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Howard Dean on Principles & Values

Former VT Governor; Former Democratic Candidate for President


Taking votes away from Kerry doesn't change the Party

DEAN [to Nader]: The Oregon Family Council, which is virulently anti-gay, right-wing group, called up all their folks to sign your petition. I don't think that's the way to change the party. I agree with much of what you say, but the way to change the country is not to do it with any means to the end, the way to change the country is not to get in bed with right-wing, anti-gay groups to get you on the ballot. That can't work. I think there's a big difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. I'll grant you that there's significant corporate influence that we don't like. I'm not running for president right now, not just because I lost in Iowa, but because I made the calculation that if I did, I would take away votes which that otherwise would go to John Kerry and the result was going to be the re-election of George Bush.

NADER: What you said about that group was a legitimate smear. It's a smear premeditated and knowing. We don't even know this group. Don't try to tar us with this.

Source: NPR, "Justice Talking" Dean-Nader Debate Jul 9, 2004

Arianna: "Dean lit a firecracker under Democratic Party."

Howard Dean lit a long overdue wake-up firecracker under the party. And predictably, as soon as he showed that the way to turn on the electorate was to put an end to the party's endemic foolishness, he came under excoriating "friendly fire" attacks. The most disgraceful anti-Dean salvo was launched by Americans for Jobs, Health Care & Progressive Values, a shadowy group with ties to Gephardt's campaign, which ran a TV ad featuring a picture of Osama bin Laden and an announcer saying, "There are those who wake up every morning determined to destroy Western civilization. Americans want a president who can face the dangers ahead. But Howard Dean just cannot compete with George Bush on foreign policy."

Someone once said that the difference between Bush Republicans and Democrats is that Bush Republicans know they're right. The scintilla of self-doubt that was once a laudable aspect of the Democratic tradition of open-mindedness had become as burdensome as Sisyphus's boulder.

Source: Fanatics and Fools, by Arianna Huffington, p.245 Apr 14, 2004

I'm not kidding about what I say-even over-enthusiastically

Q: Would you like to talk about what some people think was your overly enthusiastic speech to you supporters [after placing third in the Iowa caucuses], which many people think has hurt your candidacy?

DEAN: We did have a little fun in Iowa. I thought I owed it to the 3,500 kids that came out and worked for us.

You know, I'm not a perfect person. I think a lot of people have had a lot of fun at my expense over the Iowa hooting and hollering, and that's justified. But one thing I can tell you is that I'm not kidding about what I say. The things that I do are things I believe in. I think it's important that the president of the US be willing to stand up for what's right and not stand up for what's popular. I did it with No Child Left Behind. That was a mistake a year ago, not just now that everybody's suffering with it. I did it in Iraq. And I did it when I stood up for civil unions for gay and lesbian people my home state when it wasn't popular. And I'm willing to do it again as president.

Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Debate at St. Anselm College Jan 22, 2004

Not just trying to change president, but to steer America

Q: Some say that you lead with your heart, not with your head.

DEAN: I offer the American people somebody who believes in social justice tempered by being a fiscal conservative. The greatest injustice you can do is to have an unbalanced budget- which means more cuts in social programs. I say what I believe. It's time that somebody in this party stood up for what we believe in and wasn't so careful about what they were saying.

Q: Is that a temperament people want in a president?

DEAN: We absolutely have to stand up for bedrock Democratic principles. We're not going to beat George Bush by trying to be like him. What we're really trying to do here is not just change presidents. What we're really trying to do here is steer the country back to a time when we were all in it together. This president has divided us. When we say we want our country back, we want our country back for all of us. And you have to get out there and lead with your heart and lay it all out for the American people

Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Debate at St. Anselm College Jan 22, 2004

Carol Moseley Braun withdraws from race and endorses Dean

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) folded her cash-strapped, long-shot presidential campaign today and threw her support to Howard Dean during a joint appearance in Iowa, days before the state's crucial caucus showdown.

The Dean campaign flew Braun to Iowa for an endorsement that a source said Dean had been working on for some time.

Braun's decision ends her nearly yearlong quest, having achieved to a degree her goal of rehabilitating her image and reviving her career

It's not known yet what role Braun will play in the Dean campaign, or if the former Vermont governor will ask his supporters to help pay her campaign debt.

