The Nation: "Petulance is seldom considered a prime presidential attribute"

How mature should our next president be? This is an excerpt from an editorial that will appear in the January 12th issue of The Nation, bringing to task the behavior of the other Dem candidates on their increasingly noxious attacks on Howard Dean:

Petulance is seldom considered a prime presidential attribute. George W. Bush's smirk notwithstanding, Americans prefer adults as Presidents. That makes the poisonous attacks unleashed on Howard Dean by other contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination doubly noxious. These desperate Democrats are writing the script for Bush's future TV ads in unfounded assaults on Dean while providing ample evidence to Democratic voters that they are unfit to lead.

The current round of vitriol was sparked by Dean's statement that the capture of Saddam Hussein makes America no safer. The only thing notable about that statement is its common sense. A top US commander in Iraq had just declared that Saddam's capture would make no difference one way or another. All sensate observers agree that the war on Iraq has been a distraction from combating terrorism--draining intelligence, resources and political attention. To reinforce the point, the Department of Homeland Security, concerned about chatter implying a new terror assault, has just placed America on high alert for the holidays. Joe Lieberman, John Kerry and Dick Gephardt are scoring Dean for stating the obvious....

These politicians are acting like children throwing their marbles at the one who beat them. In this, they display their bitterness not simply at Dean but at the growing legions of Democratic voters who support him. In Washington, the pros worry that these attacks can only help Bush if Dean gains the nomination. But the energy unleashed by the remarkable Dean campaign will continue to grow.

Washington Post: "Biting the hand that slapped them in the face"

In today's Washington Post E. J. Dionne Jr. writes about Democratic backlash to Bush's divisiveness:

The year 2003 will be remembered as the time when Democrats decided to fight back against George W. Bush after coddling and even embracing him in 2002. This whiplash will mean some surprising things for 2004.

Republicans won in 2002, but Bush lost most Democrats forever. Conservative critics of "Bush hatred" like to argue that opposition to the president is a weird psychological affliction. It is nothing of the sort. It is a rational response to getting burned. They are, as a friend once put it, biting the hand that slapped them in the face.

No one understood this sense of betrayal better or earlier than Howard Dean. Dean's candidacy took off because many in the Democratic rank and file were furious that Washington Democrats allowed themselves to be taken to the cleaners. Many of Dean's current loyalists had been just as supportive of Bush after Sept. 11 because they, too, felt that doing so was patriotic. So Dean also spoke to their personal sense of grievance.

This time the Democrats will have most of the election year to appeal to swing voters. Democrats are so hungry to beat Bush that they will let their nominee do just about anything, even be pragmatic and shrewd.

That's why 2004 will be very different from 2003. Democrats who loved Dean's attacks on Bush this year now want Dean to prove he can beat him. Dean's opponents know this, which is why their core case is that Dean can't win. And watch for the appearance of the new, pragmatic Howard Dean, the doctor with an unerring sense of his party's pulse.

Read the entire column here.

Guest Blogger John Burns: An American Success Story

John Burns, back from Europe, writes inspirationally about Senator Patty Murray:

I saw Patty Murray a few days ago. Senator Patty Murray is an American Success Story. As a parent volunteer in the 1980's a state legislator told her she couldn't make a difference, He told her she was "just a Mom in tennis shoes". That was a big tactical mistake. Patty got all fired up and led a grassroots coalition of 13,000 parents to save funding for parent-child education programs. Then it was on to school board member, Washington state senator, and now US Senator from Washington State.

With some people, it is a big mistake to put them down. It is a big mistake to tell them they are not smart enough, they don't have the experience, or they can't win. These words bring out the fight in the fighter. These words bring out the fighters perseverance, toughness, and tenacity that they use to overcome tremendous odds. When you find a leader that gets riled up when people put him down, you had best fall in line with him because the world rewards that kind of person.

Howard Dean, like Patty Murray, has the fighter's instinct. That is why I fell in line with him. When the Republicans put him down, it only makes him more determined, more committed, and stronger. When they say he "can't win" he becomes more tenacious and increases his effort. When they lie about him, he brushes it off and gets back on message. Focused and street smart is a good way to describe Howard Dean. Howard, like Patty Murray, is an American Success Story. You can't stop people like Howard Dean.

