Gephardt Attacks Dean's Record as Governor of Vermont

[Feanorcurufinwe]

Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri sharply attacked Howard Dean's record as governor of Vermont on Sunday, accusing Dr. Dean of trying to balance the state budget by repeatedly slashing social programs for the poor and the disabled in the 1990's.

Mr. Gephardt criticized Dr. Dean for cutting spending on health care, dental coverage, special education and services for the poor, the blind and the disabled from 1993 to 1996.

Some of that money was ultimately restored to those programs by state legislators and the courts, Mr. Gephardt said, but he used those examples to draw a contrast between what he described as Dr. Dean's willingness to sacrifice social services for the poor and his own record of protecting such services as House majority leader under President Bill Clinton.

<snip>

"If the heart of any presidency is who you're fighting for, then surely the muscle is how you pay for it," Mr. Gephardt said in a speech at Coe College here. "Time after time, when faced with budget shortfalls, Howard Dean's first and only instinct was to cut — cut education, cut prescription drug coverage, cut Medicaid funding, cut aid to the blind and disabled."

"There is no place for governance without compassion," he said. "Fiscal responsibility is not amputation."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/24/politics/campaigns/24GEPH.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

2. What we need to know is

the candidates, their views, their records, their temperments, their skills, their strengths, their weaknesses.




What we don't need is more discussion of each other.

[dean4america]

3. bad move by gephardt

strategically, this could be the beginning of the end for Gephardt. Dean's record is the REASON so many people are supporting him. Plus, Dean's rebuttals can be far-reaching -- i.e., I have exeuctive experience running a state for 11.5 years ... or, while every other state in the union is running huge deficits and laying off workers, teachers, etc., MY state had a rainy day fund, etc. How many people HONESTLY wouldn't want to live in a Vermont economic situation?

bad bad move

[Skwmom]

4. All of the people I know who really KNOW Dean's record

are not backing him. I've seen people turn away from Dean in disgust when they get a look at the "real" Howard Dean.

His rebuttals? His ran a state that is smaller than MANY us cities. His health care was in LARGE part funded by a federal program.

[tsipple]

6. Perhaps You Don't Get Out Much?

It is fact that Dean polls stronger in his home state than any other Democratic candidate in their home state.

It is also fact that Dean was elected five times (in a row) in Vermont.

The guy is very well liked in Vermont. Precisely because of his record of performance while in office. (Of course Vermonters looked at his record under a microscope every time.)

And now we've got three polls suggesting Dean is ahead of John Kerry... in Massachusetts.

So what's going on?

[blm]

8. The media push on Dean.

They use negative spins on anything about Kerry and now they're doing it with Clark. Funny, those two do best in head to head match ups with Bush, yet the one who does the worst gets pushed the most by the media.

[AP]

13. What were Dean's Margins of Victory in his five elections?

Didn't they get narrower and narrower every year?

Was he term-limitted out?

They have a Republican governor today, right?

[w4rma]

14. He always won with a majority (50%+) of the vote.

His most recent election was won with a 10% difference between him and the Republican and a 40% difference between him and the Progressive Party candidate.

[tsipple]

15. Answers to Your Questions

1. No. 1996 was up from the prior election.

1992: Dean gets 75%
1994: Dean gets 69%
1996: Dean gets 71%
1998: Dean gets 56% (strong Republican candidate)
2000: Dean gets 51% (civil unions backlash, same GOP candidate)

By the way, Vermont is the only state where civil unions won decisively, despite an intense backlash. In Hawaii and Alaska, courts ruled in favor of civil unions but then their state elected officials promptly amended the state constitutions. A lot of people forget that Dean did not have to sign the civil unions bill. He had an easy way out.

2. No. Dean was not term limited. He decided to run for President in 2004, briefly flirting with the idea in 2000.

3. Yes. An independent (Cornelius Hogan) split the vote (10%) with the Democratic Party candidate (Racine), and the Republican candidate snuck in. The Democrats were divided. A good and hard lesson to (re)learn.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

7. Nonsense -- ask Vermonters

The people who really KNOW Dean's record, the people who lived under his Governorship and were most affected by his actions, elected him Governor 5 times. And overwhelmingly support him for president in 2004.

True that some people in Vermont, esp. the ultra-Liberals there (and an "ultra Liberal" in Vermont is very very Liberal), don't like Dean, but that is to be expected, he was fiscally stubborn at times and didn't please everyone.

