Candidate Dean has become a champion of alternative energy. "Prisons," he notes, "are the most expensive and least effective social-service intervention." From kindergarten teachers can identify the five kids most likely to end up in jail 15 or 20 years later. Dean moves seamlessly into highlighting the need for early childhood intervention. I'd like to make the President of the United States explain to the people of this country why we can't have what all those countries have."Īll it's going to take, notes Dean, is $88 billion - a big number, but less than half of the latest Bush tax cut.įrom health care, Dr. "What we ought to be fighting about in Washington is health care for every single American. Health care and the lack of universal coverage in America top his list. Next, Ho-Ho slides into the social agenda. He labels the GOP a "borrow-and-spend party that uses Argentina as their fiscal model." "Can we afford another tax cut for people who make a million dollars a year on top of the largest deficit in the history of the country?" asks Dean. The point is, says Dean, "Republicans cannot manage money."Ĭoming from the lips of the son and grandson of Wall Street investment bankers, the line has legs. He reminds the audience that no Republican president has balanced a federal budget in 34 years. Next up on the Dean stump speech - pocketbook issues. If you make me the Democratic nominee, I'll make you proud to be Demo-crats again!" It's the core of Dean's message - "The folks in Washington have made a fundamental mistake, thinking we can beat George Bush by being Bush-Lite.
We need to win this election by standing up for who we are and speaking our piece." He quickly answered, "If we worry so much about electability that they can't tell the difference between the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party and the Republicans, then we're going to be in a lot of trouble in this party. Ho-Ho was ready for him in Des Moines on Saturday. As he did in South Carolina two weeks ago, Graham hit the Iowa audience with "I'm Bob Graham and I'm from the electable wing of the Democratic Party."
Dean reminds everyone he wants to be the voice of "the Democratic wing of the Democratic party." That gets 'em cheering every time. His standard stump speech hits on the following notes:įirst, using the famous Paul Wellstone line, Dr. We've caught enough Dean speeches of late to get the gist. We watched on the Internet, which is rapidly turning into Dean Country. The candidate from Vermont had them jumping out of their seats. The crowd was so big the fire marshals had to lock the doors. Last week, 1200 people turned out in Seattle, Washington, to catch the Dean Show. "We have a president who talks tough on homeland security," said Ho-Ho, "but is strangling the cities and the towns and not giving them the money that is necessary to protect them." Last week's terrorist bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco proved his point.
Dean told the Iowans and the national TV audience that Bush's War on Iraq was a "diversion" that had done nothing to advance our cause in the War on Terror. The enormous tax cuts that you have passed," said Dean, "are actually undercutting our ability to defend ourselves."ĭr. "The enormous tax cuts are not only undercutting Medicaid and Social Security, Mr. Dean cited the more than two million jobs lost since Bush took the White House, and he continued to trash the latest round of ridiculous tax cuts for the rich. Bush's invasion of Iraq hammered the president's post-war policy and warned the nation that Dubya's leading us into a depression. The candidate who caught the spotlight opposing President George W. Dean told Newsweek's Eleanor Clift last week that he'd been a little "grumpy" during the earlier Columbia, South Carolina, debate. Ho-Ho hit all the right notes in perfect pitch. Both aired live on C-Span and were later repeated. On Sunday, Ho-Ho had 90 minutes all to himself as he add-ressed a "Hear It From the Heartland" gathering hosted by Iowa Sen. There was a big candidates' debate before a labor forum in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. Howard Dean has been all over the tube and at the center of the storm. It's been a big week for our favorite presidential hopeful from Vermont.