I will prove with research that not only has every Dean "gaffe" been vindicated by either fact or American public opinion, but on nearly every single issue, Dean's policy positions are unquestionably directly in the mainstream of American thought.
Read on...
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Just 4 years ago Howard Dean was a relatively unknown Governor in Vermont. The Democrats were often his biggest challenge in the Vermont State House. Ask anyone in Vermont and they will call Dean a conservative Democrat. Although the state leans left, there are many very Republican areas, and they have a second term Republican Governor. The NRA endorsed Dean in all 5 campaigns for Governor, and he balanced the budget 12 years in a row. He supported the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan. If he were ever to run for President, many would never have anticipated him being labeled the most liberal credible candidate.
With a single issue, the Iraq War, progressives catapulted Dr. Dean to the forefront of the Democrats running for President. He became the anti-war candidate, an insurgent. Almost all of his supporters disagreed with many of Dean's positions on capital punishment, guns, and other issues. His supporters were so enthralled by his candidacy not because they agreed with him on all the issues, but because he wanted to change the way politics is done, to rid America of special interests and to restore the role of people in their government.
In the past 3 years he has been prone to what Republicans call "gaffes." He once said that a gaffe is when you tell the truth and somebody in Washington thinks you shouldn't have.
For all of these supposed "gaffes" not one of them has been proven wrong. Every time, his opponents have argued whether he should have said it, and challenged his tact, even his patriotism. Not only that, but upon a REAL examination of Dean's opinions, they unarguably lie in the mainstream.
After the capture of Saddam Hussein, Dean argued that while his capture is a good thing and makes the world safer, it does NOT make the United States safer. This June 2005 article shows a majority of Americans now think that we are NOT safer for having removed Saddam and the war in Iraq. [ Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060700296.html ] These numbers have only risen since then.
During the campaign, Dean famously said "White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals ought to be voting with us and not Republicans because their kids don't have health insurance either, and their kids need better schools too." The facts back this up as well. First, numbers indicate almost all Southern states rank in the bottom half of education rankings and the same is true for overall health care quality. So surely Dean's point, which is that people in the South who aren't doing so well should vote for Democrats is an accurate observation. Thomas Frank made exactly the same point in his book "What's the Matter with Kansas," which was certainly mainstream, considering it was #1 on the NYT bestsellers list and got great reviews all around.
In July of 2004 a terror alert was issued mainly for financial institutions in New York City. Howard Dean on Late Edition on CNN made the claim that "I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism." The administration went crazy, the Democrats once again tried to distance themselves from his remarks; and yet just a couple days later the New York Times reported that the information used to issue the terror threat was in fact 3-4 years old, and there was no particular reason to issue it at that time. Except of course, Bush's lowest poll numbers and trouble over Iraq. [ NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/politics/03intel.html?ex=1249185600&en=ac12c10079b96fae&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland ]
To more recent comments as DNC Chair, in a string of these supposed "gaffes" Dean commented in a radio interview that the Republicans are "pretty much a white, Christian party." For days afterward the Christian Coalition went nuts, Republicans called it a slur, and for his part, Dean said "I myself am a white Christian," but Democrats as a party are much more inclusive of different kinds of people. It is a simple fact that most Bush voters were white and Christian, and of course so are most Americans. But 72 % of non-whites voted for Kerry, and a recent poll showed Bush's approval among blacks at literally 2 % (+/- 3), so Dean's point that the Democratic Party is more inclusive is based in fact. Many pollsters and analysts said Bush won 2000 and 2004 largely because of the "white, religious vote", but when Dean points out the same thing, it's a gaffe.
Another statement was that "he wondered who could expect voters to work all day and then stand in line for eight hours to vote." "Well, Republicans, I guess, can do that because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives." In full context he was saying that the people in Ohio who rigged things such that there would be only 1 voting booth in a ghetto but 10 booths in white suburbia, many of the people setting up the elections don't make an honest living. And of course it is NOT an honest living to spend your days figuring out how to skew election results by disenfranchising minorities. The quote about voters (especially in black neighborhoods) waiting 4 to 8 hours in line to vote was absolutely true and verifiable, and the point Dean made was taken badly out of context. Headlines in the following days read "Dean says Republicans don't make honest living" and "Dean: Republicans don't work hard," which are of course far from his point that those who made people wait in line for 4 to 8 hours have never made an honest living in their life.
