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It's a Kucinich vs. Dean town and a we'll-grudgingly-go-for-Kerry-if-we-have-to
city. We're angry that we aren't marrying people of the same sex; we're overwhelmingly
environmentally friendly and always opinionated.
We've
also been hit really hard by the consequences of Sept. 11 and the Bush economy.
Boeing has laid off thousands of workers and moved its headquarters to the Midwest
and the tech industry has boomed, and now busted. We'll
certainly vote for Kerry in the general election, because we know the score, but
we wish things were different. Given this climate, Seattle was the natural choice
for Howard Dean to launch the next phase of his political career. Howard
Dean is a believer. It's incredibly compelling to see him react to an audience,
because he really seems to care about their response. I wish he was compelling
in every sense — that he could make tears come to my eyes with simple ideas
expressed eloquently and complex policy presented effectively. I wish Howard Dean
could be president, but more than that I wish he'd start the grassroots movement
he wants to start and do it with grace. I'm
embarrassed to admit this, but I wish that Aaron Sorkin would write for Howard
Dean — with great speechwriting those two idealistic patriots could move
Americans to act on what needs to be fixed in their world. They could do incredibly
meaningful work.
However, considering the slight divide between Hollywood and Washington, and Sorkin's
extensive personal difficulties I realize that pairing will never happen and that
I have to settle for what is. So when I heard that Dean was announcing the beginning
of his new political organization, Democracy for America, I decided to go to the
Westin Hotel and find out what he plans to do next. The
first thing that I noticed when I walked into the Cascade Ballroom was that there
were very few young people. This was not a good sign. In fact, there were a lot
people of the same age group — late thirties, early forties — who seemed
wistful about the lost political possibilities. There
were Deaniacs — mothers with small children who wore T-shirts that said "Dean
screams for me"; a man with a construction hat with Dean stickers all over
it; Dean T-shirts here and there; and earnest volunteers in nice clothes adding
supporters to their databases through laptops at the front door. There were stragglers
from a hotel convention, diehard Kucinich supporters, lots of press and a very
nervous security man, but there looked to be only two college-age supporters in
my field of vision. What a difference a failure makes. Dean
arrived on stage about as late as I thought he'd be, to an overwhelming ovation
from the ballroom. They stood and waved their signs and cheered with great enthusiasm,
and when Dean started to speak he joked, "With this kind of enthusiasm I
might scare my staff and threaten to get back into the presidential race."
The crowd doubled its cheers, prompting him to add, "I was only joking! I
was only joking!" His
staff did look like they were going to have a heart attack — because Dean
clearly thrives on the love of his supporters and without direction looked like
he might have jumped right back in. He looks clearly moved by the cheers of his
fans, and that's one of the most endearing parts of his public image. He's
a believer — in ordinary people, in the political process, and in social
change. He's not eloquent, and what a difference a good speechwriter and a few
lessons could make. He hasn't really done what he'd like to do, and I have a few
ideas about how that could happen: He could start a movement — here's how:
Instead
of repeatedly threatening to send the Republicans back to Crawford, Texas, (awkward,
considering he uses the threat against everyone from President Bush to Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to House Majority Leader Tom Delay), we can do better
repetition. We have seen it from Dean, and I saw it in Seattle; imagine a Howard
Dean who speaks eloquently about believing in hope, imagine him saying, with a
softened vigor: "I, Howard Dean, believe that hope is more than a place.
I believe that hope is here, in our communities, where Americans listen to their
better angels and truly leave no child behind. I, Howard Dean believe that Americans
want to live without fear — and when President Bush addresses the nation
— make no mistake — he always counts on your fears. I, Howard Dean,
believe in community. I believe in your communities and your lives." Howard
Dean clearly believes in hope, we all saw that in the way he held onto his presidential
campaign, but sometimes hope is not enough. Alas,
I didn't hear that speech from Dean. What I heard was not eloquent or moving,
and not befitting of a man who is getting credit for reinvigorating the Democratic
Party. His ideas are wonderful and relevant to everyone that he refers to as ordinary
Americans; he still believes in erasing the divide between those that are intimately
involved in their communities and those that run them. He believes in health care
for all of us, in clean air and water and equality. He has a truly egalitarian
spirit — he only needs to use the language to show us all how to win. Check
out Howard Dean's "A New Day" speech here
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