Nation-Building

For '04 Run, a Walk in Carter's Shoes - Gov. Dean Is Unconventional Democrat (By David S. Broder, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, July 12, 2002; Page A01) Another article from mid-July, from the WaPo. Heavy on the Carter angle, and then has lots of details on his policy positions. Works in a folksy comment about making his own bed, and a self-deprecating one about how "It will be a breakthrough for me when my name is well-enough known that they can use it in a headline."

This is probably a bit premature. It makes Dean look like a wannabe-Naderite. I doubt it has been approved by the Dean campaign, though. You know, if Dean were to start up a shop, he might rake in some cash. He should take a cue from John McCain's example last election. Right now the official website is pretty anemic.

Early in race, Dean running from obscurity - Conveying where and what Vermont is proves challenging (By ELIZABETH MEHREN, Monday, July 1, 2002, Los Angeles Times) Another character essay, this one dating back from early July, right about when the TNR and TAP articles essays were done. This one is skimpy on policy and focuses more on his background. Very short.

A presidential 'road not taken' ... yet. Vermont governor brings pluck, controversy, and song – but is his liberalism too far left for the 2002 election? (By Alexandra Marks | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 2002 edition) This is more of a character essay, from the Christian Science Monitor. Its short, and makes the usual points about the boldness of his position of the issues, but also gives more of a taste for his personality. Interesting tidbits about his hobbies and determination. And gives us this "action shot" of him during a 270-mile trail hike: UNCONVENTIONAL: Dean completed a 270-mile hiking trail last summer. MIKE RIDDELL/AP

Sorry, the link is to Google's cache, the MSNBC site archives seem to be screwy. This is a great interview, Dean handles himself well under ferocious questioning by Tim Russert. I'll reprint the section with Dean below. It can't be a coincidence that Tim Russert closed the show with a videotape excerpt of an interview with Jimmy Carter, then on the campaign trail. The interview with Dean is notable in that he clarifies his position on a lot of things. For example, he signed the Vermont law for gay rights, butt he is NOT in favor of a national one. He has a similarly states-oriented view of gun rights. And, when stating he is for something, he in unequivocal - look at his explicit support of teh farm bill, which he is clearly not trying to softpedal. MR. RUSSERT: And we are back. Governor Dean, welcome to MEET THE PRESS. GOV. HOWARD DEAN (D-Vermont): Thanks for having me on. MR. RUSSERT: You’ve been in Iowa seven times, New Hampshire seven times...

This two-part interview with Dean from early July in the Rutland Herald proves that the life of a small-town governor isn't all ambitious nation-building schemes and attending fabulous gay civil union ceremonies. Indeed, it seems to mostly involve dealing with intensely parochial issues that couldn't possibly interest any non-Vermonter. It also shows Dean to be — unlike certain current White House occupants — articulate and knowledgeable about the issues he's supposed to be handling.

Someone seems to have beaten us to the Dean blogging beat with this site whose tagline Vermont's glibbest, most annoying politician wants to be your President, or maybe Vice-President sets the tone for Dean-bashing from a diverse array of ideological positions.

This is an attack piece on Dean by NRO, written by Stanley Kurtz who seems to really have it in for Dean. In certain ways though it is remarkably prescient (and will get more so if Dean gets more notice for the primary) The main argument is that Dean's victory in Vermont for his 5th term as governor is a bad thing. Dean won because he took a stand and supported gay unions (winning despite conservative predictions of disaster ). Dean has also already been attack-dismissed by NRO's Corner and other conservative bloggers . To me, this smells of fear.

Interesting Beat piece election reform, and mentions how Vermont is leading the way in election reform. Keywords: instant-runoff voting. Steven Den Beste has a critique of these kinds of voting systems, which I predict will make the blog rounds if this topic gets raised in a Dean context.

More on the McCain comparison, from Slate.

An interview in the Guardian, which goes into some detail about Dean's foreign policy positions. Dean is definitely very Wilsonian in his views.

A piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer. It takes note of some of Dean's bold policy positions, though recognizes that he doesn't have much to lose. It will be interesting to see if as we near 2004 primary season whether Dean modifies his positions. Since Dean doesn't have a website right now, these kind of pieces are useful as a means of getting him on record saying what he believes.

a puff piece on CNN.

Will the Democrats notice Howard Dean? Invisible Man (by Jonathan Cohn for TNR, Post date 06.20.02 | Issue date 07.01.02 ) Another lengthy profile on Dean, by TNR. Similar to the Prospect piece but has a lot of complementary information. Makes more of a comparison to McCain, but I think that's a flawed comparison. Dean is running less as a maverick politician (McCain) and more of a principled leader-turned-politician. The man is a licensed MD and has a very " Dave " kind of ring to his approach to issues.

The Darkest Horse : Vermont Governor Howard Dean is a fiscal conservative who's for gay civil unions, against the Bush tax cuts and running for president as the health-care candidate. (By Robert Dreyfuss for the American Prospect, Issue Date: 7.15.02) Very detailed article on Dean, one of teh first ones that brought him to my attention.

Ok, here we go! I'm devoting this blog to a collection of links I find about Howard Dean, Democratic governor of Vermont, and candidate for teh Democratoc nomination in the 2004 Presidential Election. I voted for Gore here in Texas (actually, I vote-swapped with a Nader supporter in Oregon) in 2000. That was mainly a lesser-of-three-evils kind of choice. But with Howard Dean, I feel that there finally is a candidate who really meets my political, social, and economic criteria. Libertarian civil policy, neo-Wilsonian foreign policy, conservative fiscal policy, liberal social policy. This is where I have evolved to in my own views, esppecially after September 11th. And that's what I see so far with Howard Dean. So, this blog will track him through the press online and I will see if he lives up to his potential. Let's see where it leads us!