When asked why she is endorsing Dean, Braun, who had just arrived in Chicago, said it was "his ability to inspire people." She added, "People are energized and inspired by Howard Dean in a way that shows we don't have to put up with the fear-mongering the Bush campaign has perfected," she said.

Source: [X-ref Braun] Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun-Times Jan 15, 2004

A committed follower of Jesus Christ

Dean, who had said little about the role of religion in politics, yesterday said he is a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Dean said he will start mentioning God and Christ as the campaign moves into the South.

Dean, who is a member of the Congregationalist Church, said he does not attend church often, but prays daily. His wife is Jewish, and their two children adopted the Jewish faith. Jesus is an important influence in his life, he said, and has served as a "model" for him. "Christ was someone who sought out people who were disenfranchised, people who were left behind," he said. "He fought against self-righteousness of people who had everything. He was a person who set an extraordinary example that has lasted 2,000 years."

Dean said [as a child], "we didn't have Bible readings. There are traditions where people do that. We didn't. People in the Northeast don't talk about their religion. It's a very personal, private matter, and that's the tradition I was brought up in."

Source: Combined dispatches in Washington Times Dec 25, 2003

New social contract: Fairer government,not bigger government

Dean called on Democrats to turn from a centrist, "damage control" domestic agenda and focus on the traditional core party values of helping those in need.

Dean not only slapped his Democratic opponents as Washington insiders who've merely tried to appease Republicans, but he also distanced himself from Bill Clinton and the centrist Democratic Leadership Council that spawned him. "While Bill Clinton has said that the era of big government is over," Dean said, "I believe we must enter a new era for the Democratic Party-not one where we join Republicans and aim simply to limit the damage they inflict on working families."

Dean said he is not promoting bigger government, but "fairer government." Dean called for "a new vision for the Democratic Party" and "a new social contract" for the nation's families. He said the Democratic Party should establish "four new rights" in its social contract-affordable health care, affordable child care, affordable college tuition and guaranteed Social Security.

Source: John DiStaso, Manchester (NH) Union Leader Dec 19, 2003

Lying to the American public is not OK

Q: Under what circumstances is it OK for a president or someone speaking on his or her behalf to lie to the American public?

A: I can't think of any circumstances, with the possible exception of some sort of national-security matter - [such as] if some piece of information were put out that would endanger American lives or some circumstance under which peoples' lives would be in danger or something of that sort.

Source: Democratic 2004 Primary Presidential Debate in Durham NH Dec 9, 2003

Sealed governorship records for 10 years

A large chunk of Dean's records as governor are locked in a remote state warehouse-the result of an aggressive legal strategy designed in part to protect Dean from political attacks. Dean-who has blasted the Bush administration for excessive secrecy- candidly acknowledged that politics was a major reason for locking up his own files when he left office. He told Vermont Public Radio he was putting a 10-year seal on many of his official papers because of "future political considerations. We didn't want anything embarrassing appearing in the papers at a critical time."

"Most of the records are open," said a Dean staffer. Still, Dean's efforts to keep official papers secret appear unusually extensive. Last year, Dean's chief counsel sent a directive to all state agencies ordering them to cull their files and remove all correspondence that bore Dean's name-and ship them to the governor's office to be reviewed for "privilege" claims. This removed a "significant number of records" from state files.

Source: Michael Isikoff, Newsweek Dec 8, 2003

Attracts people who've felt excluded from the process

[At a campaign event in Seattle with 1,200 people attending], I stopped in the middle of my speech and said, "Would you raise your hand if you haven't been involved in politics in the last 10 or 15 years?" Half the people raised their hands. These were exactly the type of Americans who have felt excluded from the process, who believed for so long that they had no power to change the course of this country.

Clearly, Americans are disaffected with politics and with politicians. They do not believe that politicians are responsive to them; they don't think government is on their side; they are not particularly interested in the political process. This disaffection must be responsible for a significant proportion of the public's lack of engagement. We need people to get involved again.

Part of the answer is to speak directly to the people. I can't stand Washington-speak, the kind of double-talk and evasiveness that is habitual inside the Beltway. I think that most Americans share my aversion.

Source: Winning Back America, by Howard Dean, p.118-21 Dec 3, 2003

Building a grassroots movement, like a liberal Goldwater

Will Democrats decide that this year is about issues and electability, or will they choose instead to build a movement? Dean's signature exclamation to his supporters is: "You have the power!" It is a revivalist's promise.