As grassroots, it is our duty to support successful leaders like Howard Dean and Patty Murray. We can take a lesson from winning leaders and develop our own perseverance, toughness, and tenacity. Although you may not be aware of it, you are an American Success Story too. As grassroots you are the army that will take back the White House in 2004. It is important to fight now because our country is in danger from George W. Bush and his regime.

It is time to fight for truth, justice, and the America we believe in. The Right Wing Bush types are destroying our country. The Bush regime will not go away on its own. We cannot solve this problem with our head in the sand. It is time to fight. I don't want to fight. However, I feel I must. I feel it is my duty and responsibility to fight for my kids, my neighbors, my country and my world. I never imagined our country could fall so low. There are thousands of you out there who feel as I do. It is time to take our gloves off and fight for what we believe in.

Here are a few pearls of wisdom for the fighter you are:

• When the going gets tough, the tough get going.


• It is not the size of the dog that matters; it is the size of the fight in the dog.


• Never give up, get stronger, keep on fighting, work harder and smarter every day, and stay focused.

Be thankful for your enemies. Their words are the forge that creates the steel that is you. The more they throw at you, the stronger you become. Fine steel requires heat and hammering. With heat and hammering, we will become the largest American Success Story in history as we take back the White House in 2004.

This election cycle will be rough. Be thankful for that. Take a breather occasionally and guard against becoming what you despise. Smell the roses, enjoy the wonder of it all, then get up off your rear and get your leader elected. You are part of an American Success Story.

You have the power.

John Burns
Seattle

"Participation galvanizes emotions, gives the participant a live stake in the victory of the leader"

This quote definitely rings true in light of the Dean campaign:

"What distinguishes the new school from the old school is the political approach of exclusion versus inclusion. In a tight old-fashioned machine, the root idea is to operate with as few people as possible, keeping decision and action in the hands of as few inside men as possible. In the new style, practiced by citizen's groups and new machines the central idea is to give as many people as possible a sense of participation: participation galvanizes emotions, gives the participant a live stake in the victory of the leader."
    --Theodore H. White, The Making of the President 1960

I Want What Howard Eats for Breakfast

"I'd also like to say that whatever it is that Howard Dean knows, or whatever it is that he eats for breakfast every morning, if I could give it to every other Democratic office holder and would-be office holder, we would immediately become the majority in the Congress and we would have about 35 governors. (Applause.) I have to tell you, I think a big part of it is just producing for people, actually doing what you say you're going to do at election time. And I very much appreciate what he said about what we've tried to do here in Washington."
    -- Bill Clinton, November 12, 1997

LA City Beat says Dean is The Contender

In this week's Los Angeles City Beat, Howard Dean is inaugurated as "The Contender":

The bizarre truth is that the more the pundits bash Dean and predict the imminent collapse of his candidacy – as they have been doing from the moment he first emerged as a major force on the eve of the Iraq war – the more they betray their profound lack of understanding of the movement he has unleashed. They haven’t grasped the extent of his grassroots organization and the radical way he is reshaping the whole notion of political campaigning, in the Democratic Party and beyond. And they have either failed to appreciate or have woefully underestimated the sheer excitement he is generating, not only within his party but also in a whole new constituency of supporters being politicized for the very first time.

Read the entire article here.

Paul Krugman: "It's not about who takes whom to the prom"

New York Times columnist and author Paul Krugman offers a series of New Year's resolutions to the press on how to go about reporting the election this next year. Two the rules he suggests:

• Beware of personal anecdotes. Anecdotes that supposedly reveal a candidate's character are a staple of political reporting, but they should carry warning labels.
  
  For one thing, there are lots of anecdotes, and it's much too easy to report only those that reinforce the reporter's prejudices. The approved story line about Mr. Bush is that he's a bluff, honest, plain-spoken guy, and anecdotes that fit that story get reported. But if the conventional wisdom were instead that he's a phony, a silver-spoon baby who pretends to be a cowboy, journalists would have plenty of material to work with.


