On that winter day in Harlem, Al Gore extended his plan in blessing to Howard Dean. It's almost like a fairy tale. Don't be fooled, my fellow dems. It is not so easy as this. Howard Dean is less like a Knight in Shining Armor than a great primary politician and expert fundraiser. Dean doesn't play clean, and he doesn't play nice. He's rough, tough, and ready to wrestle anyone who dares call him a wooly-eyed liberal. I will shortly say I have my doubts about Howard Dean. He has an oratorical delivery that is hard to sell, a stereotype to overcome, and possibly the greatest political mind of our time (Karl Rove, unfortunately) to defeat.
But the man does have some upside. He is a smart fundraiser. He is in touch with the base. He knows how to organize grassroots in a new, revolutionary way, through the internet and a feverish person to person technique. The man can be elusive enough to be anyone, which is a talent in spite of the suspicious qualities that go hand in hand with it.
Maybe that's why Al Gore stood up in the state of the Clinton family's current residence and essentially declared that he thought Dean would make the best president. He wanted the party to change, but stay united. It is unclear whether or not Gore meant to jump in line behind Dean. Dean worked hard for it, too.
So the wise old godfather of the current Democratic crop and the one personally burned by Bush endorses the rising dark-horse and pushes him to victory in a final duel vs. their common enemy, like Star Wars or something. Wrong. Gore is a highly coveted endorsement for all of the Democrats. Dean was smart to lock him down.
Here's the rub:
1) Dean won his way to the top by attacking the establishment Dems, including the Clinton White House and the congressional leaders of the party during that time. That includes Gore, and it seems like he's possibly turning political again, just when we were starting to like him.
2) Gore has now tilted a race that did not need tilting. He pushes unity in the middle of committing a divisive act. He picked sides, and you don't do that from that position.
3) This by no means seals the deal. Gore has endorsed, and it is humungous. It makes this race easier for Dean to win. Call me delusional, but a primary that has not begun, is far from decided. Keep in mind that primary frontrunners lose more than you think. And Gore is not, and never was, the man in the oval office. So who knows how much this will all count for in the end.
Keep an eye out, ladies and gents. I feel a storm's a comin', and I wouldn't want to be near anyone without the last name Clark or Dean. The Gore seal just made this a race between the outsiders and insiders in many ways. But it may have inverted the positions in the process. If Dean and Gore take the party, regardless of whether Bush is defeated, then they become the insiders, and the old centrists become the outsiders.
Primaries are funny, and can often give you a headache ... kind of like Al Gore.
