Dems laud Dean for early shots at Bush

By Aziz P. -
The Boston Herald focuses on the specfic remarks in praise of Dean by President Clinton (and President Carter also) during the Unity Dinner last week:

When the biggest Dems gathered last week to fete U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, they made clear it was not Kerry but rival Dean who deserved credit for giving them an opening against President Bush.

"Howard Dean was the first person who legitimized it for all of us to say we don't like what's going on here," former President Bill Clinton told a cheering crowd at the Democratic National Committee's Unity Dinner.

Clinton said Bush and his administration tried to push the country "far to the right" but that Dean was the one who stood up and challenged them.

"I want to thank courageous Howard Dean for drawing a sharp distinction when it wasn't the thing to do," added former President Jimmy Carter, who met with - but stopped short of endorsing - Dean during the primary.


A Kerry win over Bush will indeed be part of Dean's legacy. I think that this point is often lost when people evaluate Dean's candidacy. There is too much focus on the internet side of things. The real reason we supported Dean was not because he knew how to use Meetup or because of baseball bat graphics, it was because Dean started out with a simple, powerful message. We Want Our Country Back.

if and when in 2004 we do indeed wrest our country back from the far right-corporatist alliance, it's will be because of Dean. And in that sense, we original Dean supporters will indeed get our wish.

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