• Don't fall for political histrionics. I couldn't believe how much ink was spilled after the Gore-Dean event over Joe Lieberman's hurt feelings. Folks, we're talking about war, peace and the future of U.S. democracy — not about who takes whom to the prom.

Read the entire column here.

Howard Dean's Message of Peace

From Howard Dean today:

"Today, for just a single day out of the year, much of the world recognizes a day of peace. It is a day when we set aside our differences and come together to celebrate an ideal of a world free from hate, free from want and free from war.

"Over the 3,500 years of recorded human history, we have seen thirteen years of war for every year of peace. Today, as we gather with families and friends, we must remember the hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers separated from their families, serving overseas. We must remember the people of Africa who have seen too much war, destruction and want this year, and we must remember all of the other humanitarian crises that escape our notice on other days of the year.

"On this day more than most, we must resolve to continue our work and to redouble our efforts to ensure that someday soon world peace can be something we celebrate more than just once a year.

"The United States was founded on an ideal that we would serve as a peaceful and moral beacon for the rest of the world. Thomas Jefferson once wrote, 'Peace with all nations, and the right which that gives us with respect to all nations, are our object.' The biggest roadblock to achieving that is our own doubt that it can be accomplished. Franklin D. Roosevelt told us that 'The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.' May today bring peace on Earth and goodwill toward everyone."

Have a Great Holiday!

Happy Holidays to all!

William Rivers Pitt on "Howard's Road"

William Rivers Pitt, the Managing Editor of truthout.org and author of "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know", writes a compelling essay on Howard Dean's chances of winning the nomination and the election:

In all electoral likelihood, it will be the former Governor of Vermont who will run away and hide with the nomination. No votes have been cast yet, and the official score in the primary race is still zero to zero to zero to zero to zero to zero to zero to zero. But if polling numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire are any indication, the front-loaded primary season designed by the folks at the DNC to pick a nominee as quickly as possible will be catapulting Dean into the driver’s seat well before pitchers and catchers report in for spring training.

A lot of people within the GOP, Karl Rove and Tom DeLay most recently, are making gleeful noises at the prospect of facing Howard Dean in the general election. If they get that chance, they will be facing a candidate who has already overcome enormous odds. They will be facing a candidate whose instant reaction message team has not missed a beat. They will be facing a candidate whose seeming deficiencies are well-matched by his incredible strengths. They will be facing an army of people who want their country back, an army riding on the words of Victor Hugo: “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” The idea here, simply, is that George W. Bush must go.

In other words, they will be facing another old folk saying. Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Read the entire essay here.

NY Times: Reading, Writing and Running for President

Can book sales be a barometer for election results? Today's New York Times compares the popularity of books published in the last year by the major Democratic candidates. Howard Dean's "Winning Back America" has more than twice the sales as the next candidate, another positive indicator for Dean:

So how are the candidates faring in the literary battle for voters' hearts and minds? The chart accompanying this article tells the story. While the figures are a one-week snapshot of demand from the Ingram Book Group, the world's largest book wholesaler, they accurately reflect how each title has fared in recent weeks according to different industry databases that track bookstore and consumer demand. The numbers may reveal some hidden strengths for Dr. Dean — and may recommend some strategies for his opponents.

...if book sales are any indication, Dr. Dean may poll better than expected in the South. According to BookScan, "Winning Back America" is selling slightly better in the South than in either the Northeast or the Pacific, two regions generally regarded to be supportive of Dr. Dean. A quarter of Dr. Dean's overall sales are in the South.

Whether Americans will vote the way they read remains to be seen, of course. But so far Howard Dean is faring as well in the bookstore as he is on the campaign trail.

Read the entire article here.

Howard Dean: Out of the Mainstream? Hardly

Governor Dean wrote an Op-Ed piece for the Washington Post in response to the Post's December 18 editorial on his foreign policy speech:

The Post repeatedly misstates my views. For example, I support missile defense efforts that make us more secure; I oppose deployment of any system not yet proven to work. I favor active talks with North Korea, backed by the threat of force, rather than a stubborn refusal to engage that has allowed the situation to become more dangerous by the day.

