Day One Hundred Sixteen.
Wow, what a couple of weeks it has been.
I was in Iowa last weekend. Got home Tuesday night, tired, baffled, and a little discouraged. Nevertheless, it was a great trip, truly one of the highlights of my life. I got to meet hundreds of other Dean supporters from around the country, got to do a "guest blog post" on the Dean for America blog about the Bloggers’ Breakfast last Saturday (has it really only been a week? It feels like a month, so much has happened since then….), had my picture taken with both Joe "Yoda" Trippi and Howard Dean, knocked on a lot of doors and made even more phone calls, attended a rally in Ames featuring Janeane Garofalo and Joan Jett, and was there in the Val-Air for the infamous "Yeeaaaagh." All sandwiched between two 18-hour bus rides.
So, now we’ve had a chance to figure out what happened in Iowa. It seems we were ganged up on by Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt, and Kucinich in the caucus horse-trading, four against one. For example, Kucinich and Edwards had made a deal that Kucinich would throw supporters his way (he admitted as much in Thursday’s debate). The others had similar deals. Our precinct captains, most of whom were not seasoned caucus veterans, were not anticipating this. In this context, it’s pretty amazing we came in third. In other Iowa dirty tricks, I heard Gephardt’s campaign had someone infiltrate a Dean office wearing an orange Perfect Storm hat and gather intelligence; Kerry did push-polling ("Would you be more or less likely to vote for Howard Dean if you knew he was an environmental terrorist?" [whatever that is]); and Edwards’s staff circulated a talking-points paper to their precinct captains that slammed the other candidates (Edwards disavowed it, though it featured his signature).
I hoped that with Kerry and Edwards coming out of Iowa in front, they would be subjected to the same intense media bashing that Howard Dean endured for the weeks leading up to Iowa. Instead, we have had to watch the Val-Air speech clip ad infinitum, with so-called serious reporters characterizing Dean’s outburst as everything from a "screech" to a "scream" to a "shriek." As I said, I was there, along with 3,500 other people. The crowd was going wild. We had heard CNN reports that he wouldn’t be there because he was going straight to New Hampshire. So when Tom Harkin came out, and it started to become clear that Dean was really there, we went crazy. The noise level was deafening. Dean came out and took off his jacket and started rolling up his sleeves. We were beside ourselves. 3,500 people yelling and clapping and waving signs and jumping up and down. Our enthusiasm was contagious. We pumped the Governor up, and he, in turn, was thanking us and giving us a big pep talk. He was exuberant. BFD. GUESS YOU HAD TO BE THERE.
Frankly, I was baffled by the media fixation with this one moment. I was discouraged by the poll numbers plummeting. I was tired from my trip. I didn’t feel like writing for a few days. But I’m still Lean for Dean!
I brought trail mix, cracked wheat crackers, and dried fruit on the bus trip and avoided the ubiquitous fast food. I ate healthy (fish, salads, vegetables, LATTES) in Iowa, and my only real indulgence were a couple of beers Sunday night and about five gin and tonics at the Val-Air party — I had stated my plan to get drunk weeks beforehand, and I actually got only a little drunk, though drunk enough to go up to strangers and gush about politics, and drunk enough to put my friend Eddie on the phone with Tony in Dallas:
Tony: Is there anything we need to do for her? She’s had a lot to drink.
Eddie: No, just put her on the bus. She’ll be O.K. She’ll probably tell you she loves you.
(Eddie knew this because I had just done so to him.)
I haven’t done a weigh-in in a couple of weeks, so this coming week, we’ll see where I stand. (I have been told I look like I’ve lost a little more weight, though.)
So, just as Howard Dean is in this for the long haul, so am I. This Project doesn’t end until November 2, 2004.
more...fitness articlesOriginally Posted on 9/17/2005 10:57:02 AMContent source: http://blogs.salon.com/0002429/2004/01/24.html#a60
