Reply #8: It's my understanding... [View All]

[ShimokitaJer]

that he intends to retain the current budget, but redirect a portion of the funds toward prevention and first response. I'm no Dean expert, and I admit that much of the information regarding his not cutting the defense budget comes from Dean's attackers, so I can't confirm its accuracty.

I think it would be extremely difficult for any Democrat to come in and cut the defense budget and still resist the Republican characterization of Democrats as weak on defense. My attempted point is that I think Dean is getting around that perception by redefining what a defense budget is. As far as I know, he isn't cutting the budget, but he is using it for a wider range of activities.