More important, The Post's editorial comes close to equating the Bush administration's foreign policy -- including its signature doctrine of "preemptive war" -- with the American foreign policy mainstream. In fact, the Bush agenda represents a radical departure from decades of bipartisan consensus on the appropriate use of U.S. power and our leadership in the world community.

And he closes with:

A critical presidential campaign is now underway. Americans face a choice between two very different views of our role in the world. My agenda returns security policy to its fundamental course: protecting Americans and advancing our values and interests -- democracy, freedom, opportunity and peace -- through effective partnerships and global leadership, as well as military strength.

The current administration strays wildly from this course and from the time-honored manner of pursuing it. In the end, I believe it will be clear who is in the mainstream and who is swimming against the tide of history.

Read the entire article here.

Holiday Vacation

Because of the holiday season, for the week of December 22nd to December 26th, the postings here on the Winning Back America blog will be irregular. New posts will appear though, so continue to check in.

Paul Krugman on Telling it Right

Paul Krugman, an outspoken New York Times columnist, cautions us on how easily history can be rewritten:

The capture of Saddam Hussein has produced a great outpouring of relief among both Iraqis and Americans. He's no longer taunting us from hiding; he was a monster and deserves whatever fate awaits him. But we shouldn't let war supporters use the occasion of Saddam's capture to rewrite the recent history of U.S. foreign policy, to draw a veil over the way the nation was misled into war.

...we should be deeply disturbed by the history of this war. For its message seems to be that as long as you wave the flag convincingly enough, it doesn't matter whether you tell the truth.

By now, we've become accustomed to the fact that the absence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction — the principal public rationale for the war — hasn't become a big political liability for the administration. That's bad enough. Even more startling is the news from one of this week's polls: despite the complete absence of evidence, 53 percent of Americans believe that Saddam had something to do with 9/11, up from 43 percent before his capture. The administration's long campaign of guilt by innuendo, it seems, is still working.

Read the entire column here.

NY Times Story: "Napster Runs for President in '04"

In tomorrow's New York Times, columnist Frank Rich compares Howard Dean to F.D.R. and J.F.K. and talks about the importance of the Internet to Dean's campaign. This is a must read story:

Even after Saddam Hussein was captured last weekend, all that some people could talk about was Howard Dean. Neither John Kerry nor Joe Lieberman could resist punctuating their cheers for an American victory with sour sideswipes at the front-runner they still cannot fathom (or catch up to). Pundits had a nearly unanimous take on the capture's political fallout: Dr. Dean, the one-issue candidate tethered to Iraq, was toast — or, as The Washington Post's Tom Shale memorably put its , "left looking like a monkey whose organ grinder had run away."

I am not a partisan of Dr. Dean or any other Democratic candidate. I don't know what will happen on Election Day 2004. But I do know this: the rise of Howard Dean is not your typical political Cinderella story. The constant comparisons made between him and George McGovern and Barry Goldwater — each of whom rode a wave of anger within his party to his doomed nomination — are facile. Yes, Dr. Dean's followers are angry about his signature issue, the war. Dr. Dean is marginalized in other ways as well: a heretofore obscure governor from a tiny state best known for its left-wing ice cream and gay civil unions, a flip-flopper on some pivotal issues and something of a hothead. This litany of flaws has been repeated at every juncture of the campaign this far, just as it is now. And yet the guy keeps coming back, surprising those in Washington and his own party who misunderstand the phenomenon and dismiss him.

The elusive piece of this phenomenon is cultural: the Internet. Rather than compare Dr. Dean to McGovern or Goldwater, it may make more sense to recall Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. It was not until F.D.R.'s fireside chats on radio in 1933 that a medium in mass use for years became a political force. J.F.K. did the same for television, not only by vanquishing the camera-challenged Richard Nixon during the 1960 debates but by replacing the Eisenhower White House's prerecorded TV news conferences (which could be cleaned up with editing) with live broadcasts. Until Kennedy proved otherwise, most of Washington's wise men thought, as The New York Times columnist James Reston wrote in 1961, that a spontaneous televised press conference was "the goofiest idea since the Hula Hoop."

