Only a few moments ago did I find out that the arguably most ardent Dean supporter in this community, GrassyTroll, has apparently jumped ship. I just sent her an email, and I thought I should post it here as well.
While I respect the supporters of other candidates, I ask that you observe respect right now. If you can't say something nice, please, just let things be. There will be a time for politics, but right now there needs to be a time of healing. And you should care more about your fellow Kossacks and their emotional pain than posting "<<Candidate>> Rules Dean SUCKS!"
Obviously, I can't make you be nice. But I will get down on my knees and beg this of you, for one diary only.
Dear fellow/former Dean supporters,
Hello again. This is AEDem2004 over at DKos. I just found your diary about retracting your support for Dean. And only one thing goes through my mind:
Girl/Boy, what are you thinking!?
Look, we had a rough few past weeks. But we expected that. We knew the media would turn on him. We knew the other three would go negative (public or not) against him, and do anything they could to prevent his win.
Yeah, he lost. You're not fool, nor am I, but it's one freaking state. One! A state, in retrospect, that his campaign organization isn't as strong in because of the experience caucuses take. But come now... you've been with him for a long time. Certainly before he even dreamed of finishing 3rd in Iowa.
The speech? It sucked. 'Nuff said.
But it's only one night! I was crushed that night, too. All of us were. We had high expectations, high dreams, and our hope... and we lost it. But when you put it all in persepctive, it's not so bad. He's raised all that money this past week, he's got more money and more support than anyone else, and the man has principles. That's certainly more than you can say for some of the other candidates.
And more importantly, it's refocused the HQ and the Gov. They're listening to us, again. They're listening to what we're saying, what went wrong! And he's responded! He's going positive, he's running his record. He can and WILL win NH! Don't give up.
I'm only 17, and I probably know much less about the world than I think. This is the first campaign that I've watched all the way through; I wanted Gore to win, but I only paid attention in the week up to the election and then the month after. But if I can still keep believing, so can you. If all those kool-aid drinking DFA bloggers can believe, so can we.
Dean has a message that we believed in. I still do. And I think, deep down, you still believe, too. Because no matter what, we know what he is saying is true. That message has kindled a bright candle in each and everyone of us, and sure, that candle's flame got smaller on Monday. But it's burning again, it's burning bright and it's going to burn even brighter next Tuesday. We can't give up.
I remember all the time you've invested into this. Your heart, your soul. Hell, I don't even know you, or your name. I know nothing more about you than what you place in a two sentence online profile. And you know nothing more about me. But it's because of Dean, this campaign, that you've reached out to me on Kos, and I'm reaching out to you now. It's the reason that people across the country came together to laugh, and cheer, and share a vision for the future. It's the reason we occasionally cry, too; because we're a part of this. This isn't about Dean, it's about us. And as cheesy as it sounds because it's sometimes overused by the HQ, it's true. This campaign is about all of us, as a community. We can talk to people thousands of miles away who we know very little about, other than we have a strong belief, a positive vision, a drive to make things better for us and everyone else. I'm more and more convinced that we're supporters of eachother first, and supporters of Dean secondly.
I apologize for getting wishy-washy, but...
Don't give up hope. Because when I see his core supporters like you leaving this dream, this hope for a better world... how are people like me supposed to stay strong?
We need you. You just gotta believe.