November 22, 2003
Carpal Tunnel for Dean
Like every liberal arts student in the continental United States, I have a degree in Political Science; however, I don't generally "do" politics. I watched presidential races with detached amusement until a few years ago when one candidate caught my interest — and I'm still smarting from the prolonged chastising that we Nader supporters got for sabotaging Al Gore.
During the last presidential election, the electoral process became muddied and vague in my mind. I wanted Gore to win, but I was prepared to lose gracefully if the law was not on our side. To this day, I can't say with certainty which candidate rightfully won the election because of the flaws that were revealed in the election process. If the final outcome rests on the judgment of weary volunteers in a room holding paper ballots up to the light, then we haven't even begun to approach the degree of accuracy I expect for such an important decision.
It's like looking under the hood of your car to find eight jogging midgets powering your Ford. You frown, knowing that can't be the best way of getting from A to B, but you don't have the understanding necessary to conceive of the internal combustion engine, so you reluctantly let the midgets do their thing.
The jogging midgets nagged at me for the last few years — especially when things like this started to happen — but I had no idea how to become involved the electoral process, let alone change what I felt was wrong with it.
When I signed up for email updates from the Dean for America campaign, I have to admit I was motivated by my desire to find out what a certain politically active friend was so excited about. I didn't plan to do anything more than cast a vote on Election Day. But the DFA people have an uncanny knack for coaxing participation out of people by matching activities to a volunteer's comfort level. Even the most introverted supporter (that would be me) can find an enjoyable way to help out.
A few weeks ago, I walked into a Dean Meetup only to turn around and walk right back out again. I wasn't interested in joining a group of elderly strangers shouting over a coffee shop jazz quartet. I'm also not about to start canvassing. I wouldn't say I'm a "think on your feet" kind of person and ringing stranger's doorbells gives me goose bumps. But last week, I went to David Weinberger's Victory in Iowa event and wrote letters in his dining room for two hours. I got lost, arrived late, and killed the alignment on my car over one of those Brookline trolley tracks, but I considered the night a great success -- especially for weblogs.
Everyone whistles in awe at the effect that blogs have had for DFA, but I think a lot of people are paying lip service to something they sense is revolutionary, but don't completely understand. Even I didn't entirely experience the power that this medium has for cementing connections between people until last week.
I signed up for a Victory in Iowa event, but I never intended to actually attend it. I couldn't imagine standing on an unfamiliar porch asking to be let into who-knows-what scene in a stranger's living room. Foot Fetishists for Dean? But when I learned (via two weblogs) that the host was a certain blogger I read regularly, following crappy MapQuest into the city didn't seem quite so much like walking into certain death. David and his family turned out to be very well prepared and gracious to all of the Dean supporters scribbling furiously on every flat surface in their home.
I'm not that sure that Howard Dean is so radically different from the other candidates out there, but his campaign definitely is. For once I feel valued, intelligent and that I have a wealth of things to contribute to the campaign. None of which involve a $2000 a plate dinner party.
The midgets under the hood are still running, but at least I'm beginning to understand how to get them to run in my direction.
Comments
Tara, this sounds so right to me. I think we're just beginning to see the power of the online world to create offline groups and friendships. And I agree with your assessment of the Dean campaign that much of its fire is due to its how and not just its what.
Thanks for coming to the get-together. It was great to meet you.
Dean is certainly a phenomenon and it is very cool to see what he has accomplished in some unconventional ways. He is going to have to upset some of his constintuents to win (shocker for politics) if he gets the dems nom as he will have to race to the center on his tax position and some other positions. The only difficulty I see is if the people who are joining for his genuine talk and liberal positions may get more upset when he has to moderate vs. a normal candidate who transforms after winning the nom. If he does not moderate, he is unfortunately nearly guaranteed to lose. The fact that 46% of people in nearly the strongest dem state in the country voted to abolish the income tax tells you this much be the case. If he does moderate, will he alienate his supporters? Probably not as they will not have a viable alternative choice. They may choose to not vote or vote for a fringe candidate, however, which will certainly hurt his chances in what will definitely be a close race. I fear that a Dean candidacy is exactly the candidate that guarantees a Bush second term. Sorry for the long message, but I have been thinking about it and this gave me a chance to write it down.