And on the use of blogs:

"The term blog is now so ubiquitous everyone has to use it," says the author Steven Johnson, whose prescient 2001 book "Emergence" is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand this culture. On some candidates' sites, he observes, "there is no difference between a blog and a chronological list of press releases." And the presence of a poll on a site hardly constitutes interactivity. The underlying principles of the Dean Internet campaign "are the opposite of a poll," Mr. Johnson says. Much as thousands of connected techies perfected the Linux operating system's code through open collaboration, so Dean online followers collaborate on organizing and perfecting the campaign, their ideas trickling up from the bottom rather than being superimposed from national headquarters. (Or at least their campaign ideas trickle up; policy is still concentrated at the top.) It's almost as if Dr. Dean is "a system running for president," in Mr. Johnson's view, as opposed to a person.

Read the entire story here.

"If Dean Is Too Liberal Why Don't We All Just Shoot Ourselves?"

Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle columnist, writes a droll and insightful article on Howard Dean today:

An acquaintance of mine, Ted Webster, has thought of a fine bumper sticker. Goes like this: "If Dean Is Too Liberal Why Don't We All Just Shoot Ourselves?"

Yes, the dangerous radical who threatens our very way of life is the last in a long line of zany socialistic Vermont governors. They're almost Canadian. Leftie Dean cut state income twice and cut the state sales tax entirely, and increased prison terms for felons.

He is also, of course, opposed to an unprovoked invasion of a foreign country. He is opposed to lying about the reasons for the attack. This used to be an honorable opinion.

Read the entire column here.

Guest Reviewer Stuart Heady on Winning Back America

Guest reviewer Stuart Heady of www.Snohomish4Dean.us writes about "Winning Back America".

You can imagine sitting next to Howard Dean on a long flight, with plenty of time to ask him lots of questions. He tells you long stories to fill you in on his life history, his feelings about FDR, Vietnam, the Middle East, and the major issues. The book probably was written by someone who held a tape recorder microphone up so Dean could answer questions on long airplane trips between campaign stops.

I wish that the book's editor had started at Chapter 13, and put Section One second. This would start with the way Dean sees the campaign begin to take shape and involve more and more people. But, nevertheless for a good overview of who Howard Dean is, and highlights of the major positions on issues, this is well written and an informative read. The real Howard Dean, not the reflection in the media's funhouse mirror, is sitting with you as you read. Is this guy, the sort of person who should be President? Can you see him in the White House? Yes.

For those who want to argue the cause, this is a good handbook to work from, along with the blog and its daily updates.

-Stuart Heady
www.Snohomish4Dean.us

More Talk About the Dean Attack Ad

CBS News reports that three presidential candidates have begun running commercials in New Hampshire, as speculation about the real source of the Dean attack ads continues.

The political ad wars intensified as three Democratic presidential candidates launched commercials in New Hampshire this week and debate simmered over an ad that uses Osama bin Laden to criticize front-runner Howard Dean.

In 30-second ads, Joe Lieberman claims his record shows he has integrity, John Edwards showcases his plan to crack down on corporations, and Wesley Clark says he has the strategy for success in Iraq — echoing themes each has embraced on the campaign trail.

Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi said Wednesday he sent a letter to rival Dick Gephardt, questioning whether Gephardt's team is coordinating the attacks with the group, which would be illegal.

Several labor unions that endorsed Gephardt have donated thousands of dollars to the group, whose two top officials have ties to Gephardt.

"The ads are despicable and we ought to ask for the refund," said Rick Sloan, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists, which gave $50,000 to the AJHPV. "They've done more to damage Dick Gephardt than anything any of his opponents could have done or dreamed of doing."

Gephardt said Tuesday he had no idea who was financing the group. His campaign has said it learned about the group from news reports.

The entire report can be read here.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes that the Dean attack ads featuring Osama Bin Laden are coming to an end, but not because the sponsors think they are inappropriate.

As criticism from its donors mounts, a controversial political group led by former Democratic congressman Ed Feighan of Cleveland will end its attack-ad campaign aimed at Howard Dean, a front-runner in early Democratic presidential primary races.

Feighan says his group, Lakewood-based Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values, is ending the ads only because it has used up the TV commercial time it had bought.

To read the entire article, go here.

