Dean on CNN's Newsnight

Wolf Blitzer did an extended sit down interview with Howard Dean yesterday. I managed to catch it live, watching with a group of friends. Full transcript available here (scroll about halfway down).

Best comment made during commercial break (interview was two segments):

FRIEND: "Did he just...smack...all the other Democrats around?"
ME: "Yep." :-)

Some highlights...


BLITZER: If you were president of the United States right now, what would you do to resolve this Iraq situation?

DEAN: We need to bring foreign troops into Iraq, preferably from Arabic-speaking and Muslim countries.

George Bush's father, who was a much better diplomat than the president is, had over 100,000 troops in Iraq the first time we went in, which I supported, incidentally. We need to bring troops from Muslim countries into Iraq to help reconstruct Iraq. That should be an international...

BLITZER: But they don't want to go. The U.S. has offered -- invited them. Even the Turks decided, this is not a good idea.

DEAN: Well, the Turks should not have been asked to go in the first place. The idea of Turks patrolling in Iraq, historically, is an incredibly foolish idea. And I'm incredibly disappointed that someone at the State Department didn't figure that out before we asked them to go.

*snip*

BLITZER: You may have seen this new commercial, this ad that Senator Kerry has put out showing the president landing on the aircraft carrier. But the impression he leaves is that he is someone who knows national security. He served in the military. He fought in Vietnam. He could bring the Democratic Party to victory. And it seems to be a slap at you.

DEAN: I think the principal problem with Senator Kerry's ad is, it implies that he didn't support the war in Iraq. And he did.

We wouldn't be in Iraq today if it hadn't been for people like Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards, Senator Lieberman, and Richard Gephardt, because they all supported the president, when they should have been asking the tough questions last October.

BLITZER: So you're blaming them for the predicament the U.S. is in right now?

DEAN: If the Democrats had stood up to the president and said, this is not wise. Let's take our steps very carefully. Let's bring in other countries.

But they didn't do that. They gave the president a blank check. And Senator Kerry was one of those who gave the president a blank check to go into Iraq. So I find it hard to believe that their foreign policy expertise is so extensive that they would be able to get us out of it.

*snip*

BLITZER: Besides General Clark, any other of the Democratic candidates on your potential list for running mate?

DEAN: Yes, but we're not going to go through a list, because I don't have a right to make a list like that yet. I have not one single vote yet in the primary. None of us have. And the voters get to choose who is going to be the nominee, not me.

BLITZER: It would be a little arrogant, is that what you're saying?

DEAN: Yes, it would.

LAUGHTER


By the way, props to Wolf for introducing the "a" word into the discussion, just to add fuel to that "temperment" meme. Classy.

Oh one more thing -- we counted 4, maybe 5, full on Dean grins. He did very well in this interview. Very much himself, serious but relaxed. Kudos to the media coaching team at DFA and, of course, to the man himself.

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