Joe Trippi once again proves that he gets it. I usually resist the temptation to say that this election is like no other. I've studied the elections of the 19th century enough to know that they were just as dirty. The election of 1876 even saw the loser of the popular vote win the electoral vote; that year even had states where the vote was disputed. Yes, Florida was one of them. Point is, the basic issues of presidential politics are not changing nearly as quickly as the mechanics by which those issues filter down to the electorate.
Joe Trippi understands this, and I have to believe it is why the Dean campaign did as well as it did. Whatever your opinion of Dean as a candidate, his campaign reflected a change that is coming. I think this might be the last campaign that a Dean-like candidate loses. So study up, future candidates of both parties. Learn from Dean. It's like I wrote earlier, the Internet is starting to really hit its stride in terms of becoming a vehicle of communication. The Internet makes it possible for meetup.com to exist. Blogs don't replace the regular media, but if they keep the media honest, it's a good thing.
It won't fundamentally change the American people. The issues at stake won't change. But more people will have a voice. I'm not entirely sure that the winner in 2004 (whoever it is) really understands that, but mark my words, the winner in 2008 will.
Leave a comment