Nation-Building >> QUESTIONS FOR HOWARD DEAN: Is It 2004 Yet? | return to front page

A Q&A session with the NYT's, here's a few (Howard Dean photo by Mackenzie Stroh):

You are arguably the least-known candidate running for the Democratic presidential nomination, even though you've served longer than any standing Democratic governor -- 11 years -- and according to a longtime observer of Vermont politics, you've been ''running for president since you were 15.''

That's abject nonsense. I realized that I could do this after my last election campaign for governor. I actually toyed with running before the 2000 campaign, but I realized at that time there was no way I was going to beat an incumbent vice president.


You know Bill Clinton well. Has he given you any advice on running for president?

He was very helpful in framing an issue that's become the most important one in the campaign -- economic security. People are not angry at business, but they don't trust it. What he helped me do is frame the issue without sounding like a foam-at-the-mouth populist. In my speeches, I talk about playing by the rules, which is a great way of talking about corporations without seeming antibusiness, which I don't want to do.

He governed a small state and went on to the White House. Is he your political role model?

I don't have the kind of political skills he has.
I will model my campaign more after Jimmy Carter's or Gary Hart's or even John McCain's.


Rate President Bush.

He's doing a fine job on the war on terrorism. I think he gets an F on domestic policy. I think the tax cut is irresponsible. His welfare proposal takes power away from the states and centralizes it in the federal government, as does his education bill. And he's done nothing on health care. So I find no redeeming social value in the president's domestic agenda.

Debunk the theory that only Southern Democrats can win the White House.

I was born a Yankee, and there's nothing I can do about that. But I'm an odd duck. I signed the most far-reaching gay rights bill in the country, and I have an A grade from the National Rifle Association. So who knows where this will go?