This has been debated over and over again, but since I haven't done a diary entry in a while, I thought I'd take a crack at it ;-)
For many of us Dean supporters, Iowa was indeed an enormous punch to the gut: our grassroots campaign, the hard-fought endorsements, the letter-writing, the volunteers...all appeared for naught when the returns set in. It was as if the Perfect Storm had become a tornado that had turned on us.
As anyone who takes a heavy punch to the stomach experiences, after you recover you begin to look at what went wrong. We went negative on Gephardt when it was clear Iowans don't like negativity, for one. There are other matters, but they've been repeated too many times to mention here.
Yes, Iowa hurt for Dean supporters. But there is always a silver lining, and I believe Iowa has a few. For one, it showed us that there were some people who really saw the effect of what we were doing, even if they didn't support us. Today's WaPo editorial by E.J. Dionne (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33392-2004Jan20.html), while not exactly flattering, had this to say:
What Democrats needed after their disastrous losses in the 2002 election was a backbone transplant. The party's rank and file were clamoring for less timidity in confronting George W. Bush. The yearning was not just -- or even primarily -- about the war in Iraq. For most, it simply meant having leaders who stopped looking over their shoulders and checking Bush's popularity ratings. Democrats were sick of intimidation and capitulation.
The good doctor Dean answered the need and he soared.
Also, Michael Moore's letter to Deaniacs is another example. Yes, he did mention why he thought Clark was better, but he also credited us as to being one of the major factors in doubling turnout in Iowa. It fills me with a sense of gratification that while the media continues it's hack job on us, there are a few people out there that are willing to stand up for the work we're doing, even if they don't always agree with us.
That kind of "I got your back" attitude is what we need to see more of, both here in the blogosphere and in the media. We will, hope against hope, unify come March (hopefully we'll know by then) and launch our collective powers beyond Bush and unto the stars.
Sappy, yes. Nieve, possibly. But a worthy, lofty goal.