OMG. Paul Hawken supports Howard Dean.

This is a remarkable testimonial: http://blog.deanforamerica.com/archives/002403.html


Wednesday, November 26, 2003
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Guest Writer Paul Hawken: Voters Have Come Alive
I have so many progressive friends that I am constantly grilled as to whom I'm supporting for President. Making it more complicated is that I am good friends with Dennis Kucinich and admire John Kerry both as a friend, a fellow board member, and as the onetime stepfather of my daughter's boyfriend. So why am I supporting Dean?

The first is very practical. I want to support someone who is going to win. Defeating Bush is beyond politics, beyond ideology. It is something we owe the earth and all people living on it.

Second, I have lived down the road (in the summer) from the Dean family for twenty years. I know or have met dozens of people who have worked with him, know him (well) and know his wife. To a person, they support the man and his integrity. Vermonters are polite but pretty straight up about their views. Our media is so arch and untrustworthy that talking to a grocery store owner in a small community about the next President is a balm. The guy who runs the IGA down the road from the Dean house likes him a lot. I found that in his state and community people like him, trust him, greatly admire his wife and want him to succeed. There may be some native pride now that he has momentum, but when I first queried those who have lived around him, they were just sharing a piece of their mind.

Third, there is a something happening in this campaign that hasn't happened since Kennedy or Roosevelt. Voters have come alive around the country. Sounds corny, but there is a sense of hope. It is a measure of the candidate that he holds and furthers this movement. It is not simply a question of whether one supports a candidate; it is also a question of whether we can support each other and a process of involvement that few of us have felt or feel from existing candidates. Does this person bring divergent people together? Yes. It is not a movement based on fear and loathing, jingoes and gotchas. There is a sense of aspiration. Which bring me to point four.

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Eloriel

"Those who have cast our lot with Dean are not just volunteering or voting for him. For the first time in our lives, we are no longer voters disguised as human being waiting to be manipulated, but citizens who are engaged. This process doesn't feel win/lose, insider/outsider. It feels functional. It feels obvious. It feels like something that has traction and pertinence to American politics long after Dean is elected President."

Over and over I see others explain why they threw in with Dean and there is a simple continuity- It's something I'm doing

It wraps up my feelings well.

Yeah, we are doing and it feels damn good!

Thanks for posting this, Eloriel.

Who is Paul Hawken?

is an author, environmentalist, businessman. His books include Growing A Business, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution and The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability.

doncha know?

(j/k)

That is great.

SNIP..."Second, I have lived down the road (in the summer) from the Dean family for twenty years. I know or have met dozens of people who have worked with him, know him (well) and know his wife. To a person, they support the man and his integrity. Vermonters are polite but pretty straight up about their views. Our media is so arch and untrustworthy that talking to a grocery store owner in a small community about the next President is a balm. The guy who runs the IGA down the road from the Dean house likes him a lot. I found that in his state and community people like him, trust him, greatly admire his wife and want him to succeed. There may be some native pride now that he has momentum, but when I first queried those who have lived around him, they were just sharing a piece of their mind..."

The bit I find most compelling....

(snip)

Those who have cast our lot with Dean are not just volunteering or voting for him. For the first time in our lives, we are no longer voters disguised as human being waiting to be manipulated, but citizens who are engaged. This process doesn't feel win/lose, insider/outsider. It feels functional. It feels obvious. It feels like something that has traction and pertinence to American politics long after Dean is elected President.

Paul Hawken and William Greider . . . I'm still uncommitted, but I'm giving Dean a lot more consideration lately, especially since Kerry seems to be stuck in the briar patch . . . and Clark's response to Dean's pronouncements on re-regulating industry tells me he doesn't get it . . . I'll let you know when I make up my mind for sure . . .

Thanks for mentioning it.

Eloriel

I would love to read what he said.

It looks as though I am in very good company in backing President Dean.

He has a way of finding the heart, the real center of a question or idea, and then formulating a beautifully simple and practical proposal for solving problems. I admire him on so many levels. "Growing a Business" was the first of his books to change my life. Each one that followed has had a similar effect on me.

It is a very good thing to have Paul Hawken in your camp. I hope that Gov. Dean utilizes his insights and advice to the fullest. I hope that President Dean appoints him to any number of posts where his incredibly broad wealth of experience and knowledge could benefit our country, and take back our future. Energy, Commerce, Agriculture... That's just a start.