So this is the kind of bullshit we have to contend with. In an otherwise laudable article on the importance of journalistic impartiality we have this quote:
"On the left, the Democratic front-runner, Howard Dean, wants to purge the party of its centrists, to repudiate the 'Third Way' Bill Clinton advocated."
This is the kind of flip description that makes me want to jump up and down and scream incomprehensible obscenities (which wouldn't really convince anyone of anything, hence it's a good thing I'm writing in my blog instead.)
Look. The guy was governor of Vermont. He was reelected five times. He had to negotiate with Republicans. He had to negotiate with Democrats. He pissed off everybody at some point or another — too blunt, too liberal (he signed the civil unions bill! he's pro-choice!) not liberal enough (he was too pro-industry! he hated raising taxes! he weakened the environmental protection laws!). According to descriptions from people who were familiar with his style, he liked to get all the warring parties in one room and hash things out.
Al Gore — not a raging liberal by any stretch of the imagination! — endorses him. He's got some guy who used to be the head of AIPAC on his team. I keep reading comments on the blog from disaffected moderate Republicans.
There's nothing "radical" about this guy, except that he noticed that when you give the hardline right-wingers an inch, they take a mile. Ted Kennedy tried to work with them on education. They screwed him over. They play really, really dirty. I'm not talking about people like John McCain. I'm talking about Tom DeLay and his chums.
What would Dean be like if he actually became president? I'm betting he'd chart a course not that different from Clinton, except I think (hope!) that he'd stick to his guns when necessary. Clinton suffered too much from the need to be the nice guy. This gruff doctor knows how to be charming and thinks well on his feet, but I don't get the sense he has the same hunger for approval.
I just hope we get the chance to find out. Bush is in the ascendency at the moment. It's a long shot for any Democratic candidate — but please, no Bush lite this time! Al Gore learned from his mistakes. All Howard Dean is telling us is that the rest of us should too.
