jjorge's Dean Diary

I was looking through Google just now for something else entirely, when I stumbled on this piece about Dean -- from a Republican:

Quote:

...This country is hungry to put an end to the partisan warfare that has consumed this nation for the last 15 years -- at least.

That hunger, and a deep discontent with the status quo keeps reasserting itself. It raised its head in '96 with the hope that Colin Powell might run. It reemerged with the McCain insurgency, and I believe that it will finally succeed with the candidacy of Howard Dean.

This is not a question of party registration. It is a matter of right and wrong. It is a question of thoughtful policy development that addresses the needs and problems that are facing the majority of people in this country.

I have campaigned all over this country and I have enormous confidence in the basic common sense of the American people. I believe if you speak to them rationally they will listen. I am convinced that one of the reasons that the Dean campaign is gaining such traction is because unlike everyone else they have thrown the rule book away and are beginning to intelligently address the problems that are threatening the nation.

I also believe that they understand that they represent a potential home for millions of disenfranchised traditional Republicans who -- like myself -- are no longer welcome in their own Party.

Governor Dean projects a complete unwillingness to be afraid, and that is the key to taking these people out. From what I am hearing from friends inside the Republican Party, they are deeply concerned by the Dean campaign because they do not know how to deal with it.

I guess I would say to people who have been terrified by President Bush and his administration, "do not be afraid of all Republicans, because there are millions of Republicans who are wonderful caring people. Citizens who embrace the traditions and policies of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower......reach out to them.........and create a radical center where all of us can work together -- even when we disagree."

Please do not tar us all with the same brush. Like all Americans, we love our country, its values and the principles that have made it great. Equally important, we are committed to the vision of the founders of our party who believed, in the words of Abraham Lincoln that, "This country with its institutions belongs to the people who inhabit it."
http://www.greaterdemocracy.org/2003_08_01_gd.html#106203463665230544

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I drove up to Gloucester Mass. yesterday to my brother's house. Then, he and I and his wife drove in his car up to Scarborough Maine to visit my youngest sister and her family.

Prior to the trip I told my brother on the phone, "I'll try not to talk about Howard Dean all the way to Maine."
"I won't let you." He replied. Well, I DID talk a lot about Dean, and gave my brother and his wife a Dean 'Fact Sheet' that Rhode Island for Dean has been using. Jack (my brother) said, "hm-m, I'll have to go on the web and learn more about him."

Later, at my sister's house two of her friends dropped by briefly. They were a couple in their late forties. They were well-dressed, wellmannered and, I learned later, the owners of five stores. They looked very Republican to me.

They commented immediately on my Dean tee-shirt and the husband asked why I was supporting him. I told him that I was very troubled that President Bush had mislead the public, got us involved unneccessarily in Iraq, and turned a nasty, despicable dictatorship (that nevertheless was NOT allied to Al Qaida nor was it a terrorist threat to the U.S.) into a festering swamp of terrorism, a magnet for every radical-Arab in the world, and a shooting gallery where U.S. troops get 'picked off' daily.

I also told him that Bush had inherited unprecedented budget surplusses and had turned them into unprecedented deficits and he made it worse by using the nation's 'credit card' to give enormous tax cuts to the rich, and our children and grandchildren will be paying for it.

The husband surprised me by saying, "I agree with everything you said!" I gave him a Dean fact sheet as he left.
As the couple said goodbye, my brother (who had been on the fence about Dean) called to them, "vote for Howard Dean!"

On the drive home Jack asked if I would send him a couple of Dean bumper stickers. Very Happy

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Jorge -- You're obsessed -- and Dean will win because of you!! (Hope you posted this on the blog!)

(Used to live in Portland, had a vision of a walk I used to take in Scarb when you described the above.)

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Tartarin wrote:

Jorge -- You're obsessed -- and Dean will win because of you!! (Hope you posted this on the blog!)

(Used to live in Portland, had a vision of a walk I used to take in Scarb when you described the above.)

Obsessed? Maybe, ....I call the Dean Campaign, "My other life".

Portland is a great city Tart! Like Providence they have had an exciting 'rennaissance' in the past fifteen years or so.

My sister lives on a rural road but nevertheless only about fifteen minutes from Portland. her house, which she bought cheaply a few years ago is on a tidal river where they go clamming, kayaking etc. It's lovely.

PS
I DID post my little tale on the blog. I entitled it "One Voter at a Time"

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I originally posted the comments below on 8-22- at another location:

"I GOT TO MEET GOVERNOR DEAN LAST NIGHT at the Middletown R.I. house party-fund raiser. Along with a half dozen others from Rhode Island for Dean, I was working the registration table, signing people in and taking checks from attendees who had not yet paid. The Governor showed what a classy guy he is by going out of his way to come over to the registration table and shake all of our hands BEFORE anyone else.

Later, he got a laugh when he began his remarks by saying that there were a number of republicans in the crowd (of about three hundred) so he was going to: "...Take about five miles an hour off my fastball!.." (and) "...Not throw out some of the red meat I usually do!..."
In point of fact his speech was as tough on Bush and as 'Truman-esque' (my word) as he delivers anywhere else.
His 'Fastball' was blazing...and there was LOTS of 'red meat'.

Another great line that the Governor got off concerned Myrth York and Sheldon Whitehouse, who were together at his side. They fought a bitter primary battle for the R.I. democratic gubernatorial nomination last year. (All the blood-letting undoubtedly helped the incumbent Republican to defeat York in the November election.)
The Governor's line, as York and Whitehouse stood side by side smiling like honeymooners:
"Well, if we can bring Myrth and Sheldon together, solving the North Korea problem should be easy!" The crowd LOVED it."

