Dean

I've hesitated posting here about Dean's decision to no longer actively seek the nomination for President because it frankly makes me quite sad. On one hand, it's just phenomenal that a virtually unknown man from a tiny state managed to do so very well; on the other, I can't believe how badly the media treated him.

Sure, some of Dean's failures here are ones he owns. But the "I have a scream" debacle was taken wildly out of context, and probably because Karl Rove and company kept telling the media that they would "love" to have Dean made the nominee, the media kept after Dean in a way that had little to do with the full breadth of his message of change.

I don't agree with Dr. Dean on everything. But I think he's a fine man who would have been a remarkable, practical, and refreshingly intelligent voice and presence to replace Mr. Bush. Unfortunately, I feel far less strongly for Mr. Kerry. While I respect a great deal about John Kerry, there have been more than a few issues recently where I felt he hedged on what he felt was best in favor or what he considered more palatable. When you start making those trade-offs consistently, you pass from being a person with a good mission to a true politician... and that's no compliment.

Bush is a good politician, I suppose.. as long as the deck is always stacked in his favor so he can walk in, do nothing, and win everything.

But I don't think politicians make decent presidents. Howard Dean, in my view, is less of a politician than someone who has worked in politics. To me, that's a subtle but sizeable difference. To varying degrees, I'd say the rest of the elected US officials from VT (Jeffords, Leahy, and Sanders) also fall into that category. We're lucky to have them represent us.

As for Edwards, I don't know. He seems likeable and intelligent and I disagree with his record on issues no more than I do with Kerry's. Yet I resent this idea that top dog has to come from the south every freaking time.

I still would have liked a Dean-Clark ticket. There has been at least one big rumor of a "secret" Edwards and Dean pairing, but I don't see it. I think Dean has more meat than Edwards even if Edwards did slightly better in some of the caucuses. But I also don't see a Kerry-Dean ticket and even think a Kerry-Edwards ticket is a long-shot, although it's the most likely of the 3 scenarios.