Battered Democrats are hungry to hear that. So were the conservatives, then isolated from power, who flocked to Barry Goldwater in 1964. It is the Goldwater campaign, not George McGovern's 1972 antiwar crusade, that Dean's movement most resembles. Goldwater was about preaching the full conservative gospel and giving his followers a vehicle through which they could organize and put it into practice. Goldwater had his share of verbal gaffes. His supporters found them endearing. "Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue," Goldwater said. You could imagine a Dean supporter saying that. Goldwater and his legions built a mighty movement that changed the country and affects politics to this day.

Source: E.J. Dionne, Washington Post opinion column Nov 14, 2003

Propelled to public service by death of his brother?

Charlie Dean was killed while traveling in Southeast Asia in1974. Some speculate that his brother's death changed the direction of Howard Dean's life, propelling him into a political world he might not otherwise have entered. But most of Howard's old friends say Dean was already headed in the direction of public service of some kind, shaped by the tumult of the times, as well as by his own need to do something rather than just talk about the issues.

Charlie's death, friends say, had another effect: that of halting Dean's Yale-influenced drift into liberal politics. "It had a huge impact on Howard and moved him thee or four notches to the right," asserts a college friend. He thinks it accounts Dean's "pragmatic" and "middle-of-the-road" approach to social and political issues.

Much of this is speculative, and even Dean says he hasn't entirely worked it through. Nevertheless, there's no denying the seriousness of purpose that emerged in him during those difficult post-Yale years.

Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 39&53 Oct 1, 2003

This campaign is about patriotism-flag belongs to everyone

The issues in this campaign are jobs and who can deliver them, which I have. The issues in the campaign are health insurance, which I have delivered. And those things are important.

But the biggest issue in this campaign is the question of patriotism and democracy. I am tired of having [conservatives] lay a claim to patriotism and lay a claim to the American flag. That flag belongs to every single one of us. And I am tired of having our democracy hijacked by the right wing of this country.

Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

Appeals $76 late fee on property tax; known as a tightwad

Howard Dean is battling the city of Burlington VT, over a $76.01 fee for late payment of his property taxes, a fee he says was unfairly assessed. Burlington city officials are expected to take up the matter at a hearing. Dean does not plan to attend.

Earlier this month, a subcommittee ruled against Dean, ordering him to pay the penalty. Dean says he paid his quarterly tax assessment on time, and at the same time, prepaid three other quarterly assessments in a lump sum, because, he wrote in a letter, "my campaign keeps me so busy."

The payment was due Aug. 12, but the city says it received Dean's check for $6,080.20 on Aug. 21. Dean's Burlington home is assessed at $221,300.

Dean's campaign released a statement yesterday saying, "The Governor is exercising his right, as a citizen of Burlington, to appeal the $76.01 in interest and penalties and will abide by the decision of the Board. This will come as no surprise to Vermonters, who are well aware that Howard Dean is a tightwad."

Source: Sarah Schweitzer, Boston Globe, p. A3 Sep 20, 2003

Favorite song: Wycliffe Jean, "Jaspora."

Source: Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate Sep 9, 2003

Restore US dignity in eyes of people around the world

Over a decade ago, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down without America firing a shot. And that was for two reasons. The first was that we had a strong military, and that's important. But the second is that on the other side of the Iron Curtain most people wanted to be like America and they wanted to be like Americans. And in the two and a half years into this presidency, you would be hard-pressed to find a majority in any country in the world where people wanted to be like Americans again. What I want to do more than anything as president of the United States is to restore the honor and dignity and respect that this country is owed around the world.
Source: Congressional Black Caucus Institute debate Sep 9, 2003

You have the power!

Howard Dean sought to redefine and broaden his liberal, anti-war campaign in formally announcing his candidacy, telling disenchanted American voters, "You have the power!" to oust President Bush and rid Washington of special interests.

Dean pledged to fight conservative Republicans, docile Democrats and the rest of the Washington establishment-all of whom he holds responsible for turning Americans away from the political system. "You have the power to take our country back!" he shouted "You have the power!"

Dean actually began his campaign months ago. But he staged a formal announcement to draw attention and money to his long-shot bid. Besides a crowd of 2,500 in Burlington, 15,000 Dean supporters had signed up to attend campaign events in more than 300 cities.

