Carol -- you've come a long way, baby!
Carol Moseley Braun called it quits Thursday, ending her sensation-packed White House bid, despite stratospheric poll numbers (down only slightly from their mid-summer peak of 2 percent -- did she peak too soon?) and huge, adoring crowds at rousing campaign events. (A typical Moseley-Braun rally would be 'standing-room-only' -- no matter which phone booth it was held). Whether you agree with her or not, the truly amazing thing about her candidacy is how it seemingly came right out of nowhere and, in only a few short months, ended up nowhere. From Illinois Senator to ousted Illinois Senator, to failed presidential candidate, you've come a long way, baby! Seriously, you don't often see inspiring rags-to-riches-and-back-to-rags stories like this anymore. Moseley Braun knocks down barriers then barriers knock down Moseley Braun. She made history then became history! If only it happened to more Democrats.
Now that she's bowed out, giving her coveted support to Howard Dean, I would suggest she promptly put an end to this silly nonsense that there are no blacks in Vermont by moving to Vermont. (That's not entirely fair, I know. I bet Dean's meeting with her Thursday brought back childhood memories -- like when he last met a black person).
Kidding aside, so few have been Dean's contacts with people of color, he probably thought to dub Moseley Braun's announcement an 'Interracial endorsement.' (Dean insisted the endorsement be held in Iowa, uncertain if a clause in Vermont's constitution prohibited this sort of thing).
At the announcement Thursday afternoon at Carroll High School, 4 days before the Iowa caucuses, Dean and Braun said Democrats must unite. (What unites Democrats is the notion that Bush is a terrible dictator. Bush is such a terrible dictator, he still allows elections. And Democrats to call him a terrible dictator).
"I am here today to thank those Iowans who were prepared to stand for me in Monday's caucuses," said Braun, asking her supporters -- all 10 of them -- to "stand instead for Howard Dean." After all, the idea is to beat George W. Bush. (Strange. If that's the case, why nominate a Democrat?) She added that Dean "has the energy to inspire the American people," as polls in Iowa show only 79 percent of likely caucus-goers don't plan to vote for Howard Dean. Not only does Dean have the energy to inspire 21 percent of his party to vote for him, but Dean, noted Braun, has the energy to "break the cocoon of fear that envelopes us and empowers President Bush and his entourage from the extreme right-wing," like Colin Powell, Norman Mineta, Tom Ridge, Alberto Gonzalez, Rod Paige and other raving right-wing lunatics. (With this terrible cocoon of fear enveloping her, Moseley Braun nevertheless carried on with remarkable alacrity, devising a very unique style of campaigning, a so-called "Non-Traditional Campaign." Shrewdly, this "Non-Traditional Campaign" consisted of raising no money, giving no speeches, and doing few or no campaign appearances).
Dean thanked Braun for dropping out, saying that he hoped that her dropping out and endorsing him advances the day a woman -- rather than a man -- wins the White House.
Braun's withdrawal comes as the race appears to be tightening up in Iowa, on the eve of the caucuses, a stunning development that, keen observers note, hasn't been seen in 4 years, when the race appeared to be tightening up on the eve of the caucuses. Keen observers also note that, for whatever reason, *undecideds* tend to become *decideds* as Election Day approaches.
The Braun endorsement cements Dean's enviable status as the candidate racking up the most endorsements from losers. (Well, not quite. Democrats say Al Gore won in 2000; indeed, he's getting set to deliver his 4th State of the Union Address, fresh on the heels of his global warming address in New York, noting how the bone-chilling weather gripping New York is only the tip of the painfully cold global warming iceberg; unless we reverse course, elect a Democrat, and stop all this global warming, we're all gonna freeze to death. Buttressing Gore's assertion, Philadelphia, feeling the brunt of global warming, was blanketed with 4 inches of global warming Thursday).
Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't shrug off the Braun endorsement -- a move sure to swing no less than 2 or 3 counties Dean's way this November. Can't you just feel the momentum? ;-)
Anyway, that's...
My two cents...
"JohnHuang2"