The New York Times responds to the Dean attack ad

In an editorial today, the New York Times argues against the appropriateness of ads such as the one attacking Dean's foreign policy experience.

That ad's message — that Dr. Dean, the former Vermont governor, lacks foreign policy experience — is fair enough. But it is delivered with low-blow stealth as the ad's graphics dwell entirely on the sociopathic bin Laden stare. The screen shows floating scraps of scare phrases, "Dangerous World . . . Destroy Us . . .," and finally the tag-line bodkin alleging that Dr. Dean "just cannot compete with George Bush on foreign policy."

The Osama ad was concocted with labor figures and politicians who have supported Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri, Dr. Dean's primary rivals, who disown any connection. It's always risky to ask how dumb the ad makers think voters are. But Grand Guignol attack ads underwritten by generic-sounding committees unconnected to any particular candidate are bad politics at any season.

To read the entire piece, go here.

"Capture doesn't justify invasion"

There's an interesting article by Joan Ryan in the San Francisco Chronicle discussing the ramifications of Saddam Hussein's capture.

You can't swing a picket sign in the Bay Area without hitting a "Defoliate Bush'' button on someone's "Vote for Peace'' T-shirt. You're more likely to spot cars bearing "No War in Iraq'' bumper stickers than "My child is an honor student at . . .'' To the rest of the country, the Bay Area is an island of radicalism, as fierce and out-of-touch as any Christian Coalition zealot.

There is some truth to this. But what is also true is that the ferocity that gave birth in the past year to protest marches and anti-war organizations serves a continuing, crucial purpose. It ensures that, despite months of spin and photo ops, there are voices reminding us of Bush's original rationale for the immediate invasion of Iraq, without waiting for international support:

There was imminent danger from weapons of mass destruction.

No matter what you think about the war, the world is better off with Saddam locked away in prison, reduced to a scared, ragged old man, utterly alone.

But as Cabasso and other Bay Area peace activists pointed out yesterday, if the American people had been asked last spring if bringing Saddam to justice -- as opposed to, say, the dictators in Burma or North Korea or Congo or any number of other countries -- was worth the billions in expenditures and the lives of their sons and daughters, they would have said no. Without hesitation.

To read the entire article, go here.

The "RepubliCard"

The hardworking Dean followers at North Bay Dean came up with this clever idea, and even managed to present a replica to Governor Dean during his visit to San Francisco. To see his reaction, visit the site.

Lord of the Roots

Who is this warrior? Looks familiar, but then...

This was created by "miles" at NorthBayDean.org who says, "It occurs to me that when you are opposing Dark Forces, there is always Hope."

Dean Delivers Major Foreign Policy Speech on Iraq and Security Challenges

Governor Dean gave this very powerful speech today in Los Angeles. You can watch the rebroadcast of it tonight at 8 PM ET on C-SPAN. Here's the complete text of the speech:

In the past year, our campaign has gathered strength by offering leadership and ideas – and also by listening to the American people. The American people have the power to make their voices heard and to change America’s course for the better.

What are the people telling us? That a domestic policy centered on increasing the wealth of the wealthiest Americans, and ceding power to favored corporate campaign contributors, is a recipe for fiscal and economic disaster. That the strength of our nation depends on electing a President who will fight for jobs, education, and real health care for all Americans.

But the growing concerns of the American people are not limited to matters at home: They also are increasingly concerned that our country is squandering the opportunity to lead in the world in a way that will advance our values and interests and makes us more secure.

When it comes to our national security, we cannot afford to fail. September 11 was neither the beginning of our showdown with violent extremists, nor its climax. It was a monumental wake-up call to the urgent challenges we face.

Today, I want to discuss these challenges. First I want to say a few words about events over the weekend. The capture of Saddam Hussein is good news for the Iraqi people and the world. Saddam was a brutal dictator who should be brought swiftly to justice for his crimes. His capture is a testament to the skill and courage of U.S. forces and intelligence personnel. They have risked their lives. Some of their comrades have given their lives.

All Americans should be grateful. I thank these outstanding men and women for their service and sacrifice.