In a call to disenchanted voters of all political stripes, Dean said, "You have the power to rid Washington of all the politics of money. You have the power to take back the Democratic Party. You have the power!"

Source: Associated Press in Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier Jun 24, 2003

Brings in people who have not been involved for decades

In Seattle about 1,200 people came out to hear what I had to say. In the middle of the speech I stopped and said, "if you have not been involved in politics in the last 10 or 15 years, please raise your hand." Six hundred people raised their hand. I think the Democratic Party has made a fundamental mistake in the last few years, thinking that we're going to win by being like the Republicans. What we need to do-and the way we're going to win-is not to plant our flag in the middle of the shrinking rightward-moving electorate. We need to understand that a lot of people have given up in the last 10 years. They don't think it makes any difference which party gets elected. But we're going to give them a reason to vote this time and we're going to put our flag in the middle of where America ought to be and bring people to us! Something that's going to be the slogan for this party during this election, is that, "we're going to be from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party!"
Source: Speech at the Take Back America Conference, Washington, DC Jun 5, 2003

Voters prefer strong and wrong to weak and right

This President's not popular because people like his policies, he's popular because people think he's a strong leader. And you know what, Bill Clinton said that "America will always vote for someone who's strong and wrong before they'll vote for someone who's weak and right". We appear to be weak and right, we appear to be willing to say whatever it takes to get elected. As long as we're willing to say whatever it takes to get elected, we're going to be in the minority party for a long time. You know what, those folks at the Democratic Leadership Council were wrong. The way to get elected in this country is not to be like the Republicans, it's to stand up against them and fight! You have the power to take back this party, you have the power to take back this country, we have the power to take back the White House in 2004 and if you make me the nominee of the Democratic Party I will make you proud to vote Democratic again. Thank you very much.
Source: Speech at the Take Back America Conference, Washington, DC Jun 5, 2003

Turned to medicine and politics after family tragedy

In 1974, Dean's 24-year-old brother Charlie went traveling down the Mekong River in Laos when he and a friend were captured and summarily executed as spies by some local guerrillas. The family went into shock. Not long after his brother's death, Howard Dean decided to become a doctor.

More than a few people believe that, marked by the family tragedy, Howard Dean looked for a career that was both more serious and more altruistic. He resists that easy explanation. However, when he talks about his brother, there is little of the brashness that otherwise so animates his conversation. His voice goes so low and so dark that you wonder, when he expresses his dislike for ideologues, whether he's simply referring to the extremes of the American political parties or, more deeply, to those ideologues who walk the jungle with their rifles at the ready.

In 1978, Dean graduated from medical school. He married and had two children. And Howard Dean began to get involved in politics.

Source: Charles P. Pierce, Boston Globe Nov 24, 2002


Howard Dean on Democratic Party

Dean surge spawned Clark as Anybody-But-Dean

The Dean surge discombobulated the political world. The Anybody-But-The-Frontrunner movement that traditionally arises after the 1st round of primaries blossomed in September. In this case it was Anybody But Dean, & the Anybody was Clark, who challenged Dean's frontrunner position in some polls. Clark's enlistment was just another sign of how deeply Dean has discomfited the pros. The speed with which so many Democratic pros flocked to Clark demonstrated how surprised they were by Dean's success.
Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 7-8 Oct 1, 2003

I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party

The audience clapped when Dean said, "Democrats are almost as angry at the Democratic Party in Washington as they are at George Bush." And they screamed their approval when he said, "The way to beat George Bush is not to be a little bit like him."

Democratic insiders laughed back in May 2002 when Dean said he would run for President. By Sep. 2003, he was the front-runner, and those same Democrats were wondering whether anything or anybody could stop him.

How did this happen? Half the answer was a Democrat attacking the Republican president-doing the things that prudent political practitioners warned Democrats not to do. People's reaction transcended the political-like, "Oh! I thought I was the only one who felt that way."

