I keep getting calls asking for whom I’ll vote next Tuesday.I tell them I don’t know.
Why don’t I know? Because my heart’s with Dean and my head informs me that "He can't be nominated now and if nominated, won't be elected." Yes, that's it. But there's more.
I rallied to Dean a long time ago for more than one good reason. He expressed my anger at the direction the White House radical- incompetent-chicken hawks are taking my country. He saw that Bush's war on Iraq was a demonstration of weakness, undermining the war on alQaeda.
Clearly no great liberal, he did understand the need for universal health insurance.
But this was the clincher: Dean took on the Democratic Party establishment.
He understood the need to build a new, populist party that would offer solutions to most Americans’ problems.
Sadly, he’s all-but-killed his candidacy. Yes, his tough, straight-from-the-gut talk was delightful, but he forgot to post a sentry in his head. Ah, for a little self-consciousness.
What to do then? I am happy Kucinich is in the debates; I might vote for him if we were selecting a saint. Joe Lieberman? A sweet middle-of-the-roader too dim to notice that the middle is now way over on the right.
That leaves Kerry, Edwards and Clark. I will almost certainly choose one of them.
None, however, has shown me a glimmer of understanding that the Democratic Party needs radical change.
So here we go again, voting for the "lesser of evils."
In the primary, for gosh sakes. In the primary!
PS Robert Reich deals brilliantly with similar topics in today's New York Times.