Letters to the Editor

Flavor of the month To the Editor: In his column on Friday ("A return to principle after shopping around," The Daily Pennsylvanian, 9/26/03), Kevin Collins presented an accurate description for many Democrats across the country: "Howard Dean made us fall in love all over again." But he doesn't reach the end of his metaphor. You can hear the denial in "aren't unforgivable sins" and "lost some of his shine." The relationship has begun fizzling, and I know why it won't last. Howard Dean is James Dean -- cool, hip, anti-establishment, loud, brash and bold. His shouts are our deepest frustration. "Rush Limbaugh has taken over the nation! It's time a Democrat was a Democrat again!" The loud voice, however, hides the speaker. We're better off with our high-school sweetheart, who's looking out for us rather than a new-to-town hood who's looking for outrage. Howard Dean may have some exotica erotica going, but love is more than novelty. We need someone who's been there in the past, who won the fight in 1993 for a better economy, who's been with us on Medicare, Social Security, gun control and trade. And we need someone who will be there in the future: the man who has the best health care plan and the plan to end our dependence on Middle Eastern oil. He's not the flavor of the month. Heck, he's Aesop's tortoise. But once we tire of rebellion and get a good look at the rebel and all his flaws, we'll find our real beau waiting with a rose and a rosy future for the nation. The Democrat's Democrat, the most electable man, is the man we thought we left behind. But after a chance meeting, how did we miss him in the first place? Our man is inevitably Dick Gephardt. It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Best still to have loved and won.

Brian Levy College '06 The author is the co-president of Penn for Gephardt.

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