There is no other option...

Aziz asked me to repost this from the comments section below, so here ya go. It's just my little rant about why we can't give up. If any of this is confusing, I was replying to a few comments left on Dana's "Just Win, Baby" post. You might want to read the string for the entire context.

re, i feel like you do so often, and that's what howard dean sparked so much hope in me. i see in his platform a sensible way to get our country back on track. i see in the man a strong leader who won't lie to us and who doesn't have a zipper problem. i as well was disengaged for a few years. i've done my share of party building, but i've never been so vested in the outcome of a campaign. perhaps that's part of the problem. we haven't been able to get joe average vested in the success or failure of this campaign.

robert, i really appreciate your comments. i totally agree that the "product" was not properly marketed. dear god, if there's anything the rethuglicans gets right, it's marketing. it's a sad fact.

and as for the affection that many of us feel for trippi, for myself, i have that affection because i never thought that my contributions could matter. i never thought that anyone running a presidential campaign could ever care about what the average person thought. i never thought that *people mattered* to those in power. joe proved me wrong and showed me that we *can* matter. that we *do* matter. sure, he made some mistakes, but i'll always be grateful to him for reaching out to this community and taking what we said at face value.

what i fear most is that this was our last shot to matter, that this was the last campaign that really was "of, for, and by the people". i fear that if we don't reform the process *now* that we won't get another chance. i don't see any of the other campaigns valuing their supporters like DFA does (with the exception of the clark campaign, who really values their 'roots as well). and when people don't matter, what else does? money and power, i guess. and so many of us have fought so hard to change that. and i can honestly say that at this point it feels like we won't be able to accomplish that goal, and that would be the worst tragedy of all.

and god forbid we get four more years of the lying, awol, smirky squatter in the white house. i can't picture an america that would reelect that corrupt liar, yet like Re i meet people every day who are so oblivious to the damage that's been done over the past three years that sometimes it makes me want to throw my hands in the air and apply for canadian citizenship. but i refuse to be a quitter and leave this country in the hands of ignoramuses like NY. i mean, am i supposed to just give up and leave, or am i supposed to stay and fight like a good patriot would?

i choose to fight. and if america goes down, i'll go down with her knowing i've made every effort to right this sinking ship.

that's why i'm still here. that's why i'll continue to support howard dean until he tells me it's time to move on.

And just to add a few more thoughts... the Democratic nominee will get my support no matter what happens. Bush must be stopped, his every lie exposed, and it will be up to the Democratic party to do that (lord knows Big Media won't). I will continue to work here in Texas to further the cause of participatory democracy, and if we can make Howard Dean the nominee I will be one happy camper. But if we don't, I'll still be in the trenches fighting against the right-wing ideologues that have co-opted the Republican party until they are driven from their positions of power and ostracised from the public debate. There is no other option. This country is in trouble, and it is up to we the people to change that.
One thing I've learned during this campaign is that if enough of us get together, we *can* create change. One of my biggest sources of frustration has always been that, as one person, I can't change this thing by myself. But together we are so powerful. We've already changed the tone of the debate, and we've shown the Democrats how to raise money under the new campaign finance laws. We've also helped refine the message that is now being used by all the contenders. We've got to follow through after the primaries with due diligence and make sure Bush is tossed from office, and we've got to continue to work on building up the party.
Bush must go, be it at the hands of Howard Dean or some other nominee. There is no other option but to stay and fight.