Most recently Dean said in a radio interview that the idea that the U.S. could win the war in Iraq was unfortunately "just plain wrong." As of now, all polls reveal that a majority think that we should not have gone into Iraq in the first place, that the administration isn't giving the public the truth, AND a new poll finds 60 percent of Americans think the U.S. ought to cut our losses and withdrawal from Iraq. Republicans called his position defeatist and treasonous, saying he represented a fringe idea that any "grown-up" would not agree with. Dean in the same interviewed laid out the Democratic plan on Iraq, but the media didn't listen to that part, because they have a story line. Their storyline is: The Republicans are screwing up but the Democrats aren't doing anything about it and have no ideas. They don't look for news, only stories that fit their storyline. The facts however are once again on Dean's side, and his view represents the mainstream of American public opinion.
Representing Mainstream Thought
The rhetoric in Washington and reports from the media would make you think Dean is a wacky left-wing liberal, however Dean's opinions are almost always demonstrably in the mainstream of American thought:
1. Dean believes in Civil Unions- so do a majority of Americans- < [ USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-03-09-gaymarriage-usat_x.htm http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm >] .
2. Dean believes in some national gun control (like closing the gun show loophole and banning assault weapons once again). The majority of Americans agree that we should ban assault weapons. They also agree they want stricter gun control rather than less strict, but they don't favor completely banning guns. Dean's view is exactly in the mainstream. [ Polling Report: Guns http://www.pollingreport.com/guns.htm ].
3. Dean believes America should have national health care, like every other industrial country on earth. He believes health care is a right not a privilege for the wealthy. Americans overwhelmingly agree. By 2 to 1 Americans support Universal health care -[ ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/US/healthcare031020_poll.html ]. [ Harris Poll http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/healthnews/HI_HealthCareNews2003Vol3_Iss16.pdf ] .
4. Dean is pro-choice and believes abortion should be legal, but agrees with the "safe, legal and rare" approach. While it should be legal, in most cases it should be discouraged. An overwhelming number of Americans favor abortion being always or sometimes legal, only 16% of Americans believe abortion should always be illegal- < [ Polling Report: Abortion http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm > ]; .
5. Dean believes in Energy Independence for America, and conservation of resources. A majority of Americans agree, and a majority of Americans also think Bush's approach is simply to increase production. <[ Polling Report: Energy http://www.pollingreport.com/energy.htm ]> .
6. Dean believes in global warming and so do a majority of Americans. Bush found the one scientist in the world who doesn't believe in global warming to contest it doesn't exist. Only 6% of Americans think global warming poses no threat. Dean believes we shouldn't drill in the Arctic, that protecting the environment is more important than producing energy, and believes in America being part of the Kyoto accords, and so do an overwhelming majority of Americans. - < [ Polling Report Enviroment http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm > ];.
7. Dean believes in protecting Social Security and disapproves of Bush's plan to partially privatize it. By a margin of 17 %, more Americans think the Democrats would make better choices on Social Security. <[ Polling Report http://www.pollingreport.com/social.htm >];.
8. Dean believes Bush's tax cuts were not good for America, and went predominately to upper class Americans. 53% of Americans agree that the tax cuts were not worth it. He also believes in balancing the budget (which he did 12 years in a row in Vermont). 47 % of Americans think the Democratic Party would do a better job reducing the deficit, while only 29% think Republicans would do better. 68 % of Americans think the upper class does not pay their fair share of taxes, and 51% believe the poor pay more than their fair share, as Dean believes - < [ Polling Report Taxes http://www.pollingreport.com/budget.htm >];.
9. A majority of Americans support affirmative action, but not quotas, exactly as Dean believes - < [ Polling Report Race http://www.pollingreport.com/race.htm>];.
On every single issue, Howard Dean's opinions are squarely in the mainstream of American opinion. It is absolutely ludicrous to suggest he represents a fringe or radical agenda. The agenda of Howard Dean, and the Democrats, is the agenda of the American people. The only reason they wouldn't vote that way is if the public is somehow led to false conclusions about the Democratic agenda through distortion of our beliefs by the right wing and their allies in media. Very soon the Democrats will unveil their 2006 agenda, and we must forcefully advocate for our beliefs, and be clear and consistent. We can't take this spin anymore. The priorities of the American people are at stake.
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