The case for Howard Dean

[papau]

I note that Eric Alterman - who favors Clark, then Edwards, then Gep, as folks he is pretty sure can beat Bush - states he is liking Dean more and more and refers folks to this write up as a good analysis on why it is easy to like Dean

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040119&s=cohn011904

THE CASE FOR HOWARD DEAN.
Moral Center
by Jonathan Cohn
Post date: 01.07.04
Issue date: 01.19.04
When I first interviewed Howard Dean in early 2002, the Iraq war was still a glint in Dick Cheney's eye, nobody had heard of Meetup.com, and Dean's campaign organization numbered all of one. Beyond Vermont, he was virtually unknown: As we walked through downtown Boston, not a soul recognized him. He was also a more simple character then--just another earnest public servant embarking on a long-shot bid for the White House. Dean had been charming: blunt, as always, but in a disarming, comical way. Eventually I wrote a piece touting his strong record and provocative critique of President Bush. Then I predicted his lack of money and notoriety would doom him to obscurity.

OK, so I got that last part wrong. Did I also exaggerate his virtues? Every week seems to expose new political liabilities and gaps in Dean's resumé. At times, he has been more angry than funny, more messianic than inspiring--basically, as unrecognizable to me as he was to those Bostonians we passed on the streets. But Dean has also proved more resourceful than I ever imagined. And the fundamental rationales for his candidacy--his accomplishments in Vermont and proposals for the United States--are as compelling today as they were two years ago. They're just a lot harder to see.
When Dean became governor in 1991, Vermont had a $65 million deficit and New England's lowest bond rating. Arguing that such conditions would starve the state of its ability to help citizens in need and scare away employers, Dean made responsible fiscal management his first order of business, reducing spending and taxes. This allowed him to eliminate the deficit within three years and then build up a rainy-day fund. Today, Vermont has New England's highest bond rating. And, virtually alone among states, it has avoided draconian cuts in its social programs--by tapping Dean's surpluses.

Those results haven't always mollified Dean's critics on the left, who wanted him to be less accommodating to big business and less thrifty with the state's money. But Dean was just as headstrong when it came to pursuing the goals he did share with liberals--expanding health insurance and social services for low-income children. Under Dean, Vermont plowed money into its Medicaid program, broadening eligibility to include working families--families too poor to afford insurance but too well-off to qualify for assistance under the old Medicaid guidelines. As a result, nearly every child in Vermont now has health insurance. A less well-known--but in many ways more innovative--policy triumph of the Dean years was the enactment of "Success by Six." That program offers the parents of newborns home visits from local social workers, who can advise on everything from what you should feed your baby to whom you call if you think you qualify for government assistance. Nine in ten Vermont parents opt for the visits, and state officials say the program helps identify problem cases--like cases of physical abuse--in their early stages.<snip>

For all their attendant controversy, Dean's pronouncements on foreign policy fall into the same category: They seem radical only if the policies of the Bush administration count as mainstream, which they aren't. True, the case for a radical departure in foreign policy is greater than in domestic policy: Our understanding of the world really did change on September 11, 2001. But the question is not whether the United States should adapt to the post-September 11 world, but how--and here Dean's vision is more sensible than his angry tones might imply. Dean is certainly prepared to use military force to defend U.S. interests: He says he supported every major U.S. foreign policy intervention since Vietnam except the Iraq war. (That includes the first Gulf war, a conflict Dick Gephardt and John Kerry opposed.) Dean's caricature as a peacenik is a product mostly of the fallacious argument that opposing the Iraq war was tantamount to always opposing the use of U.S. power abroad. In fact, it is perfectly reasonable to believe there are occasions for unilateral action while holding that ousting Saddam Hussein was not one of them--just as it is possible to argue that fighting Saddam soaked up resources that might have been spent pursuing Osama bin Laden or fortifying homeland security, both more essential to fighting terrorism. Dean has said all of these things. <snip>

[spooky3]

1. You may want to change title to lowercase?

[cthrumatrix]

4. thank you for sharing

[papau]

5. Thanks Spooky3&Mrs Grumpy for the heads up-pasted the title and

it was all caps to begin with!

:-)

time for bed!

[Cha]

2. I thought alterman was smarter than

his choices for whom could beat bush. But I'm glad he wrote something to counteract the jibberish that has been floating around about Dean.

[quaker bill]

3. Finally, a piece of sensible press coverage

thanks for the post