Howard Dean
Howard Dean (born
November 17,
1948) is the former
Governor of Vermont and a member of the
Democratic Party. He is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the
2004 U.S. presidential election.
Education and Medical Career
Political career
- Volunteer in Jimmy Carter's reelection campaign
- 1982-1986 Served in Vermont House of Representatives
- Elected assistant minority leader in 1985
- 1986 Elected lieutenant governor
- August 14, 1991 - Assumed governorship (Governor Richard A. Snelling died of heart attack)
- 1992 - first election as governor, with 74 percent vote
- 1994 reelected (with 69 percent vote)
- 1996 reelected (with 71 percent vote)
- 1998 reelected (with 55.6 percent vote)
- 2000 reelected (with 50.4 percent vote, Republican 2nd place finisher got 37.9%, leftist Progressive Party 3rd place finisher got 9.5%)
- May 31, 2002 - Announced intent to run in 2004 presidential election
- June 23, 2003 - Formally announced intention to run for President in 2004.
Dean began his campaign by emphasizing health care and fiscal responsibility. However, his opposition to the U.S. plan to invade Iraq (and his forceful criticism of Democrats in Congress who voted to authorize the use of force) quickly eclipsed other issues, resonating with disillusioned Democrats and using momentum from the burgeoning anti-war movement to build an impressive online campaign. He contrasted his positions with those of other Democratic candidates in an early debate by claiming that he was from "the democratic wing of the Democratic Party" (implying that the other candidates' positions were barely different from those of their Republican opposition). The phrase was first used by the late Senator Paul Wellstone.
Much discussion and criticism has focused on Dean's perceived electability. Critics (including fellow candidate Joseph Lieberman and the centrist Democratic Leadership Council) have claimed that his positions are too liberal and his rhetoric too strident to appeal to moderate voters in the general election. Dean and his supporters have responded by arguing that the Democrats will never win with "Bush light," and that the party needs a candidate who will stand up to George W. Bush and energize the Democratic base. (Some pundits have cited national polls showing a unusually polarized electorate going into 2004, suggesting that voter turnout will be particularly important.)
The media have begun to more closely scrutinize his record as governor of Vermont, which was arguably more moderate than his new national profile: "Dean's emerging national reputation as a liberal tribune [...] obscures the centrist course he steered during his tenure as governor of Vermont" (Washington Post, Aug. 3 2003). As he told Salon.com: "I don't mind being characterized as 'liberal'—I just don't happen to think it's true."
Some, most notably fellow candidate Dennis Kucinich have begun to attack Dean from the left, challenging his credentials as an anti-war candidate due to his refusal to support the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
Views
- Justice and Civil Rights - Dean says: "I will support affirmative action, from which we have all benefited, because it has strengthened our institutions and provided opportunity. I will work to ensure that racial profiling ends and I will direct my Attorney General to use regulatory authority under existing anti-discrimination laws the 1964 Civil Rights Act to define racial profiling as discrimination, and to withhold federal funds from state and local law enforcement that violate those regulations. I will appoint an Attorney General who sees our constitution not just as a document to be manipulated, ignored, and violated, but who recognizes and respects it as the fabric that binds the American community together. I will oppose expansion of the Patriot Act, efforts to remove sunset clauses included in the act, and I will seek to repeal the portions of the Patriot Act that are unconstitutional. I will put the weight of my office behind the Innocence Protection Act, proposed by Senator Patrick Leahy, which would expand access to DNA testing and strengthen the quality of lawyers for defendants facing the death penalty. I will protect the civil rights of immigrants detained by the Department of Homeland Security. I will work for federal legislation to restore the right to vote in any federal election for ex-felons who have paid their debt to society."
- Abortion - Says, "As a physician, I do not like the idea that Congress or the President think they should practice medicine. Abortion is a deeply personal decision which ought to be made between the patient, the family and physician. It's none of the government's business. " and "I will unflinchingly defend a woman's right to choose against those who would take away this right."
- Environment - Says, "My Administration will take ambitious steps to strengthen our clean air and water standards, promote renewable energy sources, conserve our wild and open spaces, strengthen our downtowns to reduce sprawl, and provide a safe and healthy environment for our children."
