Dr. Dean and the Rebel Gang

I should be a Dean supporter. My demographics are almost right for it. I am young, white, and liberally educated. Many of my old friends are Deaniacs. I went to Phish concerts in college. I could be hanging around Vermont right now, coding with the best of them, dreaming of an internet-politics revolution.

But you see, I've got this 8-month-old son. And I'm the treasurer of my condo association, and I've gotta file some form with the IRS about how we are not a for-profit business, but just three apartments who have to pay a man named Schlomo Pincus to pay a snowplow to plow his parking lot. And my husband just got laid off. And after years of expensive psychiatry, I no longer hate my parents.

So, and there isn't any way to say this without sounding obnoxious and alienating Dean supporters reading this, but I'm a grownup now, and I don't have time for the rebellion that drives the Dean campaign. Dean has admirably mobilized an army of activists of my generation (whatever the marketers are calling us these days). He and his supporters claim that this mobilization is proof enough that he can win the general election. I think they're wrong, in that stubborn wrong-headed way that rebellion always is.

When Dr. Dean shouts "I don't want to listen to fundamentalist preachers anymore" to a crowd of Californians, he gets roaring applause in response. But when I hear this, I hear a generation of kids with their hands over their ears, screaming "nah nah nah I'm not listening." Dr. Dean wants to take the Democratic party back. Any appeal to the center, his supporters argue, moves us all further to the right, allowing the Republicans to frame the terms of the national debate. In their view, we are in a tug-of-war, red-vs.-blue states, and the only way to win is to pull harder. It's like the Color Wars that so many of us played in camp. Again, I don't think this is a very grownup view of politics, and I don't think it takes the long-term into account.

I'm not going to say Dr. Dean cannot win the general election. If, despite the efforts of the supporters of other candidates, Dr. Dean is the Democratic nominee, I want to be able to give my energies wholeheartedly to his campaign. If I'm sure he can't win, I'll have a hard time doing that.

So: Dr. Dean could win the general election. But it would be chancy, it would be dirty, and it would be close. Very, very close.

I don't want a close election. Dean supporters want to forget the South. Mobilize the base, screw the center, we're sick of being told what to do by the careful grownups running our party. Al Gore, who was a careful grownup and ended up adrift, is having his own personal midlife crisis by supporting the kids.

We can't forget the red states, and the biggest reason is the Senate.
What good will it do to win the White House and lose the Senate so badly that the President can get nothing done?
What good will it do to win the White House and drive the political wedge in deeper, so that the other half of the electorate becomes the angry half, and we lose again in 2008?

I admire the fervor of the Deaniacs, and I hope, whether or not Dr. Dean wins the nomination, they will stay involved with the Democratic party. But Dean himself has said he doesn't think they will:

I mean, we've already got 39,000 people working for us all around the country ... I really do believe--and I think about this--I want to get this nomination, and if I don't ... these kids are not transferrable. I can't just go out and say, "Okay, so I didn't win the nomination, so go ahead and vote for the Democrats." They're not going to suddenly just go away. That's not gonna happen.

For a candidate to say something like that, for this election, an election that is not about Democratics and Republicans but about democracy and authoritarianism, is both childish and dangerous. If Dean wins the nomination, he'll get my money, my efforts, and my vote, but I won't be happy about it.

I'd rather vote for a grownup. I'd rather vote for someone who is running for president because he understands exactly how important this election is. Who entered the race at the urging of others, not for self-aggrandizement. Someone who has a deep knowledge of foreign policy, genuine patriotism, and an expansive view of freedom. I'd rather vote for a man who is not interested in partisan battles, because he recognizes that this election is not about partisanship but about whether our elections continue to count at all. Our current President is an authoritarian father figure, and he has scared the nation into submission with his stories about the big bad wolf just outside our borders. Shall we run a teenager against him, a kid who tells us he doesn't believe in the big bad wolf, it's just a story daddy uses to keep us docile? Or shall we run a man who has faced the wolf down, seen the evil the wolf has done, brought the wolf to justice, and lived to tell the tale?

I'd rather vote for Wesley Clark. And my bet is that there are a lot of other grownups out there who'd rather vote for him too.

Essential Clark Reading for Inveterate Lefties

Ex-Deaniacs For Clark Even if you are not a Deaniac, this site is chock-full of Clark info from people who never ever thought they'd support a general for President.

The best Fox-News clip ever (Description and link courtesy of Ex-Deaniacs For Clark): Clark Owns a Fox News Clown*
11/17/03 Classic. With all Clark's criticism of the President's handling of Iraq, a Faux flunky insinuates he's unsupportive of the troops. Poor fool never knew what hit him.

Well, okay, his campaign site.

And finally, here is an excellent quote on Clark's domestic policies, courtesy of a great article by Andrew Sabl about why he supports Clark:

Remember that the Army is Biosphere II: a piece of Sweden stuck inside a country that's becoming Brazil.

If Clark seems to lack opinions on domestic policy, it's because he's spent his life in a place that's seceded from domestic policy.... The Army has people with low incomes, but ensures basic living standards and adequate opportunities for all. Clark's book convincingly articulates a case for making the rest of the country like that. . .

A Hanukkah Message Supporting Wes Clark for President

The first night of Hanukkah is coming up. The festival of lights is a celebration of hope.