I want to talk about Iraq in the context of all our security challenges ahead. Saddam’s capture offers the Iraqi people, the United States, and the international community an opportunity to move ahead. But it is only an opportunity, not a guarantee.

Let me be clear: My position on the war has not changed.

The difficulties and tragedies we have faced in Iraq show that the administration launched the war in the wrong way, at the wrong time, with inadequate planning, insufficient help, and at unbelievable cost. An administration prepared to work with others in true partnership might have been able, if it found no alternative to Saddam’s ouster, to then rebuild Iraq with far less cost and risk.

As our military commanders said, and the President acknowledged yesterday, the capture of Saddam does not end the difficulties from the aftermath of the administration’s war to oust him. There is the continuing challenge of securing Iraq, protecting the safety of our personnel, and helping that country get on the path to stability. There is the need to repair our alliances and regain global support for American goals.

Nor, as the president also seemed to acknowledge yesterday, does Saddam’s capture move us toward defeating enemies who pose an even greater danger: al Qaeda and its terrorist allies. And, nor, it seems, does Saturday’s capture address the urgent need to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction and the risk that terrorists will acquire them.

When I become president, addressing these critical and interlocking threats – terrorism and weapons of mass destruction – will be America’s highest priority.

To meet these and other important security challenges, including Iraq, I will bring to bear all the instruments of power that will keep our citizens secure and our nation strong.

Empowered by the American people, I will work to restore:

The legitimacy that comes from the rule of law;

The credibility that comes from telling the truth;

The knowledge that comes from first-rate intelligence, undiluted by ideology;

The strength that comes from robust alliances and vigorous diplomacy;

And, of course, I will call on the most powerful armed forces the world has ever known to ensure the security of this nation.

I want to focus first on two ways we can strengthen the instruments of power so we can achieve all our national security goals. Then I want to lay out my plans for dealing with the central challenges I have identified: defeating global terrorism, curbing weapons of mass destruction.

First, we must strengthen our military and intelligence capabilities so we are best prepared to defend America and our interests.

When the cold war ended, Americans hoped our military’s job would become simpler and smaller, but it has not.

During the past dozen years, I have supported U.S. military action to roll back Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, to halt ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, to stop Milosevic’s campaign of terror in Kosovo, to oust the Taliban and al Qaeda from control in Afghanistan. As President, I will never hesitate to deploy our armed forces to defend our country and its allies, and to protect our national interests.

And, as President, I will renew America’s commitment to the men and women who proudly serve our nation – and to the critical missions they carry out.

That means ensuring that our troops have the best leadership, the best training, and the best equipment.

It means keeping promises about pay, living conditions, family benefits, and care for veterans – so we honor our commitments and recruit and retain the best people.

It means putting our troops in harm’s way only when the stakes warrant, when we plan soundly to cope with possible dangers, and when we level with the American people about the relevant facts.

It means exercising global leadership effectively to secure maximum support and cooperation from other nations, so that our troops do not bear unfair burdens in defeating the dangers to global peace.

It means ensuring that we have the right types of forces with the right capabilities to perform the missions that may lie ahead. I will expand our armed forces’ capacity to meet the toughest challenges – like defeating terrorism, countering weapons of mass destruction, and securing peace – with robust special forces, improved military intelligence, and forces that are as ready and able to strengthen the peace as they are to succeed in combat.

When he ran in 2000, this president expressed disdain for “nation building.” That disdain seemed to carry over into Iraq, where civilian officials did not adequately plan for and have not adequately supported the enormous challenge, much of it borne by our military, of stabilizing the country. Our men and women in uniform deserve better, and as President, I will shape our forces based not on wishful thinking but on the realities of our world.

I also will get America’s defense spending priorities straight – so our resources are focused more on fighting terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and honoring commitments to our troops – and less, for example, on developing unnecessary and counterproductive new generations of nuclear weapons.

Leadership also is critically needed to strengthen America’s intelligence capabilities. The failure of warning on 9-11 and the debacle regarding intelligence on Iraq show that we need the best information possible about efforts to organize, finance and operate terrorist groups; about plans to buy, steal, develop, or use weapons of mass destruction; about unrest overseas that could lead to violence and instability.

