This is a remarkable testimonial:
http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002403.htmlWednesday, November 26, 2003
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Guest Writer Paul Hawken: Voters Have Come Alive
I have so many progressive friends that I am constantly grilled as to whom I'm supporting for President. Making it more complicated is that I am good friends with Dennis Kucinich and admire John Kerry both as a friend, a fellow board member, and as the onetime stepfather of my daughter's boyfriend. So why am I supporting Dean?
The first is very practical. I want to support someone who is going to win. Defeating Bush is beyond politics, beyond ideology. It is something we owe the earth and all people living on it.
Second, I have lived down the road (in the summer) from the Dean family for twenty years. I know or have met dozens of people who have worked with him, know him (well) and know his wife. To a person, they support the man and his integrity. Vermonters are polite but pretty straight up about their views. Our media is so arch and untrustworthy that talking to a grocery store owner in a small community about the next President is a balm. The guy who runs the IGA down the road from the Dean house likes him a lot. I found that in his state and community people like him, trust him, greatly admire his wife and want him to succeed. There may be some native pride now that he has momentum, but when I first queried those who have lived around him, they were just sharing a piece of their mind.
Third, there is a something happening in this campaign that hasn't happened since Kennedy or Roosevelt. Voters have come alive around the country. Sounds corny, but there is a sense of hope. It is a measure of the candidate that he holds and furthers this movement. It is not simply a question of whether one supports a candidate; it is also a question of whether we can support each other and a process of involvement that few of us have felt or feel from existing candidates. Does this person bring divergent people together? Yes. It is not a movement based on fear and loathing, jingoes and gotchas. There is a sense of aspiration. Which bring me to point four.
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Eloriel