Thank you Howard
Today Howard Dean ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination:
Today my candidacy may come to an end–but our campaign for change is not over.
I want to thank each and every person who has supported this campaign. Over the last year, you have reached out to neighbors, friends, family and colleagues–building one American at a time the greatest grassroots campaign presidential politics has ever seen. I will never forget the work and the heart that you put into our campaign.
In the coming weeks, we will be launching a new initiative to continue the campaign you helped begin. Please continue to come to www.deanforamerica.com for updates and news as our new initiative develops. There is much work still to be done, and today is not an end–it is just the beginning.
This Party and this country needs change, and you have already begun that process. I want you to think about how far we have come. The truth is: change is tough. There is enormous institutional pressure in our country against change. There is enormous institutional pressure in Washington against change, in the Democratic Party against change. Yet, you have already started to change the Party and together we have transformed this race. Along the way, we’ve engaged hundreds of thousands of new Americans in the political process, as witnessed by this year’s record participation in the primaries and caucuses.
The fight that we began can and must continue. Although my candidacy for president may end today, the most important goal remains defeating George W. Bush in November, and I hope that you will join me in doing everything we can to support the Democrats this fall. From the earliest days of our campaign, I have said that the power to change Washington rests not in my hands, but in yours. Always remember, you have the power to take our country back.
As Eric Alterman said over on his MSNBC weblog:
Howard Dean is like the old reel-to-reel tape in “Mission Impossible.” He gave the rest of the candidates their instructions and then self-destructed. In doing so, he may have helped save the party and the country. Thanks Howard.
I still believe that Howard Dean was the best candidate in the Democratic field, and that he’d have made the best President.
I still believe that the media purposely fucked Dean last month, especially since many news agencies have since admitted that they played that edited, misleading version of the “I have a scream” speech far too many times.
I will, though, support Kerry as the nominee, since the most important thing is getting G.W. Bush out of the White House. I’m not going to pretend to be especially happy about it though.