Reply #24: Exactly why I found myself looking at Dean's candidacy

[Julien Sorel]

with a critical eye. There is an edge his supporters have that I find disturbing -- the phrase 'cult of personality' comes to mind -- and I don't think they see their candidate rationally any longer. To a certain extent that happens with all candidacies of course, but the stuff I see with Dean's is way beyond what is normal. Dean transcends mere policy, Dean is going to raise 600 million dollars through the internet, everyone who criticizes Dean is lying or ignorant -- it's simply not rational. It's nationalism being applied to a human being: Dean has his own cult right here on Democratic Undergound. Of course, other candidates must be attacked under those circumstances, because they represent the forces of political heresy.


All this would be fine, of course, because inspiring passion is a great thing in a candidate, but the problem is this kind of devotion, which is Dean's biggest asset, isn't going to extend into the general populace, who want to know what each candidate is going to do for them, not how the candidate makes them feel, which is the real attraction Dean has for his core supporters: his frequent expression of anger at Bush validates the anger some marginalized Democrats have been feeling for years, so they like him. It doesn't matter that his politics are actually to the right of the other candidates, because he transcends such mundane considerations. It doesn't matter that the Republicans lust for Dean to be the Dem nominee so they can attack him as a weak-on-defense liberal; this simply means they are stupid, or lying about it because they are terrified of Dean (poll numbers and political logic notwithstanding), and besides, there's that 600 million dollars Dean will raise over the internet.

Did I say will raise? Heck, he might as well have already raised it. In fact, since he is just now getting good name recognition, 600 million might be a conservative (heh) estimate. Why not a billion? The Dean Machine is coming, and no one can resist the magic of this marvelous man! As soon as people see him effortlessly flip-flop on the issues to say whatever is the smart thing at the time, as soon as they see Dean light up the room with his righteous anger at Bush, they will run, not walk, home to their computers, fire them up, and start sending in their donations. The Doctor is as good as in the House! The White House, that is. As Karl Rove said, "Go Dean! That's the one we want!"