I had tears in my eyes today as I watched footage of the swearing in of Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful woman in American electoral history. And as I think about the crew of grassroots activists who showed up last night at a DFA meeting in Norwalk CT, eager to strategize and get right back to work on our next projects together, I couldn't help but conclude that these historic victories, powered by growing grassroots and netroots activism and small donations, are a credit to Howard Dean's visionary campaign in 2003, his leadership in 2004 of Democracy for America, and his election in 2005 as Chairman of the Democratic Party.
Which is why Paul Begala's comment to scottforamerica today is so striking:
"Anyway," Begala continued... "I don't need some a**hole from Vermont telling me what to do."
Yeah, Mr. Begala, actually, you do.
When I think of the power center of our moribund, losing party a few years ago -- those self-congratulatory, bloviating gasbags still gloating over their victories with Clinton in 1992 twelve long years later after losing the White House, both houses of Congress, and the very Constitutional principles that made the United States unique, I say:
Thank GOD Howard Dean, some asshole from Vermont, stepped into the middle of that circular firing squad and shook things up.
We needed an asshole down there, someone who was so grounded in values and family and reality in a little state like Vermont that his heart wouldn't be broken if he pissed off the consultant class and got himself dis-invited from the Cool Kidz K Street Cocktail Parties.
Howard Dean didn't give a shit about the very backslapping that powered our limping party's gerbil wheel of defeat. That asshole from Vermont set out to raise money, build a farm team of candidates by challenging Republicans in every state, in every race, and rebuild a grassroots party infrastructure by investing in organizers in every state. And it fucking worked...and we're only just starting!
Utterly gratuitous photo of me, some asshole from Vermont, and my dear departed dad from a Kim Hynes for State Rep. fundraiser in Stamford in 2003
By the way, I've been lucky enough to meet Howard in person a few times and I've found him to be kind, down-to-earth, personable, and smart as a whip. I don't think he's an asshole at all. But the extent to which Paul Begala and his ilk do think Howard is an asshole is greatly to the Gov's credit. May his assholishness in Begala's eyes continue apace as we move on to a big victory in '08.
And to Begala, I say, Get outta the way and go on to your cocktail parties where you can bash Dean and commiserate with your compatriots about your increasing irrelevance. A whole bunch of us and some asshole from Vermont are busy.
(Cross posted, slightly edited, at MyLeftNutmeg).