In the end, WE let Howard Dean down...

I've been laying underneath my desk in the fetal position after Howard Dean's crash-and-burn in Iowa for a couple of days, I was shocked and stunned. Then I read Tom Schaller's excellent post-Iowa analysis in the Daily Kos and a few things became clear to me. Although Howard Dean praised his organization in Iowa yesterday in NPR, the volunteers that went to help in the state were really unprepared for the brutal backroom dealings that are the nature of the caucus. It reminded me of last month's Meetup; a person leading a group to Iowa was excited about "watching" the caucus as it took place. Watching it. We should have had people down there working IN the caucus meetings trying to convince the supporters of non-viable candidates to come to Dean. Where was the union muscle? This was a caucus, not a freaking Phish concert! And had I had any inkling of what was going to go down I should have gotten my smug ass out of my computer room and helped.

Fine, fine. Ultimately, results are results. The Dean campaign has to take a good, long look at itself and what it did wrong, but Dean supporters (like myself) need to swallow a coupla spoonfuls of reality, take a deep breath, and get back to f***ing work.

I still believe Howard Dean is our best shot at getting Dubya out.

Oh, and Kerry? Good for him. He showed me he's a double-tough bastard who shouldn't be written off too lightly. But unless he's already made a deal with Pat Buchanan to run as a tandem unit, I still don't believe he can beat Bush head-to-head.