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How Dean can beat the McGovern Curse.
Finding Courage In Ourselves
This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear. . .is fear itself. . . nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. FDR's inaugural speech, given March 4th, 1993
Indeed, the fear I see in the eyes of my countrymen is so pervasive as to be consuming. The fear of losing one's job. The fear of a child falling ill with appendicitis and wondering if the insurance will pay for it. Fear of terrorism, that it will lash out at any time, forcing us to face our very fear of death. For those who read this, fear that Bush will win in 2004, or fear of "stealth candidates" who have secret allegiance within the neo-cons.
But most of all, this fear I see is nameless and unreasoned. And FDR's declaration of what he believes, suddenly becomes that of prophecy. It is fear that splits the Democratic party. While one side believe that we must fight with our best, and our all, the other feels that we must win by concession, to bargain with an enemy that will not compromise.
There are two ways to combat fear; knowledge and hope. For knowledge is the means to power, and power in the hands of the wise, is the means to hope. And knowledge that always comes from the facts, and from the truth.
The "New Democrats" fear that truth. Probably even more so than neo-cons. The Republicans spin a yawn a mile long on how Saddam Husane was responsible for 9-11, and how he threatens America with Weapons of Mass Distraction. And the Democrats, so fearful of being painted as unpatriotic, do more than toe the line, but embraces it as the truth. And counties to do so, long after the party line has been revealed for the lie it is.
It never ceases to amaze me to watch even Clark supporters, defenders of the ever vaunted General, repeat this vary lie, and have even made this lie a foundation in Clark's platform. "Only a general, can take on Bush's war on terror" they tell us. "Only a general can challenge Bush's defense strategy. Do you want us to be attacked again, like we were on September 11th?"
But the truth that we need not shrink from, is the fact that we always create our own monsters. Osama and Saddam were dictators of our making, former heroes who were once hailed as champions of democracy, freedom, and American way of life. And this is quite long actually. We are told that we can not pull our of Iraq because if we do, some one worse than Saddam will take over. But we erected Saddam in the first place. How can we know that the person we pick to take Saddam's place will not be worse still? And so long as nothing changed, this possibility becomes a virtual certainty, for the neo-cons depend on war, death, and destruction to maintain there own power.
The Clark supporters then tell us as if it were fact that "no president has ever been defeated in a time of war." Again, surrendering to the fear fostered onto us by the Rove machines. For this is a war that the neo-cons started, fully aware of this very "fact."
For Dean, the vary first thing he can do, is to attack the fear in America, by arming its citizens with knowledge and power. And perhaps it is because he has been doing both, that he has gained so much attention. And I feel that it is for this exact reason, that he is now our front runner. Consider Deen's "southern strategy." He is trying to appeal to white conservatives, now by bowing to racism and the confederate flag as some have charged. But because he wants to tell them why they are poor. He wants to tell them why their factories are all now closed. He wants to explain to them why is it that despite all of Bush's tax cuts, they are now no closer to making ends meet than before.
The Dean detractors have charged the question, "what if some one shows up to your rally with a Confederate Flag." But that is there own nameless unreasoned fear taking control. Sense then, the confederate flag has indeed been flow an Dean rallies, but the African American community has not been frightened away. And for the first time in a generation, hope has come to the deep South that perhaps at long last, they may finally heal the bleeding wounds that slavery has left behind. For indeed, this is preciously the fear of many racists, fear that the "blacks" shall take there jobs.
Dean has forced them to poke the monster, and to see that it is hollow. While pointing at the distant shadow working against them. A far more powerful southern strategy I think that simply being a "four star southerner."
But is it enough to brake the McGovern Curse? Alas, it is not. All though I firmly do believe that the curse holds no power over him. To win, Dean must to more than just escape the implications of the curse. He must confront it, and slay it.
ABB Any But Bush
The Clark supporters start out with a noble position, to defeat Bush in the 2004 election. And certainly, this approach appeals to the common senses of most folks. Unfortunately, common senses tend to betray the common man. Especially when it is used against him by the cunning con artist.
