January 20, 2004
Twilight Run 2004: Iowa
The biased national news media continues to focus its spotlight on the frontrunners in the Democratic primaries, all of whom I think are named "John." But here at Wired Mesh, we're concentrating on a grander story, a triumph of the human will and the tremendous capacity for self-delusion. Yes, there is much celebration in the forest today, for Grandfather Twilight, aka Dennis Kucinich, has won a single Iowa delegate.
This is being hailed as a great victory by the Twilight campaign, whose Web site currently blares the optimistic if noncommital headline, "Kucinch: This Will Go to Convention." As the Iowa results were announced, Kucinich explained his strategy for winning the nomination:
"Some would think it's unwise to suggest that when you have 1% of the delegates that somehow you can take that as a springboard to the nomination, but I will say that kind of daring and fearlessness is what this country is actually looking for at this time... As I climb higher in New Hampshire and each successive state, and as the situation in Iraq continues to worsen, Democratic support for peace will be reflected in my campaign's success. I predict a brokered convention in July... we will either bring these other Democratic candidates into an identical position or we are going to sweep them aside as we go to the nomination."
Buoyed by this fresh burst of insanity, the Kucinich campaign is off to New Hampshire. "Now tomorrow, at 3:00 this morning," Mr. Twilight announced paradoxically, "I'll be on my way to New Hampshire to show you that I'm not going to miss a beat, waste any time or get any sleep." Because nothing inspires the confidence of a nation like knowing our leader doesn't get any sleep.
If you're still wondering what secret weapon powered the Twilight Express to its single delegate, you should see who offered his endorsement on Wednesday. Yes, it's that Pat Simmons. Of the Doobie Brothers.
Posted by mesh at January 20, 2004 11:32 AM | TrackBackit's hard to get a pat simmons to back you...
i mean, really, sky''s the limit for mr. croissanwich...
i wonder who jeff conanway from "taxi" is voting for.
or young m.c. who has HIS vote?
Funny you should mention the Iowa democratic caucus. . . I was there. Years of being politically uninvolved came to an end for me just two nights ago when I attended the local (that word takes on a new meaning in IA) democratic caucus. Let me paint a picture for you. The closest caucus was in Rowley, IA, where the welcome sign says, "Rowley- Iowa's best kept secret." There has never been any clue as to what that secret is. If you take the 2nd, and last, left off of the main road, you find yourself at the Rowley Elementary School, which is basically a brick square. It was there that 91 Iowan democrats gathered in the tiny gymnasium, with its dark green floor and shredded velvet stage curtain. Picture wooden bleachers full of white faces, grey heads, plaid flannel shirts, and lots of denim-- overalls mostly. Through the conversational murmur, you can hear words like "hog farm," and "long winter." Enter Niki Ellis, English teacher at the boarding school 4 miles down the road, wearing a black turtleneck, dark jeans and a long burgundy sweater, followed by one long-haired hippie-looking boy (Max Belz), one Korean boy, 2 Eritrean boys, and one preppy looking New Englander complete with navy pea coat. All the boys are ages 16-19. (Yes, being a boarding school teacher has its perks). It was to be an educational experience for all of us, and we had decided to go to the Democratic caucus largely because there were several candidates, so we thought we would learn more about the whole process. Basically, we were wrong. After getting attendance numbers by counting heads (it took two times), everyone simply divided into groups for each candidate. Only Dean, Edwards, and Kerry even had groups. Kerry's group was the largest by far. Lieberman's group had only about 7 people, so that had to be disbanded (they would have needed 15% of the total number present, or 13.65 people). We waited expectantly for discussion of the candidates or at least platforms, but there was none, and after counting the numbers in each candidate's support group, we were all dismissed. A bit disappointed, I dropped the boys off at the school, spent a few hours chatting with people, and went home. As I walked into my apartment, my roommate was online, and I saw the AOL homepage on her computer with the headline "Kerry Takes Iowa." I realized that 91 farmers in a tiny elementary school gym in the small county of Buchanan had just been almost exactly representative of the main headline on that night's national news. This, my friends, is democracy.
Posted by: Niki at January 21, 2004 11:05 PMAnd that's a great story. I had completely forgotten you were in Iowa this week. Awesome.
Posted by: mesh at January 21, 2004 11:30 PM