Someone to watch
Mar. 15th, 2003 08:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teleidoplexWell, here's the only potential bright spot of news I found today, courtesy of USAToday. This is the guy who, among other things, allowed same-sex marriages to be legalized in Vermont.
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bolstered by waves of anti-war sentiment, former Vermont governor Howard Dean is emerging as a contender in the crowded contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. That means more headlines, more donors and more scrutiny.
Dean is a family doctor, but he often sounds more like the image of a surgeon: blunt, aggressive, with a minimal bedside manner. His biting critiques of President Bush's war plans and what he calls Democrats' timidity strike some as angry, but they are just what some frustrated liberals long to hear.
At a state party dinner here last month, Dean blasted Bush on the economy, affirmative action and Iraq. He lashed his own party for supporting Bush too often and straying from its roots. And, borrowing from the late senator Paul Wellstone, he delivered what has become his signature line: "I'm from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party."
The Dean file
Age: 54; born Nov. 17, 1948.
Hometown: New York City.
Current home: Burlington, Vt.
Family: Wife, Judith Steinberg Dean, and two children.
Education: Yale University, bachelor of arts in political science, 1971; Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, medical degree, 1978.
Profession: Internist.
Political career: Vermont state House of Representatives, 1982-86; lieutenant governor, 1986-91; governor, 1991-2002.
On Republicans: "You don't elect Republicans if you want to support things like health care and environmental standards. Everybody understands that they don't do that."
On fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls: "This country needs change. I don't think it's going to be changed by folks inside the Beltway. That's a prescription for losing."
On whether some of his remarks are unpresidential: "That's true. By the time the primary season rolls around, all that stuff will be out of my system."
He is in second place, after Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, in polls of New Hampshire, which holds the first primary. He is popular with dovish Democrats in Iowa, site of the first caucuses. And he's picking up a few prominent fundraisers, among them actor-director Rob Reiner.
Marc Landy, a political scientist at Boston College, says Dean was largely ignored while he defined himself as a folksy physician, humanitarian and tough-minded executive. "He's done a beautiful job of marketing himself and staying below the radar screen while he's gone out and found rich liberals to commit to his campaign," Landy said.
Dean, 54, slipped into the White House race last May and has run a shoestring campaign complete with sleepovers at supporters' homes. He styles himself as the John McCain of 2004, a straight-talking rebel.
The death of Gov. Richard Snelling in 1991 catapulted Dean, then lieutenant governor, into the top job. He occupies a liberal niche in the presidential field, but in Vermont, he's been a hybrid: a fiscal conservative and supporter of gun-owner rights who staunchly defends legal abortion and signed a civil union law giving gay couples the rights of married couples.
Governing magazine named Dean one of 11 "public officials of the year" in 2002. It called him a "frugal crusader" who balanced budgets and cut taxes while expanding health coverage and other social services.
Dean promotes fiscal discipline and universal health coverage, but the focal point of his candidacy is his demand for continued efforts to disarm Iraq without war. If a war is short and deemed successful, he could lose steam. Dean has a Plan B, which is actually Plan A: Showcase his domestic record and ideas. "I didn't get into this as the anti-war candidate," he says.
The former governor acknowledges that his rhetoric can be unpresidential. Some political analysts suggest he needs to be more careful. Until recently, he did not cite Wellstone as the source of his applause line. And at a nationally televised abortion rights benefit in January, Dean told a powerful story but left out a key fact.
A pregnant 12-year-old came to his medical office. "After I had talked to her for a while, I came to the conclusion that the likely father of her child was her own father," he told his riveted audience. "You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea."
What Dean didn't say was that he knew the father was not responsible; someone else was convicted. He defended his account in an interview with USA TODAY: "The point of the story was that I suspected it was her father and (notification) clearly would have been a very serious problem."
Joanne Ciulla, a leadership and ethics professor at the University of Richmond, says Dean gave "the appearance of lying because he didn't reveal all the information." Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University, says the incident reflects "inexperience more than anything else."
The Democratic field totals nine: Dean, Kerry, Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Reps. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
So far, Dean is the hands-down winner of the Mr. Uncongeniality contest. He ceaselessly attacks fellow candidates who voted for last fall's resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq, contending they support "unilateral war." The four who voted yes say they were convinced Bush would try to work through the United Nations. If there is a war, it won't be unilateral because some U.S. allies already are on board.
Dean is the first to routinely assail his rivals, but West says he won't be the last. "In a big field, everybody is going to be clawing and scratching for each percentage point," he says. "It's going to be like a dozen tarantulas in a jar."
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Bolstered by waves of anti-war sentiment, former Vermont governor Howard Dean is emerging as a contender in the crowded contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. That means more headlines, more donors and more scrutiny.
Dean is a family doctor, but he often sounds more like the image of a surgeon: blunt, aggressive, with a minimal bedside manner. His biting critiques of President Bush's war plans and what he calls Democrats' timidity strike some as angry, but they are just what some frustrated liberals long to hear.