Dean's breakthrough came at a DNC event in 2003. All the other candidates spoke calmly. Not Dean, who blurted out, "I want to know why so many Democrats aren't standing up against Bush's unilateral war. I'm Howard Dean, and I represent the Democratic wing of the Democratic

Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 6-9 Oct 1, 2003

Dean's forthrightness differs from Dem party calculatedness

Americans have always been drawn to a candidate who speaks his mind, even if they disagreed with what he is saying. Otherwise Reagan wouldn't have been elected. People like a candidate who is (or at least seems to be) authentically himself, not a creatur of political professionals who keep their bosses quiet until the results of the latest poll have been analyzed. That's how Dean came across to Democrats who were waiting for somebody-anybody-to take on Bush.

And to take on the Democrats who wouldn't. One reason Democrats did so poorly in the 2002 mid-term elections was that their leaders were afraid to attack Bush. They carefully calibrated their positions, hoping they could eke out just enough votes from their core constituencies to keep control of the Senate and House. They didn't. They just frustrated rank-and-file Democrats.

Not only was Dean forthright, he was forthright in plain English. Dean really is something of a policy wonk. But he knows better than to talk that way on the stump.

Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 11-12 Oct 1, 2003

Democrats are as angry at Dems as at GOP

I talk to Democrats all over this country, and I find the Democrats are almost as angry at the Democratic Party as they are at the Republican Party. We have got to understand that the only way that we can beat this president is to take him on directly.

Source: AFSCME union debate in Iowa May 17, 2003

I want to change the Democratic Party, and change America

I got into this race because this is the most conservative president of my lifetime and because most of the people who are running either voted for or supported substantial tax cuts, voted for the No Child Left Behind bill, which is a huge unfunded mandate on school boards, arguing about the Patient's Bill of Rights instead of putting forward plans for universal health insurance.

I want to change the Democratic Party. I want to change this country, and I want to become the next president so we can have a balanced budget so we can have a decent health care plan in this country, and so we can have a secure nation, not by engaging in preventive war, but by regaining our strength, building a strong military, and being the United States that we used to be where our military values are consistent with our American values.

Source: Democratic Debate in Columbia SC May 3, 2003


Howard Dean on Ideology

Constitution says power belongs to the people-not to Bush

Q: You give the perception that you're more angry with Bush than you are with the enemies of America.

DEAN: The interesting thing about my campaign is it's really based on hope, not anger. People have a right to be angry with Bush. He is a president who appears sometimes to care more about the special interests that his political policies help rather than ordinary Americans. But our campaign's really based on hope. Our campaign empowers ordinary people, many of whom have not been in politics for years, to get involved. The Constitution of this country says that power belongs to the American people, and that is really what we intend to prove next November, as we bring enormous numbers of new Americans back into this process. 1/4 of all the people who gave us money between June and September were under 30 years old. The only way we can beat George Bush is to have a campaign based on addition, not subtraction. We want to add new people to the Democratic Party so that we can beat George Bush.

Source: Democratic 2004 Presidential Primary Debate in Iowa Jan 4, 2004

We represent change; Bush represents more of the same

Q: How do you address the common criticism: "I like Dean's policies, but I don't think he can beat Bush."

I think I may be the only Democrat that can beat President Bush. We have a huge and growing army of supporters and we have raised more money than any other Democratic candidate-mostly in small donations averaging $75 apiece. People all over this country are demoralized by the President's arrogant foreign policy. What we represent is change. What the President represents is more of the same.

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Neo-conservative movement harms our standing in the world

Q: Would you be willing to expose the Project for a New American Century, that neo-conservative think tank (Cheney, Rumsfeld, and others) who called for the military takeover of Iraq before 9-11 and before Bush was even in office for the purpose of furthering US economic interests in the Middle East?

A: The neo-conservative movement which has captured this administration has done enormous harm in American and to our standing in the world. This is one reason we need a different president.

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Youth candidate because he listens to young voters

Q: How do you feel being labeled the "youth's candidate?"

A: One quarter of all our donations come from people who are under 30 and I think it is because we respect voters opinions, including young voters, and we often act on them. Younger voters have a lot more to lose from the Bush administration than my generation does. Because of the Bush tax cuts, young people will be saddled with the largest debt in American history. We need a change in this country and young voters are driving that change.

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Positive agendas win elections despite negative attacks

Q: It is clear to me that Kerry, Edwards, Gephardt, and Lieberman, because their campaigns are waning in comparison to yours, are doing everything they can to stop you. Don't you think you need to be more aggressive in throwing attacks from your rivals right back in their faces by calling them out on their distortions of your statements, and labeling them for what they are?

