Who is today's Shirley Chisolm?

I just finished viewing "Chisolm '72: Unbought and Unbossed." On the first layer, this was particularly interesting to me because I did not know much about Rep. Chisolm other than that she was the first black woman elected to Congress and the first woman to run for president. She died earlier this year. Beyond that, though the parallels between 1972 and 2004 were striking.

The politicking that people, especially within the women's movement, were willing to do in order to win and send President Nixon packing was amazing. At one point, the documentary said that Chisolm was probably ideologically almost identical to Sen. George McGovern, who eventually won the nomination but lost the election in a miserable defeat. Why, then did she run? Her answer would probably be "Why not run?" Clearly there were numerous factors in the 1972 race, some nicely explained in "All the President's Men" and others as specters of 1968, but the Chisolm factor had much to do with McGovern being nominated.

In 2004, I was a strong and early supporter of Howard Dean for president. In fact, I wanted him for vice president with Al Gore in 2000, and I knew Dean was a comer. He started saying the things that get people energized, and he was criticized for being too volatile. At the 2004 Washington caucus, I recall people saying, one after another, that we need a candidate who could win in November. I remember replying that we could show who is electable by actually electing him. Basically, if we know a candidate is right and we agree with him (or less frequently her), why do we avoid supporting him? We cast so much doubt and listen to so much conventional wisdom that we can't see a person who has potential but has not found a foothold.

So I ask: Among today's Democrats, who is today's Shirley Chisholm? Who is that candidate who is running for all that is right with America? Who is the candidate who will energize the electorate and the nonelectorate? Who is the candidate who will make people recall why they are proud to be Americans?

Is that candidate even out there? A combination of Al Sharpton, Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean would come pretty close. Can that candidate even exist in today's media environment? The 24-hour news cycle, endless shout shows and resourceful bloggers will undoubtedly form the crucible in which any candidate must be tempered.

My pal The CIB hopes it is Sen. Joe Biden, and honestly, he is making a lot of sense as a sane voice on Iraq these days. I know who it isn't, though, and that is John Kerry and John Edwards. Kerry is a candidate we settled for because we thought his medals would beat W.'s flight suit. Edwards is a sap who plays class divisions better than most Republicans because you don't even realize it -- remember "Two Americas"?

Will we ever see someone like Shirley Chisholm again? Honestly, I hope that person is out there today, running for school board, or state legislature -- in fact, I hope there are donzens of 'em. Democracy for America is helping people like these get elected and helping everyday progressives elect them. The group's mid-year report card is impressive and worth checking out. Time to restart the '04 engines. This pit stop has been long enough.

-- Peoria, Ariz.