Caroline Vernon to Receive Iowa Dem's Rising Star Award
by Alta Price, M.D.

This Saturday, June 11, 2005, one of our own, Blog for Iowa's Caroline Vernon, will receive the Iowa Democrats' Rising Star Award.  Dr. Alta Price, Co-founder of Democracy for Iowa and active participant in Democracy for the Quad Cities, reflects on what makes Caroline such a good candidate for the Rising Star Award.

We first got to know Caroline when she started coming to our Meetups after Howard dropped out of the Presidential race. One thing I noticed right away was how incredibly informed she was about all the issues. At the time, I was one of the few people in our group that spent a lot of time online, and I usually had the most up-to-date info on the issues of the day. But Caroline knew everything I did and then some. And she’s not just well informed, she’s smart. But the qualities that make her a Rising Star are more nebulous ;-) and harder to define for us intellectual liberal types. So I’ll put on my Lakoff reframing cap and see if I can put it into words.

Caroline speaks and acts from a place grounded in her values, and it gives her the power to be a force for good in our troubled times.  I’m not sure if it is her faith or her life experiences that brought her to this place. (Although she got there mostly on her own, ask her sometime how the good Doctor inspired her to go forth and use her power. I can’t tell that story like she can.)

Caroline is the kind of Christian who honors Jesus by trying to live like him, not by building him a church. Like one of my favorite tag lines at Dailykos says – “Don’t tell me you are a Christian, show me.” Caroline never has to tell you she’s a Christian; her faith shines through in every word and action. You can feel her empathy for the suffering of others. Her equanimity – which I believe comes from her faith - reassures those of us around her that somewhere a light is shining, no matter how dark the times.

I think what made the Iowa Democratic Party recognize her as a Rising Star is her courage in speaking “truth to power,” as Caroline likes to put it. I know Caroline well enough to know she feels the same fear anyone of us would getting up in front of people and speaking our minds. Her moral convictions give her both the courage to do it and the ability to do it well. I missed one of her “shining moments” – a town meeting with Representative Jim Nussle, on Social Security, I believe. According to reports of those present, Nussle was able to dismiss the concerns of many of his questioners with a few glib words. But Caroline was not to be brushed off. She was the one who finally got through to him. The fact that Caroline was the one interviewed by the television crew for the nightly news segment on the event confirms the validity of the reports I heard from my friends that she wowed not only our Congressman, but the crowd.

Perhaps the best thing Howard Dean did for me was putting me in touch with other Deaniacs. Thank you, Howard, for giving me a friend like Caroline Vernon. She has enriched Democracy for the Quad Cities with her service and talents. We are happy to share her with you through Blog for Iowa, but you really need to meet her personally to experience the full effect. When you meet her in person, you will understand why the Iowa Democratic Party recognized our Rising Star in eastern Iowa.

Howard Dean will be returning to Iowa for the first time since the Caucus, keynoting the Iowa Dems' Hall of Fame dinner this Saturday.  Reserved seats for the 2005 Hall of Fame Dinner may be purchased through the Iowa Democratic Party, with details posted on the Iowa Democratic Party Website, www.iowademocrats.org, or available by phone at 515-244-7292.

TODAY is the LAST DAY to purchase tickets.