Memo To John Kerry: Heed Not The Call Of The Mild



Arianna sure has metamorphosed over the years, huh:



Despite Dean’s sensational crash-and-burn, the grassroots movement that sprung up around him remains intact and still desperate to move toward its stated goal: removing Bush, remaking the Democratic Party and, indeed, remaking America.



Assuming the current campaign trajectory continues, Kerry should have a Brahmin death grip on the Democratic nomination long before the Ides of March is upon us. At which point, he’s going to hear an iPod’s worth of siren songs all warning him that he needs to rein in his newly fiery populist rhetoric for fear of scaring off Wall Street or soccer moms or NASCAR dads or those elusive DLC Dems.



But the real kiss of death would be to heed this call of the mild.



Instead of dusting off the Democratic Party’s tried-and-untrue swing-voter strategy — remember 2002? — Kerry needs to become the pied piper of the discontented, the disillusioned, the disenfranchised and the millions who have stopped believing that politics is the way to make a difference in the world.



The country cannot afford another four years of George Bush’s destructive policies while the movement regroups and grows stronger. Which is why the Democrats cannot afford to squander the passion of the Deaniacs.