E. J. Dionne: "The House that Dean Built" [View All]

[madfloridian]

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=17315

SNIP..."WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean says out loud what other politicians might think but never, ever put on the record.
And so, as Democrats prepare for their convention next week, Dean is unambiguous in declaring that despite all the praise he has received for starting a movement and changing the Democratic Party, there is one thing he'd like even better. And he's refreshingly frank about his ambition.

"Barry Goldwater said 'I'd rather be right than president,"' Dean said jovially during an interview over the weekend. "Barry Goldwater didn't know what he was talking about. I'd still rather be president."

"None of this is sour grapes. On the contrary, Dean loyally heaps praise on John Kerry and even entered the lion's den by debating Ralph Nader earlier this month."

SNIP..."Dean is also amused that given his moderate record as a governor, he was somehow seen as a radical. "I've balanced budgets, I've supported the death penalty in some instances, I got an A from the NRA -- and I'm the most left-wing Democrat?" Dean laughs. The labeling, he says, is a mark of how the nation's political discussion has been pulled to the right. "What passes now for 'moderate,"' he says, "used to be called 'conservative."