Sherman, Gore, & a Dean Bumpersticker
Look what I spotted on a car recently, in a parking lot outside
of a local Starbucks:
That sure caught my eye!
.
.
Here's a closer look at that bumper sticker:
that Dean.">
Allow me please to borrow from Al Gore. As he repeatedly said during his interview with George Stephanopoulos [1] and when asked by other
interviewers, ìI will not make a Sherman Statement. [2]î
Good for Gore, evoking the words and spirit of Sherman. General William Tecumseh Sherman was quite
the guy. Sherman coined the phrase, "War is Hell.î He avoided politics like the plague. He changed his mind on slavery. And he clobbered Atlanta, which makes me wonder if heíd be a
Yankee fan were he alive today. Yes,
feel free to groan at a mess of inferred puns and metaphors in that
statement. Thatís a Dean statement, not
a Sherman Statement or a Gore statement.
Dean as in yours truly, blogger, media guy, communications
specialist, consultant, and occasional self-appointed pundit. Not Dean as in excellent internet campaign
fundraiser, not-so excellent Presidential candidate (will he ever live down the
holler [3]?), and presently head of the DNC [4].
Okay, alright, fine.
Yes, I realize the bumper sticker is for that Dean, not this one. Just the same, unlike Al Gore, I will gladly issue a
Sherman Statement. And hope that Howard
Dean also has no notions of running again for President.
Most of all, though, there exists hope that the lack of a
Sherman Statement from Gore means the conceptual door remains open. Better Al than the unelectable Hillary. Heís already won the popular vote once, heís
the best of a muddy field. And heís
undeclared, so he need not subject himself to infighting or primary
battles. Let him be drafted when it is
clear there is no viable candidate from the announced (or presumed) pack [5].
I said it a few years ago and repeat it now: the ideal
Democratic í08 slate would be Al Gore and Wesley Clark.