The fact is that W. Bush is just a figure head. A puppet where the strings are poorly hidden. W. follows along the same lines of Ronald Ragan, Dan Quail, and Arnold Swartinager. Men who frankly don't have the brains to count there own fingers, let along govern. They have only been given the hat of power, and told to strut around in public. But those hats come and go, and the power they bring is always very temporary. This would never do to the true megalomaniac.
The real rains of power can be found in those who keep popping up from the Republican ranks to fill the seats of power, over and over and over again. Is it a mer coincidence that much of W's cabinet have ties as far back as Nixon? Every time the Republicans win an election, the same faces pop up over and over again.. But even in defeat, these persons are never truly vanquished. They just move into the corporate board rooms, partisan office, or talk show studios. And bide the years until once again a Republican is elected, and again, return to power.
Consider this. In 1992, Bill Clinton defeated Herbert Walker Bush, taking over the white house. And yet how swiftly the war in Iraq was resumed, once Clinton was forced to step down because of term limits, eight years later. Within the vary first few months of power, W's first acts as president was to undo much of Clinton's legacy. A deconstruction that would become more through in time. Today, despite Clinton's eight unquestionably successful years in office. It is as if he never existed at all. If our efforts to defeat W in 2004 are so vital, they why did we ever election Clinton? The warning of history goes unheeded.
And what about the Democratic Senate? How soon we forget that Jim Jeffords defection rested control of the Senate from the Republicans. It was nothing short of a miracle. But it proved to be a hollow miracle. The Dems, dispute there majority, did not challenge the neo-cons. Not even ONCE! I am told that it is absolutely vital that we retake the Senate. But when we DID have control, we did nothing with that power. Why am I to believe retaking it will result with any thing different? Especially if the same people are running it as before?
The plain and simple fact is that this in order for us to take on the Republicans, we must first defeat there first line of defense, the DLC & DNC. Victory is pointless, is you do nothing with the power you win. And as the middle eastern saying goes, the army of lambs, lead by the lion, shall defeat an army of lions, lead by a lamb.
A thousand Front war
On to some more specific suggestions for Dean and the meet ups. I felt compelled to cover the issues of fear, and of the ABB arguments, for they are central to our offense. Not just against the Republicans in the general election, but against the DLC in the primary, and following. And as I have said, simple victory is not enough. Dean must do more than win an election, he must challenge the power held by the GOP. The two are not the same.
So we come to the heart of my strategy. And ironically, it has less to do with Dean, and more to do with the meet ups. First off, the meet ups need to target every seat within government. Not just the ones held by Republicans, but the ones held by republican light Democrats as well. And time is running out to challenge the later as the only way we can defeat them, is through the primary process. And to do this, each Dean meet up needs to look to there own districts. Many of these republican light democrats run unopposed. It may only take the existence of a challenger, to defeat them. If a republican light Dem is not opposed, than some one from the Dean meet up needs to step forward, and fill out the paper work to run. The meet ups themselves must then pound the pavement to solicit the needed signatures to get them on the ballot. Rather than just supporting Dean, you should be supporting a catalog of candidates.
Even if only a few should win, the victory here would be monumental. But there is more here than just local candidates trying to run on Dean's coat tails. The process can be reversed as well, and let Dean run on the coat tails of the local candidate.
I am running for office. And I Speak for Dean!
Deans most powerful weapon, is the truth itself, and the facts behind it. Indeed, Dean doesn’t have to attack the neo-cons as much as simply educate the people on the neo-con's record. Unfortunately, the only real tool in doing is this, is the vary tool that will attack him relentlessly. The so called "liberal media." The very channels Dean needs to educate the people, is the vary thing that will distort and attack him relentlessly, 24 / 7 / 366. The Internet has made a different, but it still can not reach the vary people that Dean needs to reach, the poor.
But there is another problem. Local officials do not have a great deal of power. Truly there is little that a county commissioner, a state level representative, or even a governor can do to addresses the hard pressing issues that we face. So we tend to ignore those things and focus only on the things we can change.
But where the two shall fail separately, together, can become a formidable force. For the local official can educate the common people where the national party can not.
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