Last night the dems at the dnc gave a nod to 3 men who would have been president, McGovern, Mondale and, my favorite, Dukakis. Of course, the powers that be did not let them speak. They have all been keeping these loyal dems at arms length because, well, they lost. And it saddens me that we aren't allowed to be inspired by them. No, they did not win their elections but they are good people, with integrity who might have something to say that's worth hearing.
I have been lucky enough to meet Michael Dukakis twice in my life. The first time he was speaking at UAW event in metro Detroit (Dearborn maybe?) during his 1988 presidential campaign. I was in the 10th grade and luckily my history teacher thought this would be a worthwhile field trip. Being among the shorter members of the class (having not yet reached my full height of 5'3"), my classmates allowed me to stand in front of them, which meant I was standing along the ropeline as Dukakis entered the hall. Not only did I get to shake his hand but I also caught glimpses of myself on the news. I wish I could remember what he said. I do remember being awed and inspired. And being extremely disappointed a short while later when he was badly beaten in the election. Still, that memory stayed with me through the years.
When I moved to Boston in 2001, I had the good luck to meet him again, at a much quieter forum, for a longer time, when we could actually have a conversation. Over iced tea he told wonderful stories, about baseball, the history of Boston, the Big Dig, days of being governor and of state-wide elections. He seemed professorial, smart, kind, sincere , funny and did I mention smart? wicked smart. And again, I wished that 1988 election had turned out differently.
Last night, waiting for Edwards's speech, I was watching C-Span2 where they have been showing convention speeches of past elections. Sure enough, just after publicly dissing ("honoring") Dukakis, Mondale and McGovern, on C-Span1 there was The Duke on C-Span2, smiling and waving to thunderous applause as he began his acceptance speech. Sure, there were mistakes in the campaign, the tank, the death penalty question... we all remember those and perhaps there were smaller mistakes on the way. But as I watched the speech I wondered if sometimes the best candidate, the best president, might be the one worst at campaigning.... Dukakis was attacked mercilessly during that election and he didn't attack back, believing that the truth of his message would win out. In the end I still sometimes wonder why it didn't.
The campaigns in presidential elections are just like any other ad campaign, trying to convince you that their product is the best. Well, you don't buy a car based on a 10-second spot...you research, you test drive, you read consumer reports, you ask friends. It is a thoughtful process. When you buy a can of tuna, perhaps you don't check around as much, maybe you compare prices but that's it. The next president of the United States will have a greater effect on your life than a can of tuna or even your next car. I don't know what could have been had we all been smart enough to be inspired by Michael Dukakis and elect him our President. But it will be a long long time before we recover from the damage done to our country in the past four years. Let's hope that no matter what the coming months bring, we allow ourselves to be inspired by John Kerry and John Edwards...
No comments:
Post a Comment