What makes anyone think that the internet will be more useful than anyythng else in organizing an extremely large group of people? Are you going to figure out how to take over their computers and force them to go to the websites where they could take part in an organization? I am reasonably politically active and aware, and I know Dean was using the internet to his advantave, and I have never visited a political web site and am not likely to do so. I am not likely to join some single-minded organization, especially if it means using my limited internet time to do so.

I did attend the local Democratic caucus a few weeks ago, and was elected to represent my precinct in the district caucus next month. One thing I came away from the caucus with is the overwhlelming sense that "Anybody But Bush" is what is driving the Democratic party right now. Attendance at the caucus was about ten times what it has ever been in the past. I don't think many of those people (with the exception of a few idiotically fanatic Dean supporters) were there to support any one candidate. We were all there to try to decide who had the best chance of beating Bush, and to encourage each other to vote for whoever the Democrats put forward. If there is any grassroots movement going on right now, it is exactly "Anybody But Bush".

It has been a long time since I voted for a candidate. I vote in every election, but I am almost always voting against the candidate I consider to be the worst of two evils. As far as I can tell, any candidate who has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected to national office is already corrupt and probably has stands on some issues that I find abhorrent. But there is usually a worse choice. In the current presidential race, I think Dennis Kucinich has the best platform. I agree with almost everything he says. But, of course, he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected. Neither, unfortunately, does Nader. So I'll vote against Bush in whatever way looks like it will have the most chance of achieving my goal of removing him from office.

Oddly, the only state level candidate I've voted for (as opposed to voting against people) in recent years was a Republican. Ralph Munro was the Secretary of State here in Washington for many years, and as far as I could tell he was an honest and dedicated public servant who always acted ethically and with a great deal of personal integrity. I chose to reward that attitude and behavior rather casting a knee-jerk votie for whoever his Democratic opponents were.

John Peekstok