A: Politics is a tough business but I believe the American voters mostly want to hear the positive ideas instead of negative attacks that the other Democrats are throwing at us. We go through this every four years, and in the end the candidate with the most positive agenda usually wins. We will continue to try and stay above the fray with positive and inclusive ideas for America because I think it is the best way to win.

Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A Nov 6, 2003

Dean fueled by large dissident group of Bush haters

We can learn something from the politics of the nomination about the mood of the party, and about the mood of the nation when an insurgent candidate does well. What we learned is that there is fierce opposition to George Bush. The polls did not lie; Bush was popular. But there was a hefty minority-perhaps 40% of the voters-who had not embraced him. And some 38% consistently say they were not convinced Bush had won the 2000 election fair and square.

Who were these dissidents? Democrats, for the most part, precisely the folks who vote in Democratic primaries and attend caucuses-the very people who will choose the Democratic nominee. And many of them did not simply "not love" Bush. They disliked him with an intensity that (usually) stopped just short of hate.

Though this opposition was not small, it was a silenced minority. Thanks to that near-consensus among the political cognoscenti that Bush was Superman, dissenters were cowed. Expressing anti-Bush sentiments became almost an underground ritual

Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 9-10 Oct 1, 2003

Liberal in attitude, not in policy positions

A liberal may be defined by a set of public policy positions: someone who believes in racial and sexual equality; wants tougher environmental regulations; favors a progressive income tax; etc. That mostly describes Howard Dean.

But the word "liberal" has come to mean less a set of policy positions that a set of attitudes, even a set of consumer preferences. A "liberal" these days means someone who listens to National Public Radio and drives a Volvo-someone who is different from the average American who goes to church and watches Monday Night Football.

The conventional wisdom holds that Dean and Kerry are the liberals, while Clark, Graham, Edwards, and Gephardt are the moderates. On the record of their public policy positions, Gephardt is to Dean's left, but Gephardt is from Missouri and a church-going Catholic.

Dean is not very far to the left on the ideological spectrum. Within the Democratic Party, Dean is slightly right of center. For a liberal, he's pretty conservative.

Source: Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would be President, p. 14-18 Oct 1, 2003

Rule by hope instead of rule by fear

This president has ruled us by making us afraid of each other and making us afraid of others. I want an America where we're going to rule by hope again, where we're going to have a tough country, but a country where we acknowledge our responsibility for each other.
Source: AFSCME union debate in Iowa May 17, 2003

Give people a reason to vote, & we'll take our country back

We can't win this election if we worry so much about electability that the American people can't tell the difference between us and the Republicans. The great unspoken political lie, which comes from stages like this, is `Elect me, and I'll solve all your problems.' The great unspoken truth is that the future of this country rests in your hands, not mine.

You have the power to rise up and take this country back. You have the power to give the party the backbone to challenge this president and all the harm he's done to our country. You have the power to create jobs, to balance the budget and to bring us our dream, which Harry Truman put in our platform in 1948, health insurance for every American.

The reason people don't vote in this country is because we don't give them a reason to vote. This campaign is about giving all of you a reason to vote. It's time to take our party back now and it's time to take our country back.

Source: Democratic Debate in Columbia SC May 3, 2003

Distrusts political extremism & ideologues

In both elections and in everything he has done as governor, you can see Dean's distrust - indeed, his active, visceral dislike - of political extremes. His is a blunt personality that flourishes paradoxically in the gray areas. "I think the country's being run now by ideologues of the right," he says. "They can't tolerate ambiguity, and without ambiguity the world can't survive."
Source: Charles P. Pierce, Boston Globe Nov 24, 2002

Let's say what we think and get away from being poll-driven

The battle for the Democratic nomination will begin in earnest at the turn of the year. Dean is the first of the Democrats to declare his candidacy, with Kerry likely to be next to file. Most of the rest will decide by the end of the year.

The most active of the field, publicly at least, is Dean. Dean has energetically worked Iowa and New Hampshire and made progress among liberal activists. His appeal, he believes, is an unvarnished message aimed largely at the left (although he says that his support for balancing the budget and opposition to new gun laws make him impossible to pigeonhole). "It will take somebody who stands up and says what they think and not what they think voters want to hear," he said. "We've got to get away from this stuff that is poll-driven."

Source: Dan Balz, Washington Post, Page A04 Nov 17, 2002

Religious affiliation: Protestant.

