(from the great state of Illinois, which voted today)

I stared at the hole
where the 8 used to be
I voted today – Howard Dean

I thought of my kids,
at the end of the day,
I wondered just what it would mean

(I've) campaigned for this man
for nearly a year
made phone calls and lobbied my friends

But the fight will be carried
by somebody else
Are the means justified by the ends?

In the great scheme of things
at the ends of the earth
lies perspective, the newspapers say

Since the voters have chosen
and long before me
at this point I just get in their way

And I know that this planet
will still spin around
even though today's vote will be lost

(Yet) I cannot help thinking
of what we have found
and whose absence has come at such cost

This country it seems
is of two different minds
some say truth is confined to one steeple

Yet one lesson, one way
that has come to new light
is the wisdom that comes from the people

This ballot I hold
one that carries my vote
orange cardboard (with no hanging chad)

Is unable to bear
all the sadness I feel
at the president we could have had

In the fall when the voters
in red states and blue
can vote, not for Dean, for but Kerry

Even those who have fought,
given blood, painted signs
know that Bush is the one we must bury

A great vict'ry will come,
the sad tide will be turned
when we join as a nation for progress

Cynicism will fade
as we head toward the light
first dump Bush then his evils we'll redress

Though my guy will not win,
our old rival now leads,
every Deaner has something to learn

Though the vessel is other
than what we might wish
that dumb bastard from Texas will burn

And the fires we started
in rural Vermont
both in person and through the net (Inter)

Have awakened Democracy
once left for dead
in the snows of 2000's bleak winter

And Dean's message survives
it gives Democrats spine
to stand up for what Bush has divided

and that 2004
will bring peace and jobs (more)
restore honor to these states united

So I place the vote card
in the brand new machine
that ensures that my vote will be counted

And reflect on this year
and how far we have come
and remember the campaign we mounted

Yes, stand up, proud Dean Nation
and brag to your friends
that your fight, over now, was not vain

For it gave us a course
and a way to bring people
back to vote for true change once again

Though we must now accept
whom most Democrats chose
when message of Dean he co-opted

In the end we can say
that John Kerry found voice
with the Dean platform he has adopted

So if people in days
not so long after now
see our nation returned to its prime

A land where the people
from all walks of life
stand together as if in one line

As united we stand
and we help one another
without fear, full of hope, not despair

We can say to ourselves
that we did make a diff’rence
we can say to our kids we were there

At the birth of a movement
the start of a cause
the solidification of purpose

Not content to leave things
the way that they were
as our leaders said we should be nervous

We remember that great things
through all human time
were begun by small groups who were loud

We acknowledge, embrace
the much-parodied scream
as a cap to a battle once proud

So much humbled today
as history leaves
our impassioned campaign far behind

We’ll continue the fight
to our own dying day
for democracy, freedom we find

Is worth failure, it seems
when we reach for our dreams
and a path not yet open but seen

When I stared through the hole
where the 8 used to be
I voted today – Howard Dean

Posted by Eric Davis at March 16, 2004 10:56 PM

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