Actually, to be exact, it was 5 years and 1 day ago that my life changed. It was July 7, 2003, and I was getting back into politics after a long period where I followed it but wasn't really involved. A big part of the reason for my re-engagement was where I saw George W. Bush taking the country - off the cliff, in my opinion - after he was selected by the Supreme Court as president in the hotly disputed 2000 election against Al Gore. Almost immediately, it became apparent that Bush would NOT keep his promises to govern as "compassionate conservative," a "reformer with results," etc. It became obvious that he would NOT run a "humble" foreign policy. And it became depressingly clear that Bush would not "change the tone in Washington" for the better, only for the (far) worse.
It is in that context that I saw Wesley Clark on Meet the Press on June 15, 2003. I remember thinking very strongly that here was a guy who could beat Bush and turn this country around. I immediately logged on to my computer (dial up at the time) and searched (I believe I even used a search engine not named "Google") for information on Clark.
What I found was an incipient "Draft Wesley Clark" movement and something called a "Meetup," where people who had heard about Clark could meet in person, organize, network, motivate, etc. A few weeks later, I attended my first Meetup and had the privilege of meeting Draft Wesley Clark founder John Hlinko - one of the funniest, smartest, most creative and resourceful people I've ever met. Today, on my "Netroots Rising" website, I have published the complete interview I did with John back in April 2007. My favorite quote comes from John, talking about the Draft Wesley Clark movement:
...I think it's critical that people recognize this wasn't just a spontaneous outpouring of people on the net. It wasn't just a Little Rascals episode where the kids all get together on the spur of the moment to build a new playhouse and it just somehow magically comes together. It was a serious campaign conducted by a heck of a lot of very serious, talented, creative, hardworking people. Without those people putting in a heck of a lot of time - the draft would have failed as well.
And here I thought it was all just a lot of fun and one of the most exciting experiences I've had in my life. I just wish we had succeeded in winning the nomination for Wesley Clark. To this day, I believe that Clark could have beaten Bush, and that the country would be far, far better off if he had. Sigh.
Anyway, since then, I've been heavily involved in politics, even quitting my job with the federal government (in March 2006) to work full time on electing Jim Webb to the U.S. Senate. Previously, in January 2005, I founded a little blog called Raising Kaine, now going by the name "RK" as we've realized we have serious, deep policy differences with Kaine. And now, my friend Nate Wilcox and I have come out with the book "Netroots Rising" in an attempt to tell the story - actually many stories - of the rise of this movement we call the "netroots." It's been a heck of a 5 years and 1 day for me. How about you?
Interesting story, and your usual good job...
Obama/Clark 08!!
Thanks!
Steve
I remember being with my 12-year old when Clark made the cover of TIME. "THAT's our next president!" I told him.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda...
Keep up the great work, we have a long way to go!!!!!
The Draft Clark movement got me involved in net-based politics as well. Thanks for five years of great work, and good luck with the book.
Alan