But overall the people of Vermont -- those who "KNOW Dean's record", think he would be an excellent choice for President.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

19. My brother is a Vermonter who voted for Reagan, Bush, Dole, Bush

and yeah, he says he had no big problem with Dean as governor. He always voted against him though.

[paulk]

12. Gephardt is trying to win Iowa

and whether this is a bad move or not remains to be seen.

Dick Gephardt has served in Congress for 26 years, representing a district with more people in it than the entire state of Vermont - a district with more ethnic and economic diversity than Vermont, also.

Gephardt's political experience, and his experience campaigning, both trump Howard Deans'. Dean threw the first punches in this little fight - Now we'll see how well he does in the big leagues.

[tsipple]

16. So Far, So Good for Dean

And Gephardt has no executive experience, it is fair to point out.

[paulk]

18. It will be interesting

to see how well Dean does over the next few months. If he can withstand Gephardt's attacks, in a state that Gep should be the favorite in, that would certainly bode well for him.

Even a close second in Iowa would be considered a victory for Dean.

[Skwmom]

5. "Government without compassion"

Haven't we had enough of that under George Bush?

[Fleshdancer]

11. Vermont isn't lacking compassion

Ask the parents of the children who now have healthcare, ask the gay couples who are now receiving the same legal equalities as straight couples. Ask the new mom who has the option of having someone there to help her out and answer her questions for the first six months after her child is born. Ask the Vermont congress who, because of responsible fiscal behavior when money was flowing, is in better economic shape than other states and don't have to make severe cuts to essential programs.

Living here in Texas, I have a real hard time believing that Vermont has had a "governement without compassion". I know governement without compassion my friend, and Vermont isn't it.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

21. Howard Dean is not Vermont, and Vermont is not Howard Dean.

lol

[DemDogs]

9. Under the spotlight, we'll see which cockroaches scurry

Dean, who promised to shine a light on Democrats in Washington and watch them scurry like cockroaches, cannot take having the bright light shown on him and his record. His posturing as the outsider who cares about the little guy is about to be exposed. And before you start shouting, don't you want it exposed BEFORE Rove gets a shot at him?
WE NEED TO WIN IN 2004.

[tsipple]

17. Sure, Shine the Light

Vermont is a wonderful state.

[Sean Reynolds]

10. So Gephardt, why is it he was elected so many times?

If he was such a horrible governor, why would a liberal state like Vermont continually re-elect such a bad man? Gosh, why is it Dean leads in his HOME state by the largest margin of ANY candidate in their home state?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

20. Gephardt didn't say

Dean was a 'horrible governor'.


He criticized him 'for cutting spending on health care, dental coverage, special education and services for the poor, the blind and the disabled from 1993 to 1996.'

(When Dean became governor) they (liberal Democrats) were all thinking, oh we got a Democrat back in the governor's office. And all of the sudden they find Howard Dean's worse on spending (than Snelling). The state was headed into a recession at the time. And Snelling before he died, he and Ralph Wright cut a deal on raising the income taxes and (inaud.) the deficit--a few years of austerity. Howard stuck with the plan. And as Dick McCormack (Democratic Senator from Windsor) will tell you of the meeting where he (Dean) met with the Democratic Caucus and told them then, and this might have been before, when he was still lieutenant governor, and told the Democratic Senators, you're never going to win because people don't trust you with their money. None of your great and lofty goals and plans and aspirations will ever be achieved because people don't trust Democrats with their money. We got to prove it to 'em. And that was key. I mean his political enemies for the first three terms were Democrats at the State House, not Republicans. Republicans loved his budgets.
--Peter Freyne, veteran Vermont political reporter
http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/dean/dean0702/freyneint.html

[clarknyc]

22. Gephardt should check the latest poll numbers

It doesn't look like his current tactics are working. Anyway, isn't it conventional wisdom that negative campaigning doesn't do well in Iowa?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

23. "cutting spending on health care, dental coverage, special education

and services for the poor, the blind and the disabled from 1993 to 1996."

That's what Gephardt is talking about.

Sure the media wants the voters to focus on who is winning instead of what they will do if elected. But is that really in the people's best interest? Shouldn't they be more concerned in what the priorities are of the person they are voting for?

[redqueen]

24. Now this is interesting.

Time after time I hear Dean defended by saying how great the programs in VT were / are.

But if this is true for a majority of those programs:

"Some of that money was ultimately restored to those programs by state legislators and the courts..."

Then that defense falls all to pieces.

Hmmmmm......