strength and high degree of dissatisfaction of the progressive/liberal activist community. We reserve the right to continue in the role of “loyal opposition”, many of us do not subscribe to the “lesser of two evils” logic of “Anything But Bush Again” (ABBA), and we intend to continue challenging the good doctor when he is wrong on the issues (as Kusinich did in referencing his refusal to consider cutting the Pentagon’s budget).
Has Dr. Dean convinced me that his very pretty words mean anything but another four to eight years of frustration and disappointment, ala Clinton/Gore? No.
Do I remain open to the possibility of voting for him, perhaps even donating to his campaign at some point closer to the election should he obtain the Democratic Party nomination? Yes.
I think for most Greens, unless Dr. Dean does something incredibly dumb, he has demonstrated that he is “good enough”; we don’t see Dr. Dean making the type of dramatic change in the country’s direction which is truly necessary to save the planet… four years with Dr. Dean will essentially be nothing more than treading water -but that is a hell of a lot better than drowning with weights tied to our ankles under the Shrubster.
Comments posted to my blog at http://www.thomasleavitt.org/personal/blog/
Feedback welcome.