--jjorge

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I'm going to my first Dean thing on Wednesday. I'm already excited! I am soooooo not going just to hit on cute punkettes with piercings in strategic places! Wink

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The Hobit doth protest too much. You can tell he's a really political guy, deeply concerned about the future of his country...

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Sigh..we all must sacrifice for our passions.....

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That New republic article was interesting too, in that Ryan Lizza has changed his mind a bit in the last couple months.

Dean himself doesn't have to have everything. It's equally important that he has good people with him. What Dean provides is the fire, the apparent compassion, the understanding, and the innate feeling that here is a person who can make an informed decision, who can lead.

I remember when Clinton was first running. The money was on Bush, but what a lot of the Bush types didn't realize was that Clinton had the "common" touch. They thought it was declasse, but what it really meant was that people thought he was one of them. This is what Dean has. And I guess it's disconcerting to see how many different people do relate to him because they feel he relates to them.

I have a feeling that nasty, expensive political ads will not matter so much this time; that a lot of people get a bad feeling when they see anything that touches big, corporate money. There is a mean one running in New jersey right now in a state contest. The reaction so far has been some disgust with the ad. Run by a republican.

California might be a state to watch. The republicans have a lot riding on this.

I've been a Dean rooter almost from the start. I first read a short piece on him in The New Republic. Then I posted a thread somewhere asking "Who is Governor Dean?" Not only did nobody know, but nobody seemed to care. I got curious, and started researching him and following him. At this point, I don't know who it will be, but I've got a better and better feeling about Dean.

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Is there a very long link starting with http:// on this thread??? If so, it might be what is making this whole topic ready very wide on the screen. If anybody can find it and the poster can edit it via the URL button, it would make the thread a lot easier to read....

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hi Osso,

I'm sorry I can't help with your question. I can just barely use this computer thang! ...don't know how to fix nothin'.

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Oops...sorry everyone -- those were mine and didn't hyperlink anyway.

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Oh, great! Thanks, Liberty. I just learned about that the hard way myself. I put a long link in a topic question, and yikes, I think it made the whole A2K site wide. Bad girl.

JJorge, you can add a link by copying and linking the address to the reply box...or you can use Post Reply and click the Url button and add the link to that and when a title box shows up, add the title ... then the link is just the title words in the post on the thread, and the screen doesn't widen (or however you describe that.) The widening is only a problem with real long links.

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I'm just adding it all up and I think the entire family is voting for Dean. Three siblings, seven nieces and nephews some of whom have spouses. And in some cases, the adult children of the latter. I'm interested that, since we're not that much in touch with each other, we've all gravitated to the same candidate.

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very interesting, Tartarin...

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"A One-Issue Voter'

Last Thursday I was part of a small group of Dean supporters carrying signs and
passing out literature
at a Providence 'Visibility Event'.

At one point I saw a well dressed fifty-something woman approaching our location.
She had a grim expression on her face and her jaw was set.
When she was about twenty feet away she suddenly asked:

'What is Dean's position on the Death Penalty?'

He supports it in limited circumstances', I said.

She waved her hand dismissively and snarled: 'I've heard enough!'

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I must admit I'm kind of sympathetic with the lady issue-wise, but think she needs treatment for depression.

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Tartarin wrote:

I must admit I'm kind of sympathetic with the lady issue-wise, but think she needs treatment for depression.

Tart,

I wrote about the 'One Issue Voter' last night when I was very very tired and could barely keep my eyes open, otherwise I would have added the following:

WARNING TO SINGLE ISSUE VOTERS

Choose your single issue carefully.

Ask yourself, what am I giving up by ruling out absolutely any candidate who doesn't agree with me on this one thing?

How about other issues that are important to me? ......... like the environment, the economy, appointments to the supreme court and courts of appeals, the balloning deficit, the assault on civil liberties, the Iraq adventure, globalization, women's right to choose, tax cuts favoring the rich, etc. ...am I willing to lose out on some or all of THOSE issues because I have assigned such a pre-eminence to ONE issue?

Is that one issue worth it?

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From the blog:

Dean Criticizes 'Foreign Policy Based On Petulance'

BURLINGTON--Howard Dean issued the following statement this morning regarding the Bush administration's labeling of several European countries as "chocolate makers": "The role of America in the world today is at a crossroads. As we hear disturbing reports that more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the Taliban has teamed up again with al-Qaeda, and North Korea is threatening to test nuclear weapons, one can only witness this Administration's conduct of foreign policy with increasing dismay.

"Rather than reaching out to our long-standing allies in NATO--the force best situated to help us stabilize Iraq--this Administration continues to practice a foreign policy based on petulance, this time referring derisively to Belgium, France, Germany, and Luxembourg as 'chocolate makers.'

"This President needs to understand that the reason the world followed the United States in the past is because we exerted strong, moral leadership that was a beacon to nations throughout the world. We did not achieve that position by berating and brow-beating our own allies--we achieved that by working respectfully and cooperatively with them. When I am President, I will restore the honor, dignity and respect that we once enjoyed but that this President has so recklessly discarded."
www.blogforamerica.com/

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I can't pronounce an opinion on one-issue voting. On the whole, I think it's narrow-minded; but I know that if I were offered two candidates, one for war and one for negotiated peace, I'd overlook a lot, if necessary, to vote for the latter. It's an individual decision.

I may turn out to be a one issue voter if the issue is being for or against perpetuating corporate power in the US. That would cause me to either not vote (which I've never done in my life) or vote for a third party. I guess what I'm saying is that other people's one-issue vote seems narrow-minded, but mine's okay!

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