Molly Ivins thinks that not only should we keep paying attention to John Edwards, but that perhaps we need to re-think how we’re reacting towards the end of Howard Dean’s campaign for the Democratic Nomination.
Ivins points out that Dean “did tap into some real political anger,” and asks, “What was so scary about Dean?” I’ll agree with the first quote, because he definitely allowed some people to get involved who would never been close to the political process, most likely - but that same “anger” that Dean unleashed in the people seemed to be a basis for what Dean had to offer - and that scared a lot of people.
As much as I never supported Dean, and truly thought he wouldn’t get that far in the campaign (not that Wesley Clark, who I had been supporting, did much better), I have to concur with Ivins’ closing line, “Gee, thanks for helping keep democracy alive when it looked fairly dicey.” It’s a simplistic way of looking at it, but if anyone brought life and interest to the campaign trail this year, it was Howard Dean. Publications and networks should be thankful.
