Seriously Now
A while before John Kerry won all those Democratic primaries, NTodd of "Dohiyi Mir," a strong Howard Dean booster, was highly rankled by, among other things, the means by which Kerry financed his campaign. NTodd railed that, while Dean had had to use his (NTodd's) hard-earned dollars, Kerry mortgaged his "damn mansion."
NTodd's ire in that matter still puzzles me.
First off, Kerry's move suggests to me that he was trying to go as light as he could on his adherents' money. But even more interestingly, I think that it's possible that if Dean had gotten the mortgage idea first and acted on it, he would be the one riding high today instead of Kerry. Dean might be living in his car but at least he'd have the nomination.
Apparently Kerry had the good taste a while ago to marry a lady in the Heinz family, and that means he can expect to be lightly sprinkled at various times with a little of that ketchup money, and therefore his mortgage tactic was purely symbolic. But the point is, what powerful symbolism it was!
I don't know how familiar the other Kerry voters in the primaries were with Zen Buddhist lore, but I was reminded of the story in which a would-be disciple is trying hard to get the attention of the great teacher, the Bodhidharma, but to no avail. He hangs around outside the master's cave for seven years. Still no dice. Finally the guy cuts off one of his own arms and offers that. The Bodhidharma, convinced at last that the fellow is SERIOUS, accepts him as a student.
Thus when Kerry mortgaged his mansion, it conveyed the message that this time he was SERIOUS, because for most of us, mortgaging our house is a very big deal, and that had to be so even in Kerry's case. Well-off people are not known to be fond of throwing away dollars, symbolically or not, and trying to be chosen as a party's candidate for President, especially in a race like that one, which was so filled with able contenders, is a huge gamble. The odds are that you will fall short and your cash and a lot of other people's cash will disappear down a lot of little vole holes with little to show for it ...except the experience and the satisfaction of knowing that you tried.
NTodd's ire in that matter still puzzles me.
First off, Kerry's move suggests to me that he was trying to go as light as he could on his adherents' money. But even more interestingly, I think that it's possible that if Dean had gotten the mortgage idea first and acted on it, he would be the one riding high today instead of Kerry. Dean might be living in his car but at least he'd have the nomination.
Apparently Kerry had the good taste a while ago to marry a lady in the Heinz family, and that means he can expect to be lightly sprinkled at various times with a little of that ketchup money, and therefore his mortgage tactic was purely symbolic. But the point is, what powerful symbolism it was!
I don't know how familiar the other Kerry voters in the primaries were with Zen Buddhist lore, but I was reminded of the story in which a would-be disciple is trying hard to get the attention of the great teacher, the Bodhidharma, but to no avail. He hangs around outside the master's cave for seven years. Still no dice. Finally the guy cuts off one of his own arms and offers that. The Bodhidharma, convinced at last that the fellow is SERIOUS, accepts him as a student.
Thus when Kerry mortgaged his mansion, it conveyed the message that this time he was SERIOUS, because for most of us, mortgaging our house is a very big deal, and that had to be so even in Kerry's case. Well-off people are not known to be fond of throwing away dollars, symbolically or not, and trying to be chosen as a party's candidate for President, especially in a race like that one, which was so filled with able contenders, is a huge gamble. The odds are that you will fall short and your cash and a lot of other people's cash will disappear down a lot of little vole holes with little to show for it ...except the experience and the satisfaction of knowing that you tried.
posted by Carl (aka Sofarsogoo) | 10:08 AM
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