- National Security - Says, "Fifty-five years ago, President Harry Truman delivered what was known as the Four Point speech. In it, he challenged Democrats and Republicans alike to come together to build strong and effective international organizations, to support arrangements that would spur global economic recovery, to join with free people everywhere in the defense of human liberty, and to draw upon the genius of our people to help societies who needed help in the battle against hunger and illness, ignorance, and despair. Harry Truman believed that a world in which even the poorest and most desperate had grounds for hope would be a world in which our own children could grow up in security and peace not because evil would then be absent from the globe, but because the forces of right would be united and strong. Harry Truman had faith as I have faith, and as I believe the American people have faith, that if we are wise enough and determined enough in our opposition to hate and our promotion of tolerance, in our opposition to aggression and our fidelity to law, we will have allies not only among governments but among people everywhere. Such an alliance can never be beaten. The creation of such an alliance will be my goal if I am entrusted with the presidency of the United States. Because, this is what will keep America strong."
- Social Security - Opposes raising the retirement age or applying means tests to Social Security benefits. Has been criticized by other candidates for comments he made in 1995 suggesting that the retirement age ought to be raised to agae 70, and for more recently saying he would entertain the notion.
- 2003 Iraq War - Says, "We can't (pull out of Iraq). We cannot lose the peace in Iraq. This situation was created by Bush, who ignored the greater danger in Iran and North Korea and Al Qaida at home to do it. This was a mistake, this war. And the president's gotten into it, now we're going to have to get out of it. But if we leave Iraq to chaos, Al Qaida may move in, if we leave Iraq to a fundamentalist Shiite regime with Iranian influence, we will be in both circumstances worse off than we were when Saddam Hussein was president." and "I opposed President Bush’s war in Iraq from the beginning. While Saddam Hussein’s regime was clearly evil and needed to be disarmed, it did not present an immediate threat to U.S. security that would justify going to war, particularly going to war alone. From the beginning, I felt that winning the war would not be the hard part - winning the peace would be. This Administration failed to plan for the postwar period as it did for the battle, and today we are paying the price."
- Gun control - Supports federal legislation to close the so-called gun show loophole and to renew the assault weapons ban. Opposes the repeal of the Brady Bill. Would leave most additional gun control to the states. Received an "A" rating from NRA most of his career.
- Medical marijuana - Promises to force FDA evaluation within one year after taking office, and says he will abide by their recommendation.
- Equality for Gays - "I will work to expand equal rights to same-sex couples and ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, strengthen federal protections against anti-gay violence, give federal employees the right to name same-sex partners as beneficiaries, remove bias from our immigration laws, and end the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy." As governor, he signed the nation's first same-sex civil unions bill.
- Immigration - "I will work to ensure that people who work hard, pay taxes, and otherwise obey the rules can become full participants in our society, including becoming citizens. I will work to regularize the inevitable future migration of labor in a way that makes economic and humanitarian sense. Deaths in the desert do neither. I will propose reforms that ensure we can meet our economy’s need for workers at all skill levels, without pitting foreign workers against U.S. workers and while respecting workers' rights including the right to organize. I will work to forge stronger partnerships with countries from which immigrants migrate -- especially Mexico -- so that in the long run, fewer people will be driven by desperation to break laws and risk their lives for basic opportunities that every human being deserves. I will work to ensure that immigrants who are detained by the Department of Homeland Security are afforded their basic civil rights and that our concern for national security does not become another excuse for racial profiling. I will build on our country’s long history of welcoming immigrants in ways that reflect our need for security but do not sacrifice the basic ideals upon which this nation was founded."
- Middle East - Supports a negotiated peace based on acceptance of a two-state solution by majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians. Has indicated that his position is closer to that of the hawkish American Israel Public Affairs Committee than that of Americans for Peace Now. A minor controversy ensued when he made comments that the United States should not "take sides" in the conflict. In response to criticism, he affirmed his support for the "special relationship" (U.S. economic, military, and political support for Israel).
Dean is married to Judith Steinberg Dean, M.D. She uses her maiden name (Judith Steinberg) in their joint medical practice to avoid confusion with her husband. Elsewhere she goes by Judith Dean or Judy Dean. As a Jew, she has raised Dean's children as Jews also.
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