You know, the post was disheartening enough, but to see the utter deflation in the comments is too much. I’ve posted about it before, but I’m too outraged/baffled/depressed to go look them up now. I had high hopes for the Dean campaign. I wanted it to be successful enough to show that we can change politics from the bottom up. I wanted it to show that you can beat corporate donations and cynical politicing with determination, small donors and honesty. It looks now like it was all a pipe dream. And, if it’s not a pipe dream, this is a horrible first example of the way to go.
It looks like (and these are leaks and reports, so I could be all wrong in my interpretation here), that the operatives working for the campaign messed up, and big. They took this huge grassroots campaign and destroyed it with their giant egos, greed, and poor decision-making ability. It reflects poorly on Dean, not that he particularly did anything wrong, but he apparently picked the wrong people to deliver his message. Decision making, and being a good judge of character is an important characteristic in a President. It looks like Dean picked the wrong messengers, and it’s going to cripple his chances of being President.
I have two weeks to decide who to vote for on 2/10. I’m no closer to that decision than I was a month ago. Part of it is that I like the top four, and all for different reasons. Part of it is I really, really, really want to vote for the guy who win in November. Dean doesn’t look like that guy anymore. Of the other three, I’m not so sure who has the best chance, and who I can really believe in.
I’ll let you know what I decide… not that it matters all that much.