At a state party dinner here last month, Dean blasted Bush on the economy, affirmative action and Iraq. He lashed his own party for supporting Bush too often and straying from its roots. And, borrowing from the late senator Paul Wellstone, he delivered what has become his signature line: "I'm from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party."
The Dean file
Age: 54; born Nov. 17, 1948.
Hometown: New York City.
Current home: Burlington, Vt.
Family: Wife, Judith Steinberg Dean, and two children.
Education: Yale University, bachelor of arts in political science, 1971; Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, medical degree, 1978.
Profession: Internist.
Political career: Vermont state House of Representatives, 1982-86; lieutenant governor, 1986-91; governor, 1991-2002.
On Republicans: "You don't elect Republicans if you want to support things like health care and environmental standards. Everybody understands that they don't do that."
On fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls: "This country needs change. I don't think it's going to be changed by folks inside the Beltway. That's a prescription for losing."
On whether some of his remarks are unpresidential: "That's true. By the time the primary season rolls around, all that stuff will be out of my system."
He is in second place, after Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, in polls of New Hampshire, which holds the first primary. He is popular with dovish Democrats in Iowa, site of the first caucuses. And he's picking up a few prominent fundraisers, among them actor-director Rob Reiner.
Marc Landy, a political scientist at Boston College, says Dean was largely ignored while he defined himself as a folksy physician, humanitarian and tough-minded executive. "He's done a beautiful job of marketing himself and staying below the radar screen while he's gone out and found rich liberals to commit to his campaign," Landy said.
Dean, 54, slipped into the White House race last May and has run a shoestring campaign complete with sleepovers at supporters' homes. He styles himself as the John McCain of 2004, a straight-talking rebel.
The death of Gov. Richard Snelling in 1991 catapulted Dean, then lieutenant governor, into the top job. He occupies a liberal niche in the presidential field, but in Vermont, he's been a hybrid: a fiscal conservative and supporter of gun-owner rights who staunchly defends legal abortion and signed a civil union law giving gay couples the rights of married couples.
Governing magazine named Dean one of 11 "public officials of the year" in 2002. It called him a "frugal crusader" who balanced budgets and cut taxes while expanding health coverage and other social services.
Dean promotes fiscal discipline and universal health coverage, but the focal point of his candidacy is his demand for continued efforts to disarm Iraq without war. If a war is short and deemed successful, he could lose steam. Dean has a Plan B, which is actually Plan A: Showcase his domestic record and ideas. "I didn't get into this as the anti-war candidate," he says.
The former governor acknowledges that his rhetoric can be unpresidential. Some political analysts suggest he needs to be more careful. Until recently, he did not cite Wellstone as the source of his applause line. And at a nationally televised abortion rights benefit in January, Dean told a powerful story but left out a key fact.
A pregnant 12-year-old came to his medical office. "After I had talked to her for a while, I came to the conclusion that the likely father of her child was her own father," he told his riveted audience. "You explain that to the American people who think that parental notification is a good idea."
What Dean didn't say was that he knew the father was not responsible; someone else was convicted. He defended his account in an interview with USA TODAY: "The point of the story was that I suspected it was her father and (notification) clearly would have been a very serious problem."
Joanne Ciulla, a leadership and ethics professor at the University of Richmond, says Dean gave "the appearance of lying because he didn't reveal all the information." Darrell West, a political science professor at Brown University, says the incident reflects "inexperience more than anything else."
The Democratic field totals nine: Dean, Kerry, Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina, Bob Graham of Florida and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Reps. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, former senator Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois and civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
So far, Dean is the hands-down winner of the Mr. Uncongeniality contest. He ceaselessly attacks fellow candidates who voted for last fall's resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq, contending they support "unilateral war." The four who voted yes say they were convinced Bush would try to work through the United Nations. If there is a war, it won't be unilateral because some U.S. allies already are on board.
Dean is the first to routinely assail his rivals, but West says he won't be the last. "In a big field, everybody is going to be clawing and scratching for each percentage point," he says. "It's going to be like a dozen tarantulas in a jar."
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-16 05:18 am (UTC)mE
Alternative to Deam
Date: 2003-04-07 12:52 pm (UTC)This past weekend I went to a "town meeting" of the anti-war activists in Los Angeles. Ed Asner introduced Congresswoman Watson and Congressman Dennis Kucinich (www.kucinich.us) who is a pro-peace Congressman. He is one of the few that voted AGAINST spending an additional $75billion on the war.
He has proposed the creation of a Department of Peace.
He is encouraging all of us to focus on developing a peace movement and backing candidates who support change through peaceful means.
He is in support of the protestors using their voices in the ways they feel are necessary to wake up the leadership and American people in order to get them to question what is happening and redirect efforts into peaceful solutions.
I welcome you to check out his website. www.kucinich.us