I want to point out that, contrary to the way the media is reporting it, yesterday was pretty good for Dean. It's true that losing the AFSCME endorsement sucked, but then the big labor unions had backed Dean and Gephardt, and didn't seem to be doing that much good at poll times. (Not that we don't appreciate it, IUPAT and SEIU!)

However, the second-place finishes in both states make it clear that Dean is still the most viable alternative to Kerry. Although the media keeps trying to spin Edwards and Clark as the ones who can "win the south," the primary is won by delegate count, not by region. Dean probably got more delegates yesterday than Clark has gotten in all the primaries and caucuses combined so far. Dean remains in second place, and considerably widened his lead over Edwards and Clark yesterday. He has a good chance to further widen it in Maine today.

I think Dean is the best candidate to put up against Bush. Kerry supported Bush's agenda on the war, the Patriot Act and No Child left behind. Now he argues that all of those things are terrible. Dean stood up against them back when it counted, and that won't give Bush the chance to say "well, if you hated my policies so much, why did you vote for them?"

Even if you don't think Dean can win the nomination, I think it's better to keep this contested rather than hand out a nomination early.

Why do we need to keep this contested?

(1) People keep talking about momentum, that "only Kerry has the momentum to beat Bush." But every Democratic nominee always has momentum coming out of the convention. It won't matter then who has momentum now.

(2) The momentum we will have after the convention won't necessarily translate into a victory. Dukakis had a significant lead over Bush I right after the Democratic convention. What has a chance to translate that momentum into a victory is the candidate. Therefore, we should still vote for the candidate we think is the best, not the one with momentum.

(3) Momentum is a media-generated effect, and if we want to have any hope to keep momentum going from now until the general election, we need to keep the media reporting on this race. The only way to do that it keep it a race. The sooner we make one person the sure nominee, the sooner the media will stop covering the "horse race," which is all they care about. Bush is on the ropes right now not because Americans love Kerry, but because there are six Democrats beating up on Bush in the news, and their message is in the news because it's a horse race. If everyone else dropped out and Kerry was bound to win every state by a landslide, the media would just stop covering him.

(3) If we narrow the field down to one candidate at this time, it also helps Bush's re-election team by giving them more time to prepare attacks; as soon as they know who the nominee is, they are free to begin spending their resources. Why not keep Bush guessing as long as possible?

(4) only about 15% of Democrats have voted. Why should we disenfranchise the Democrats in other states just because they vote later? Until the nomination is numerically secured or "clinched," it is unfair to us as Americans for any candidate to drop out if they still have the desire and the resources to run.

Those are just a few of the reasons. But you get the idea. If you like Dean's message, I urge you to support him with your vote, your voice, and/or your dollars.