Reply #17: Here is my hit

[Tom Rinaldo]

Supporters of both candidates might have some influence over who either would want to pick for the VP slot, but I am under no illusions in that regard. It is not "our" decision to make. Furthermore the candidates themselves have to decide if they would consider the number two slot, not us.

Second, we are no where near that bridge yet that anyone should or will consider crossing it, For the moment, I think it is not an issue, it is a convenient way for supporters of one candidate to express regards for the other, at this point.

Third, for our current purposes, and I mean "our" to include Dean supporters, in my opinion it doesn't matter so much what mean things may have been said by Dean or Clark supporters in the past. We have been hurting each other's candidates and the Democratic Party via flame wars. It had to stop.

Fourth, groups break down into individuals, so I can't say everyone would have acted one way or another. My gut answer is, adversity is causing a number of people to recognize previously obscured common ground and mutual respect.

Dean was in this thing a lot longer than Clark. Therefor Dean supporters, for the most part, have been in it longer than Clark supporters. We were relatively new arrivals competing for much the same space. It is human nature for some animosity to spring forth in reply. My sense is that since many Dean supporters deeply believe in their man, and because Dean ran an insurgency campaign for most of the build up to the primaries, there was an immediate suspicion that Wes was set up to challenge Dean by Party regulars who were unhappy with the success Dean was having. The modest relationship between Clark and Clinton became natural grist for that mill.

Clark supporters, given that we took a lot of time getting to know our man just like Dean supporters did with Dean, knew full well that wasn't the case. We know where Clark's heart is. We knew all along what many are only coming to understand and appreciate recently, that Clark is on our side, he really is alarmed by the direction this country is heading, he is an independent thinker with sincere convictions and progressive instincts who believes in serving his nation. But many people who already were backing other candidates were highly suspicious of Wes. While I am tempted to fault them for not taking the time to understand Clark, I really do understand how and why people might have been suspicious of him.

Likewise, the lack of acceptance for Clark by activists in other campaigns, and Dean had most of them, angered many of us who felt, rightfully so, that Clark was being slandered. Meanwhile Dean was getting beat up on by virtually every campaign other than Clark's. We all felt like we had a right to have a chip on our shoulders.

I am quite pleased that more of Dean's supporters (some always did I know) now are recognizing that there is much to admire about Wesley Clark. I don't want to hold grudges on this score, they are pointless. Clark has come under withering Right Wing fire and he has held his ground and won respect from many who previously doubted. That's a good thing. Meanwhile there has sincerely been more sympathy for Dean of late by Clark supporters, it was painful in particular to watch how the media jumped all over Dean after that night in Iowa. There is a lot of commonality in the idealism found in the two corresponding grass roots movements. I think that is a quality shared more by Clark and Dean supporters than by anyone else. Kucinich has a grass roots movement also of course, but they get to be the purists, while our two groups focus more on what will it take to get Bush out of office, though sometimes we disagree on what that might be.

So I think circumstances pushed us toward cooperation, but it is not unnatural that we do so now. Mostly I think we can help each other most by establishing a respectful cross campaign tone. We might be able to cooperate in the area of a "media watch" and complimentary truth squad activities. We can reinforce the shared campaign themes of each of our men, so that they are more likely to be heard and treated with respect. And maybe, because of this positive turn of events, more of us will be able to work closely together in the Fall campaign and even possibly beyond. I find it all encouraging.