I Dare You to Read This

Oh no, you again. I thought I scared you away?  Okay, suit yourself. But don’t come whining to me when you get your little feelings all hurt. Because, my friends, you’ve been warned.

I haven’t got much time for you brats today. The ground is slowly drying and I’ve got wood to drag and a horse ready to do it. So, let me entertain and otherwise incite you with these little random jewels that – when measured – amount to absolutely nothing but mind clutter. Oh well, you get what you pay for.

Lights, Camera, Ass-kissing: Much of the Vermont media and blogosphere is all atwitter over the news that George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are thinking about doing a movie about Howard Dean. No, it’s not called “The Scream.” But, yes, everyone will giggle and drool all over themselves to get in on the Hollywood action. Don’t believe me? Check out Freyne’s piece this morning. It doesn’t get any more pathetic than that. Earth to Peter: You are NOT the center of every political story. But at least we now know where you got those nasty chapped lips during the Deaniac presidential times: Smooching all that Dean campaign ass. Of course, you probably forgot to mention to your readers at the time that you were assuming the position for the Dean team while writing your fawning missives. Access ain’t free, eh?

More on Pollina: I received several emails from folks about my little screed about Pollina yesterday and most of them had this little question in common: Well, then, what should the Dems do? Okay, I’ll answer that: Build a nice little soapbox, make a list of about four things that you really, really believe in to the point of risking a bloody nose or two over fighting for, take the soapbox to as many venues in Vermont as you possibly can to stand upon, to speak passionately about your issues and to demonstrate how you’re going to really fight – no matter the short-term electoral consequences.

But, be careful, if you follow my advice, you might find that people will become excited and otherwise energized by what you’re saying and doing. And then you just keep doing it.

Let me know how that works out for you. It’s got to be better than all the nervous hand wringing and obsessive calculating you’ve become paralyzed by. Oh yeah, and where do I send the bill?

But, seriously, imagine if the Dems and Progs got off this little runaway “will he or won’t he“ Pollina train and, instead, put all of that energy into igniting a grassroots firestorm in Vermont. Now THAT would be exciting. To give them some credit, this is what the Progs have been trying to do over the last several years by focusing on the local contests and the local issues. (Did you all hear that? It was called praise. Sort of.) But, unfortunately, it seems like the energy they’re putting into a potential Pollina campaign for the state’s highest office will be a step backward for them – especially if they have to go to their rank and file members and basically say “never mind all that stuff we said about the Dems and our focus on building a base in the legislature.”

Sure, Douglas is the problem for those looking to have a Dem/Prog stairway to legislative heaven. But, remember, the so-called veto-proof majorities held by the Dem/Progs in the legislature were pretty damn lame last session, acting more like deer in the headlights than the super-majority leaders that they were. So sure, if the Dem/Progs want to work together, how about working to organize the grassroots to create a movement that will strengthen their legislative numbers and, just as importantly, embolden them to actually ACT, take risks and stand up for – not ignore – the people who put them there.

If Pollina and this rumored Dem/Prog union were hired to build your house I’ll bet they’d try to convince you to put the roof on first. And I’ll bet you’d fire them and find someone who wanted to start at the basement level and work up.

It could all start by Pollina making an announcement that he will, indeed, be waging a campaign in 2008. But instead of taking on Jim Douglas, he’s going to wage a unified Dem/Prog effort for the Vermont Senate. And then, if he beats Bill Doyle, he’ll be in a fine position to do the legislative work he wants to do and think about his next steps in 2010.

Enough already. I’ve got work to do.

[Housekeeping note: If you want to comment publicly, you have to click on the “blog” or “go to the full blog” to access the comments option. But, if you’d like to continue keeping your missives private, you can email me directly at mcolby@broadsides.org. All correspondence is considered confidential.]