Draft Dean for President

Dear Governor Dean,

During the course of the past two years, we have listened to you speak truth to power on important issues in this country. As a result of this, we have seen you tarnished by the media for your words, and dealt a stunning blow in the Democratic Primaries.

We nominated a candidate that, despite being a good and decent man, was defeated in the general election. You spoke truth to power here as well, saying, among other things, "We cannot defeat George Bush by being Bush-Lite", and, to paraphrase, "Democrats must stand up and be Democrats again". We tried both of these things, and we have failed.

Some of us have no faith left in the Democratic Party. Some of us are merely gearing up for another try at the mid-term elections. Some of us aren't even Democrats. Regardless of our views of the party, we are fully aware that we need change in this country, and a Democrat who panders to the right will not receive a majority of the popular vote in this country.

Many of us who were not originally Dean supporters can look back and see you were right. Those who were your supporters from the beginning never stopped believing. We know now that we are not safer with Saddam Hussein in captivity. We know that we can't beat Republicans by challenging them on their issues, that we have to fight with our own issues, those that will attract more voters than any other- good jobs, health care, and an overall sense of progress and stability.

Where many stopped trying this, or never tried at all, you stood your ground and spoke out for our issues, and energized the Democratic Party. We were not defeated by a lack of energy, or willpower. We were not even defeated by our candidate. What we were defeated by was our party's strategy, one which you did not believe in- and that is why so many supported you. Even those who didn't vote for you... they supported you.

It is our hope that you will stand again to be our leader in the political community. It is our hope that when we cry out, seeking salvation from a very real and evident threat- of losing our homes, our jobs, and our rights- that you will be the one voice that can speak above the noise in this country, and say, "Enough!" It is our hope that you can restore order where there is chaos in this country, that you can restore our political process to sanity, as well as honesty.

You gave us a simple message, a simple lesson: "Hope, not fear". Not all of us fear, but many do. We fear the result of further years of right-wing control of our nation. We fear that we will lose much of what makes us so proud to be Americans.

We will not be controlled by our fear.

We will believe in what you said, and have hope for this country.

We will believe that it all can change if we fight hard enough.

We will have hope and faith that we will win, so long as we have the right person to lead us.

We ask that you announce your candidacy for President of the United States.