Dean or Kucinich?
—By Paul Rogat Loeb, Utne.com
January 2004 Issue Movement-based campaigns aren't always electable. That's the critique levied by the pundits and the Democratic right, together with the laughable baiting of Dean as a crazed leftist. But there's no way a Democratic candidate can beat Bush without vast numbers of ordinary people going beyond their normal routines and comfort zones to help take key issues to their fellow citizens. Beyond this, Dean differs from defeated Democratic standard-bearers in a way that vastly increases his chances of winning: He's willing to fight. Critics keep raising the specter of George McGovern, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis. McGovern was indeed the candidate of a powerful social movement, but was strangely inept at fighting back. As Nixon baited him unmercifully over his presumed lack of patriotic courage (Republicans have been playing that game for years), McGovern never even mentioned that he'd flown 35 missions as a B-24 bomber pilot during World War II, risking his life every time. Maybe he felt that responding to such despicable attacks was beneath him, but he allowed Nixon to define the terms of debate, and that, combined with the withdrawal of key Democratic sectors like organized labor, made his loss almost inevitable. Neither Walter Mondale nor Michael Dukakis represented social movements. Both were mainstream candidates backed by party leaders in opposition to Jesse Jackson's insurgent campaigns. But again, neither was willing to stand up and fight when unfairly baited. They yielded, equivocated, and spent most of their energy grasping for salable images, like Dukakis's ill-fated attempt to create a photo-op by peeking out of the turret of a tank. They neither stood up to the Republican attacks, nor presented clear and passionate alternatives. Howard Dean, by contrast, is willing to fight back -- an essential quality when facing a political machine as ruthless as the current Republicans. He may sometimes shoot from the hip too much. But from the beginning, he's stood up for his beliefs. He's challenged the Republicans on base premises, which will be necessary to have even a shot of unseating Bush. And he's done this, by and large, without apologizing or equivocating -- without giving legitimacy to policies driven by greed and arrogance rather than wisdom. There's no guarantee we'll be able to unseat Bush with any of the candidates. If we defeat him, the forces that put him in power are hardly going to disappear from the scene. But the best chance we have is to speak the blunt truths about how radically destructive this administration has become to our democracy, and that's what Dean is doing. He's passionately involving enough ordinary citizens to have a shot at defeating the politics of money, manipulation, and fear. I gave my first contribution to Howard Dean last June, then several others since. I've also contributed to Kucinich. We're all going to have to give a whole lot more in time, money, and creativity to overcome Bush's massive support from the greediest interests in our country. In a month, my state (Washington) holds its caucuses, so I have to make a choice. Wesley Clark has now joined the other candidates as a new alternative, and I appreciate Clark's willingness to stand up for dissent and think he'd make a fine Vice Presidential candidate. But I'm leery of his praising the Bush tax policies just three years ago (though consider his current tax proposals excellent), wary of his votes for Nixon and Reagan, and worried that he's equivocated just a bit too much on Iraq. The other major candidates have shown no more courage in the past year that they've been running, and in some cases quite the opposite, like Kerry's and Lieberman's baiting Dean for favoring an even-handed stance toward Israel and the Palestinians. This leaves me with Dean or Kucinich. If Kucinich's role is to raise the best possible issues, even if he'll never get nominated, I can see arguments for helping him stay in the fray, particularly in states where delegates are allocated proportionately. If Howard Dean wins, there will still be plenty of work for ordinary citizens in building grassroots support for the best of his proposals and challenging him on those we don't support. I don't agree with his every stand, but I'm tremendously heartened that a Democratic candidate who stands for something is actually leading the pack. It's a vast improvement from a year ago, and to the degree the other major Democratic candidates are now speaking out against Bush, Dean deserves much of the credit. If he can keep building enough momentum and lock up the nomination early on, this gives him a much greater chance of winning. And because he's willing to fight and involve new people, he has a decent shot. To me, that's a gamble worth risking. Whether its promise is fulfilled may depend on what the rest of us do from this point onward. Paul Loeb is the author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. This August, Basic Books will publish his new anthology on political hope, The Impossible Will Take a Little While. See www.paulloeb.org. To receive Loeb's articles directly, send a blank message to paulloeb-articles-subscribe@onenw.org |