The best team in 2004 is either Clark/Dean, Clark/Edwards or Dean/Edwards...and of those, the strongest at this point is Clark/Dean...but not Dean/Clark. Clark has already said he will not be VP, and no need to make a liar out of him. Besides, he is older, wiser, and more experienced in what America must face in this terroristic world, than Dean. President Clark can and will put America on a stronger and safer footing, and do so by improving America's standing in the world. He would make America beloved again, and make sure the military is not used for frivolous or corporate ends.
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Clark also happens to have a more user-friendly tax policy than Dean, but Dean, while Clark is shoring up America on the international theatre, will shore up things at home...and will become the manifestation of his great work at bringing in new voters, and honoring Gore by putting his great invention, the internet, to great use as a political and democratic tool.
"But Gore endorsed Dean, not Clark", you might complain. "Why not honor Gore by voting for Dean?"
Here is why: Clinton must endorse Clark.
This way, we get to continue, as it were, in the Clinton/Gore legacy...by voting for whom they would vote. Both of them!
Clark/Dean is today's Clinton/Gore.
A winning team. An awesome team.
A team that would give Bush and Rove nightmares.
But also a team, particularly with Clark as head, that would not only win a hefty number of Independents and Republicans (as well as, of course, Democrats)...he would also change the entire political dynamic of the Military. A more Democratic military; a military with a Democratic face, and one with the strong, reassuring and wise face of the progressive general, can only reassure everyone involved...except maybe those who are given, without bidding, handsome contracts worth billions.
A handful of fatcats, basically. Not you and me, or anyone we know. People who already have too much, and are neurotically demanding even more.
It is stupid to automatically associate the military with Republicans, as so many seem to do. Republicans suck at it. Republicans allow our boys and girls to die for untrue causes and corporate profit. Clark would never allow this to occur under his watchful and experienced care. Clark would bring the Military back to the people, and take it out of the hands of corporate masters.
Clark would also undermine Bush's ability to use the war or the military as a feather in his cap. Bush would cower before Clark on these matters. But Clark would never cower before Bush. Not on military matters, especially.
And while Clark is winning over the great majority, Dean will bring home the medical and health care folks, the pro-peace majority, the Internet crowd, and, of course, his vast net of current supporters.
Bush will not be able to pit Medicine and Law against one another, as he has tried to do. Bush's words on the matter would ring hollow, and Dean can best him on ever point.
Besides...Dean is the current front-runner!
So what about John Edwards and how does Clark become the front runner without hurting Dean (or Edwards)?
John Edwards will eventually become president of the United States. But it might well be the case that we are going to have to savor him a few more years before we get that chance.
So to get there, here is the dream sequence:
Clark/Dean '04
Clark/Dean '08
Dean/Edwards '12
Dean/Edwards '16
Edwards/???? ' 20
As long as good people are in charge, America is in good hands.
We have seen good government with Clinton/Gore.
We know that government can be a tool for facilitating well-being...not just something to be robbed and handed over to the super-greedy at the cost of great majority of normal Americans.
This nearly 4 year experiment in greed and incompetence has shown what NOT to do.
So...where to put John Edwards, rather, where is the best fit for Senator Edwards at this time?
If not POTUS or VPOTUS (at this time), I'd suggest that he would make a most wondrous replacement for John Ashcroft. So many possibilities! The future, once again, is looking bright.
But Clark, Dean and Edwards not only need to rise, Bush has to come down from his high-horse. Let George be George. Indeed. And simply say: This is not good enough.
May the Candidates themselves see the wisdom of such a ticket, and cease their vulgar attacks. They may all find a place in a Clark/Dean administration...but only if they behave.
This election is not simply about whose team wins. As America falls in the eyes of the world...it falls more generally. We are not on a sustainable path. Kant would call us insane. The next administration, and in particular the President, is going to have to correct the problem. Our domestic well-being is now largely hinged upon foreign policy and international relations. For this, I think, Clark would be the best fit. In every sense of the term. Clark is also older than Dean, which should count for something. It seems more natural to have the younger man in the junior position. And when the vote opens out to the general public, Clark will probably have more positives and less negatives than Dean. But Dean is essential as well.
Maybe they can work it out amongst themselves.
I hope they give it a thought. It may be the dream team...and, with John Edwards, dream sequence.
HEALING AMERICA & THE WORLD
"A Different Timbre"
Mark Singer, of the New York Times, said of Dr. Dean: "He has a different timbre to his voice than the other candidates." This is true. I noted it myself while listening to the last debate...over the telephone! He may have looked like Hell, but Dr. Dean sounded like a real person...but more than that, he sounded like a caring, healing person.
And guess what? He IS a healing person. And among the best tools of a healer is simply a healing, reassuring voice. And if I were to offer a piece of advice to Dr. Dean, it would be this: Do not lose that healing tone. Rather know that you can indeed heal...millions...with your healing, healer's voice. Take doctoring to the max. Heal the entire world. You are a doctor. It is your JOB!
It is this thought that endears me to Dr. Dean, and makes me realize that all would be well under his care, as well as under Wes Clark.
It is this quality of caring that, I think, binds Clark, Dean and Edwards. Bush is simply a moneychanger. He is no doctor. He is no general. He is no John Edwards.
