Presidential candidate Dean speaks in Oregon

Governor Dean was in Oregon today, before he heads to Iowa tomorrow when he will meet with Cornell College students and participate in the Iowa City Health Care Community Roundtable. This article reports on his trip the the Pacific northwest.

First, it notes that Gov. Dean called President Bush to task on the length of time that the U.S. will be involved in the occupation/nation building of Iraq:

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean on Wednesday predicted that U.S. troops will be forced to remain in Iraq for at least a decade to ensure a stable democracy after toppling Saddam Hussein.

"This president has made a fateful decision, and he's going to be there a lot longer than he says he is," Dean said of President Bush.

The article also notes Gov. Deans stance on Bush and his relationship with Sen. Santorum:

But Dean reserved his harshest words for Bush for not denouncing recent remarks by Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican who compared homosexual behavior to incest or polygamy in comments about a pending Supreme Court case on a Texas sodomy law.

"For him (Bush) to put his arm around Sen. Santorum and say he's an inclusive person is a pathetic catering to bigotry and hatred and is not becoming of the president of the United States," Dean told reporters following a campaign speech at an Oregon fund-raiser.

Of course, it was nice to see a bit of a "Everybody Loves Howard" in there as well:

More than 200 Democrats who gathered at a downtown hotel gave Dean a rousing welcome when he arrived, including Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and former Gov. Barbara Roberts.

Bradbury joked that Dean was taking a more conservative stand on fiscal policy than many Republicans by opposing deficit spending and paying down state debt in Vermont during 11 years as governor, leaving it with one of the highest bond ratings in the country.

"I think it's great to have a whole room full of people who are Democrats and fairly liberal folks cheering and hooting and hollering for a balanced budget because the Republicans haven't balanced the budget in 34 years," Dean said.

"If you want to trust your hard-earned taxpayer dollars to the government you better let the Democrats do it because the Republicans can't handle your money," Dean said.

Bradbury said Dean had increased school spending in Vermont, compared to the steep decline in the education budget for Oregon that has resulted in early school closures and eliminated many support programs.