When Will They Ever Learn?

The liberal side of the blogosphere's aflame with rumour. Apparently, our losing presidential candidate has been using his muscle to push Tom Vilsack for the DNC chair. Vilsack is the governor of Iowa, the Midwestern state whose denizens inscrutably live in perverse farmhouses with putrid enclosed porches that smell like someone's nearly-dead Grandma. Iowa, you will recall, gave us John Kerry for our nominee and then traitorously turned and voted for Bush on November 2.

I was in Vilsack's trashy little state in January, wearing the orange hat for Howard Dean. Dean is also being pushed for DNC chair by the Jesse Jacksons, Bill Richardson, and Donna Brazile. Dean's ability to fundraise and his fiery partisan loyalty make him a natural choice. Nancy Pelosi apparently realized this several months ago, but has now had her mind changed by Kerry.

Dean's fierce loyalty to Democratic populism compelled him to work his tail off for Kerry, despite bad blood stemming from the Kerry campaign's dirty tricks during the Iowa caucuses. Even after losing the nomination, Dean kept right on campaigning for the Democratic ticket. Right after winning the nomination, Kerry went snowboarding.

Vilsack pretended neutrality during the Iowa caucuses, but his wife openly supported Kerry. And the Vilsacks delivered Iowa to the Massachusetts Senator in January. They could not do so in November, but no matter. The bills are due, and Kerry is paying back the man who handed him the nomination. It matters not that he must, once again, stab in the back a man who swallowed more pride for the good of the party than John Kerry will ever have.

This is ugly, ugly, ugly. John Kerry lost. He would have done even worse on November 3 had it not been for the spine transplant given him and the other Dems by Dr. Dean. The Republican-lite philosophy exemplified by Vilsack has been thoroughly repudiated time and time and time again. If we nominate a man whose website now features a box titled "Strengthening Iowa Values," we will continue down that ignominious path. We might as well nominate Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller. It's death to the party. It's also a slap in the face to all of us who bit our tongues and worked our grass-roots off for Kerry despite knowing in our heart of hearts that he was exactly this sort of a son of a bitch.

SPACEDARK