Zephyr Teachout: Wings on the Donkey

Old Deaners will no doubt remember the infamous Zephyr Teachout, who made the DFA blog a fun place back in the primary days as his Internet Outreach Director. And what a name! She also visited DFA folks here in Albuquerque during her cross-country trip to meet the roots, starting out in a very used Airstream trailer that experienced so many mechanical problems she finally had to abandon it mid-stream (no pun intended).

After Dean lost in the primaries, she went on to ply her trade at America Coming Together. Today, she's back at school and endorsing Dean for DNC Chair. Excerpts:

This moment in the history of our country is so much bigger than unanswerable speculation about who will hire the best ad company. Its our first act, collectively, as democrats to say what we believe in after last November's election.

We must choose a person that represents our strongly held, unambiguous beliefs about the rights and responsibilities of American citizens. We must elect someone who we can all look to articulate some of our hopes at a time we can feel strangled.
[. . .]
We use political parties to aggregate our hopes and dreams. The point of the Democratic party is not to win for its own sake, but to win because we represent some of the best traditions of civic life in human history. One of my hopes is to always be courageous in political life.  As a party, we need courage at the core - and the ability to inspire it in others. Just today I got an email from someone whose uncle decided to run for a rural texas local board spot because he got the email from Dean today.

Dean speaks in a blunt, straight way - he's funny, and he has a remarkable ability to listen, directly, to the people speaking to him. He's absolutely clearheaded about the fact that no political act has no cost. Every funding decision we make means there's another we can't - every choice is tied to every other choice. He's also very clearheaded about the difference between being a leader and demanding absolute fealty. He's happy to welcome right to lifers into the party, but that doesn't mean he's about to tone down his own strong views on family planning and a woman's freedom.
[. . .]
Lets get some wings on that donkey.