February 5-11, 2004

pretzel logic

Fork in the Road

by Howard Altman

They are not ready to stick a fork in the good doctor from Vermont, but, to hear them talk, the wildly enthusiastic sea of volunteers that helped propel Howard Dean to early, albeit short-lived glory, have utensils in hand.

"People are disappointed, disheartened a little bit," says Mike Carvalho, a 32-year-old Web designer from Chester Springs who became the de facto press flack for Philly4Dean -- the local branch of Deaniacs that Carvalho says is 3,000 members strong.

Disappointment for Deaniacs is understandable.

The former front-runner came in third in Iowa, a distant second in New Hampshire and won bubkes in the seven primaries Tuesday night, finishing behind Al Sharpton in South Carolina, and, perhaps more disheartening, behind even Joe Lieberman in Oklahoma.

Despite this nationwide pummeling, Carvalho says most of the frustration felt by Dean supporters "is with the way the candidate has been treated and presented."

Carvalho, like many Deaniacs, says he was largely turned off by politics after the 2000 presidential selection.

"Gov. Dean had a very empowering message," says Carvalho. "He said that the power to change the country was in our hands, not his."

Carvalho was so moved by Dean's message last summer that he became a campaign leader.

"I have never been active like this before," says Carvalho.

He was not alone. He says that many Philly4Dean members had never even voted before, let along worked for and donated money to a candidate.

"I dabbled before," says Carvalho. "I held signs for Bill Clinton in '92 and contributed to John McCain's campaign in 2000. It was easy to come to this campaign because of the Internet and because I was determined not to vote for the lesser of two evils again, like I did in 2000."

Dean, says Carvalho, presented a chance to vote for someone he actually really liked.

But he may not get that chance.

By the time the Pennsylvania primary rolls around on April 27, it could be all over, thanks in no small measure, says Carvalho, to the media's constant attacks on Dean, in particular the incessant rehashing of the Iowa yeaargh.

For Carvalho, now it's personal.

"This was a real bottom-up, grass-roots campaign," he says from his car, the clacking of his wiper blades sounding like a ticking clock. "When people started attacking the candidate and the campaign, they are also attacking the supporters. The biggest blow is that for the better part of the last year we felt very empowered, as though we had a real voice. To have that taken away in the span of 48 hours, by a combination of the results of Iowa and the dismissal of Dean's candidacy by the media, I take it personally."

Ryan Roat is 33, married with one child and one on the way and a fourth-generation owner of a Bridesburg company that sells and designs cemetery memorials. While he is not yet prepared to etch a tombstone for Dean, he, like Carvalho, is girding up for the worst.

"I feel disappointed, but I am not ready to give up the ship just yet," says Roat, who has been involved politically since he was 13 and helping his mother stuff envelopes for Gary Hart, another presidential candidate who found himself the victim of circumstance.

"It's still early in the cycle," says Roat, sounding a bit like the overly optimistic, mortally wounded knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "The campaign is conceding [Tuesday night] and the hope is that we might do better this weekend [in the Washington and Michigan caucuses Saturday]."

When pressed, however, Roat acknowledges that if he were a gambling man, he "would probably bet against" Dean winning.

Ben Schweigert, a 24-year-old program assistant for the Philadelphia Local Initiatives Support Corporation, is talking the talk of optimism, but when pushed, talks about "how we set out not only to change presidents, but to change the Democratic Party, which has been suffering from decline for several years. Dean supporters showed up with all this new energy, all kinds of new people got involved."

And that, says Mike Carvalho, may be Dean's ultimate legacy.

"Locally, we built up a network of more than 3,000 people in Philadelphia, Chester, Montgomery and Delaware counties," says Carvalho. "Philly4Dean is one of the largest organizations in the campaign. All these people are energized and motivated."

The organization scheduled a consolidated Meetup for Wed., Feb. 4 at Egypt Nightclub. It will be both a first anniversary party and, perhaps, a chance to continue the fight.

"One way or another we hope to continue to be involved in politics on the local, state and national level," he says.

The next windmill tilt for the Deaniacs might be at longtime U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.

"Congressman Joe Hoeffel is expected to come to the Meetup, barring any emergencies in Washington," says Carvalho of Specter's Democratic opponent in the 2004 Senate race.

"We have a lot of contributors and first-time volunteers who have a voice now," says Carvalho, adding that maybe those voices will rise up on behalf of Hoeffel.

Which kind of makes sense.

Now that they've been dinged for Dean, why not take some Hoeffel lumps as well?