I have never been one for group holiday messages. I beg your indulgence as I send one this year.

I am writing you to endorse Wesley Clark for President, to explain my endorsement, to ask you to do likewise, and to urge you to throw your efforts behind his campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Some of you haven't thought about the Democratic primaries yet.
Some of you may support other candidates.
Some of you may like Clark but not know how to show your support.
And some of you may be so discouraged that you despair of making a difference, whatever you do, and are researching moving to Canada.

Yesterday I was leafletting for Clark in Coolidge Corner. A man stopped to talk to me. "I appreciate what you are trying to do," he said, "but I'm afraid that our party is intent on sabotaging itself."

"No," I said, "There's still hope. Clark can do it! He's a winner."

"From your mouth to G-d's ears," he said, shaking his head and walking off down the block.

It's hard to fight off the gloom of pessimism, especially at this time of year, when the world itself is dark. But will we say "There is not enough oil for even one night!" or shall we say, "Let us light the lamp, despite the shortage!"

The current administration wants permanent and total control over the government. They do not seek merely to eliminate the Democratic Party, or the left wing of the Democratic Party, but to lead us away from democracy and freedom, to stifle all dissent, and to hide the workings of government behind closed doors.

Will we stand by as our country is taken away from us? When those now in control have fully consolidated their power, to which country shall we flee? There is no place in the world untouched by American power. The most powerful nation in the world cannot fall to authoritarianism. We must therefore stay and fight.

The focus of our fight should now be on defeating the current administration in the 2004 Presidential election. If we lose this fight, next year I will write a different message, for we will need a different strategy. But for now, we must choose a candidate who is able to defeat George Bush and to lead our country in the right direction again.

I believe that candidate is General Wesley Clark.

I believe that General Clark can be the Judah Maccabee of our time.

George Bush ran for President claiming he was "a uniter, not a divider." We have had three years to see how he has divided our country even further. All Americans want freedom and democracy, yet many Americans have become convinced that some Americans want something else. After 9/11, we saw that this was not true, that there are good people everywhere in our country, that we share the same fundamental values. We came to a sense of national unity through our shared tragedy, and then we saw the administration squander it. We are again a house divided.

We need a candidate for President who can represent us all: everyone who is for freedom and democracy and against the rise of authoritarianism in our nation and the world. The candidate must appeal to Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and everyone else. General Wesley Clark is that candidate. He is a little-d democrat first and foremost: an advocate of democracy.

We cannot win the election with a candidate who appeals only to big-D Democrats. This battle is too important for such partisanship.

Our foreign relations are in a shambles. We need a candidate for President who can repair our relationships with other countries and with the UN. We need a candidate who can confidently wield our enormous economic, diplomatic, and military power in a responsible way. We need a candidate who can successfully prosecute the war on terror, repair the damage in Iraq and bring our troops safely home when it is possible to do so. General Clark will stabilize the situation in Iraq, and insist that the Saudis take a leading role in the war on terror and on Al Qaeda. He will ensure that domestic security is not compromised by foreign wars tangential to the war on terror.

As Jews, we need a candidate who has seen genocide firsthand, as General Clark has, during the war in Kosovo. We need a candidate who understands that the Middle East peace process requires that the Arab nations recognize Israel's right to exist, and who will pressure those nations to normalize relations with Israel, in addition to pressuring Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a lasting peace.

We need a candidate who understands that war is an absolute last resort, because he has been there and seen war firsthand. But we also need a candidate who understands that sometimes you get down to the last resort, and that when you go to war, you should know how to win it. General Clark has that experience. No other candidate does.

We need a candidate whose patriotism cannot be questioned, and who believes passionately that dissent is patriotic. General Clark has said "Nothing is more American; nothing is more patriotic than speaking out, questioning authority and holding your leaders accountable."

We need a candidate who understands that minority rights must be protected in a democratic nation. Clark is against discrimination of any type. He says: "I fought for the right of privacy, I fought for freedom from government intrusion of our personal lives. I fought for the belief that every American is a human being who is worthy of respect and who should be treated fairly and equally, regardless of race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or any other discriminating factor."

At first I supported General Clark only because I thought he had the best chance of beating Bush in a general election. As I have learned more about him, however, I changed my mind. I now believe he has the best chance of beating Bush in a general election because he is the best candidate for the job.

The other candidates are good people. But none of them is the right candidate for the current state of the nation.

If you have not yet decided who to support, I urge you to take the time now to research all the candidates. This is too important to wait and see how things play out in the primaries.

If you already support a candidate other than Clark, I urge you to reconsider. Learn more about Clark. Can the candidate you support win the general election? Can that candidate confidently wield American military and diplomatic power? Has that candidate seen evil in the form of genocide and war, so that he or she can truly say they understand what war is? What freedom is? Can that candidate appeal to all Americans unhappy with the direction of the country, or only to an active, angry minority?

If you would vote for Clark but have not gotten involved in supporting him, then do so. Give gelt! Give money to his campaign before the end of the year. Donate to the campaign in lieu of exchanging Hanukkah gifts. Educate your friends, families, and strangers on the street about Clark, and convince them to support him too. Write your own "Hanukkah message" email, or forward this one. Volunteer for the campaign.

If you think, like that man on the street, that there is nothing you can do, that the fight has already been lost, then do not bother to light your menorah this year. Hanukkah is not a holiday for the hopeless.