Dean : religious affiliation:

The Adherents.com website is an independent project and is not supported by or affiliated with any organization (academic, religious, or otherwise).

What’s an adherent?

The most common definition used in broad compilations of statistical data is somebody who claims to belong to or worship in a religion. This is the self-identification method of determining who is an adherent of what religion, and it is the method used in most national surveys and polls.

Such factors as religious service attendance, belief, practice, familiarity with doctrine, belief in certain creeds, etc., may be important to sociologists, religious leaders, and others. But these are measures of religiosity and are usually not used academically to define a person’s membership in a particular religion. It is important to recognize there are various levels of adherence, or membership within religious traditions or religious bodies. There’s no single definition, and sources of adherent statistics do not always make it clear what definition they are using.

Source: Adherents.com web site 00-ADH10 on Nov 7, 2000

Member of Democratic Governors Association.

Dean is a member of the Democratic Governors Association:

Source: DGA website, www.DemocraticGovernors.org/ 01-DGA1 on Aug 15, 2001

Member of New England Governors Conference.

Dean is a member of the New England Governors' Conference:

The New England Governors’ Conference, an informal alliance since colonial days, was formally established in 1937 by the Governors of the six state region to promote New England’s economic development. In 1981, the Conference incorporated as a non-partisan, non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 corporation. The region’s six governors serve as its Board of Directors. Annually, the governors select a Chairman to oversee the activities of the organization.

The NEGC’s framework permits the Governors to work together, to coordinate and implement policies and programs which are designed to respond to regional issues. The NEGC coordinates regional policy programs in the areas of economic development, transportation, environment, energy, and health, among others. Through these efforts, the Conference seeks to coordinate, effectively and cost-efficiently, regional policies that reflect and benefit the states. The NEGC manages committees of state officials in such areas as energy, the environment, and economic development.

The NEGC also serves as the New England Secretariat for the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP). The NEG/ECP, which first met in 1973, is a unique, inter-regional, bi-national organization. [Resolutions from the NEG/ECP appear on each Governor’s web page under the appropriate topic areas. NEG/ECP resolutions do not necessarily reflect the full policy stance of individual governors, but they do represent the consensus viewpoint.]

Source: New England Governors Conference web site 01-NEGC0 on Aug 28, 2001

Member, National Governors Association/Economic Development.

Dean is a member of the National Governors Association:

The National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation’s governors and one of Washington’s most respected public policy organizations. NGA provides governors with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing policy reports on innovative state programs and hosting networking seminars for state government executive branch officials. The NGA Center for Best Practices focuses on state innovations and best practices on issues that range from education and health to technology, welfare reform, and the environment. NGA also provides management and technical assistance to both new and incumbent governors.

Since their initial meeting in 1908 to discuss interstate water problems, governors have worked through the National Governors Association to deal with issues of public policy and governance relating to the states. The association’s ongoing mission is to support the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan forum to help shape and implement national policy and to solve state problems.

Fortune Magazine recently named NGA as one of Washington’s most powerful lobbying organizations due, in large part, to NGA’s ability to lead the debate on issues that impact states. From welfare reform to education, from the historic tobacco settlement to wireless communications tax policies, NGA has influenced major public policy issues while maintaining the strength of our Federalist system of government.

There are three standing committees—on Economic Development and Commerce, Human Resources, and Natural Resources—that provide a venue for governors to examine and develop policy positions on key state and national issues.

[Note: NGA positions represent a majority view of the nation’s governors, but do not necessarily reflect a governor’s individual viewpoint. Governors vote on NGA policy positions but the votes are not made public.]

Source: National Governors Association web site www.NGA.org 01-NGA0 on Jan 1, 2001

Other candidates on Principles & Values: Howard Dean on other issues:
George W. Bush
Dick Cheney
John Edwards
John Kerry

Third Party Candidates:
Michael Baradnik
Peter Camejo
David Cobb
Ralph Nader
Michael Peroutka

Democratic Primaries:
Carol Moseley Braun
Wesley Clark
Howard Dean
Dick Gephardt
Bob Graham
Dennis Kucinich
Joe Lieberman
Al Sharpton
Abortion
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Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty
Adv: Avi Green for State Rep Middlesex 26, Somerville & Cambridge Massachusetts