I envisioned a grass roots campaign similar to that of McGovern, where the youth vote and youth participation would lift him from underdog to front-runner during the primaries and carry him to the convention in Boston to cinch the nomination. McGovern went wrong in selecting as vice president the moderate Thomas Eagleton to placate the Chicago political machine. (And it didn't help that Eagleton's past mental-health treatment became an issue.) Dean must not make a similar error. If he does, the Democratic Party's fears will come true and history will repeat the Republican victory of 1972. A good running mate might be Gen. Wesley Clark, who would give Dean an opportunity to show that he's not anti-military, just anti- senseless war on foreign soil.
By now, everyone has heard of the once-unknown former governor of Vermont, Howard Dean. When I picked him as my horse for the race to 2004 in January, few agreed, but all assured me he didn't stand a chance against the big boys. Those people were wrong.
I was a student of politics at the time and am a registered Democrat, so it wasn't really too premature for me to start checking out the possibilities for the presidential election. I found a fantastic Web site recently created and maintained by students at George Washington University. The students had compiled a preliminary list of potential candidates for the Democratic nomination. On the list were those now in contention, or at least in media-speculated contention, including John Edwards, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, and Dr. Howard Dean. The site contained links to speeches made by each, as well as general information about their political alignments.
A half-ream of printer paper and hours of reading later, I had my favorite. He seemed to have the purest motives, a liberal with a fiscally conservative streak, and I liked what the man had to say. As governor of Vermont, he has managed to create the best state health-care system in the nation. And although the United States is obviously far larger than Vermont, success on a smaller scale shows at least an ability to organize, react, and provide for constituents. The only part of his platform I found troubling was his opposition to gun control, but there is, after all, no such thing as perfect in politics. Betting against the odds, I decided that I'd like to see Howard Dean win the Democratic nomination.
I immediately realized the similarities between Dean and Richard Nixon's Democratic challenger in 1972, George McGovern. Like McGovern in 1972, Dean of 2004 comes off as a progressive candidate who has great ideas and would bring a refreshing change to the White House. The difference with Dean is that while he's liberal on social issues, he knows how to handle money.
Although Vermont has no statute requiring a balanced budget, Dean did it consistently. Dean managed an economy on a microcosmic level of the nation. When he was a candidate, Sen. McGovern had accomplished nothing even remotely close to what Dean has done in Vermont.
I envisioned a grass roots campaign similar to that of McGovern, where the youth vote and youth participation would lift him from underdog to front-runner during the primaries and carry him to the convention in Boston to cinch the nomination. McGovern went wrong in selecting as vice president the moderate Thomas Eagleton to placate the Chicago political machine. (And it didn't help that Eagleton's past mental-health treatment became an issue.) Dean must not make a similar error. If he does, the Democratic Party's fears will come true and history will repeat the Republican victory of 1972. A good running mate might be Gen. Wesley Clark, who would give Dean an opportunity to show that he's not anti-military, just anti- senseless war on foreign soil.
McGovern's success was vested in the loyalty of a bloc of voters, the baby boomers who had just ripened to voting age. They had been watching their friends go to Vietnam for nearly a decade and wanted the war to end. McGovern was the person to end it. Beginning with Iowa, McGovern proved how powerful the nation's disenchanted youth could be when they leveraged their voices in the political arena. His campaign staff consisted of kids. The times were a-changin' and America's youth were ready.
Dean's campaign has looked much like that of McGovern from the start. He charged out of the gates with a way to compete on the same ground as the big money machine of the Bush camp. He has unlocked a resource previously untapped, the Internet, and continues to make it work for him. He has used communications technology to reach disaffected voters, who now feel they have something to be excited about.
In an arena where big money generally determines the victor, Dean is giving the boys, both Democratic and Republican, a run for their big money. But he is not yet playing the politician game; right now, he's playing the money game, and he's playing it well. His weakness is his image. Dean needs to convince people that while he's tough on the issues, he would also be a great guy to have over for dinner.
Dean's ability to come from virtual unknown to media darling by circumventing the fundraising circuit via virtual campaigning should be proof enough that the self-proclaimed "Birkenstock" candidate from Vermont is no joke. In him, young people see a savvy, intelligent man ready to push in a new direction. He convinces young people that government is in their hands. He even makes us believe that the end of American Corporate Democracy is closer than we think.
Jessica Hemerly of New Tripoli is working in Washington, D.C.
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