As President, I will make it a critical priority to improve our ability to gather and analyze intelligence. I will see to it that we have the expertise and resources to do the job.

Because some terrorist networks know no borders in their efforts to attack Americans, I will demand the effective coordination and integration of intelligence about such groups from domestic and international sources and across federal agencies. Such coordination is lacking today. It is a critical problem that the current administration has not addressed adequately. I will do so – and I will meet all our security challenges – in a way that fully protects our civil liberties. We will not undermine freedom in the name of freedom.

I also will restore honor and integrity by insisting that intelligence be evaluated to shape policy, instead of making it a policy to distort intelligence.

Second, we must rebuild our global alliances and partnerships, so critical to our nation and so badly damaged by the present administration.

Meeting the pressing security challenges of the 21st century will require new ideas, initiatives, and energy. But it also will require us to draw on our proudest traditions, including the strong global leadership demonstrated by American Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, to renew key relationships with America’s friends and allies. Every President in that line, including Republicans – Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the first President Bush – demonstrated that effective American leadership includes working with allies and partners, inspiring their support, advancing common interests.

Now, when America should be at the height of its influence, we find ourselves, too often, isolated and resented. America should never be afraid to act alone when necessary. But we must not choose unilateral action as our weapon of first resort. Leaders of the current administration seem to believe that nothing can be gained from working with nations that have stood by our side as allies for generations. They are wrong, and they are leading America in a radical and dangerous direction. We need to get back on the right path.

Our allies have been a fundamental source of strength for more than half a century. And yet the current administration has often acted as if our alliances are no longer important. Look at the record: Almost two years passed between September 11 and NATO assuming the leadership of a peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. More than six months have gone by between the fall of Baghdad and any serious consideration of a NATO role in Iraq.

It can, at times, be challenging, even frustrating, to obtain the cooperation of allies. But, as history shows, America is most successful in achieving our national aims when our allies are by our side.

Now, some say we shouldn’t worry about eroding alliances because, whenever a crisis comes up, we can always assemble a coalition of the willing. It’s nice when people are willing, because it means they will show up and do their best. It does not, however, guarantee that they will be able to accomplish all that needs to be done.

As President, I will be far more interested in allies that stand ready to act with us rather than just willing to be rounded up as part of a coalition. NATO and our Asian alliances are strong coalitions of the able, and we need to maximize their support and strength if we are to prevail.

Unlike the kind of pick-up team this administration prefers, alliances train together so they can function effectively with common equipment, communications, logistics, and planning. Our country will be safer with established alliances, adapted to confront 21st century dangers, than with makeshift coalitions that have to start from scratch every time the alarm bell sounds.

Rebuilding our alliances and partnerships is relevant not only in Europe and Asia. Closer to home, my Administration will rebuild cooperation with Mexico and others in Latin America. This President talked the talk of Western Hemisphere partnership in his first months, but at least since 9-11 he has failed to walk the walk. He has allowed crises and resentments to accumulate and squandered goodwill that had been built up over many years. We can do much better.

Third, I will bring to bear our strengthened resources, and our renewed commitment to alliances, on our nation’s most critical and urgent national security priority: defeating the terrorists who have attacked America, continue to attack our friends, and are working to acquire the most dangerous weapons to attack us again.

Essential to this effort will be strong US leadership in forging a new global alliance to defeat terror.

And a core objective of this alliance must be a dramatically intensified global effort to prevent the most deadly threat of all – the danger that terrorists will acquire weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, biological, and chemical arms.

A critical component of our defense against terror is homeland security. Here, the current administration has talked much, but done too little. It has devised the color coded threat charts we see on television, but it has not adequately addressed the conditions that make the colors change. Our administration will.

We will do more to protect our cities, ports, and aircraft; water and food supplies; bridges, chemical factories, and nuclear plants.

We will improve the coordination of intelligence information not only among federal agencies but also with state and local governments.

And we will enhance the emergency response capabilities of our police, firefighters and public health personnel. These local first responders are the ones on whom our security depends, and they deserve much stronger support from our federal government. A Department of Homeland Security isn’t doing its job if it doesn’t adequately support the hometown security that can prevent attacks and save lives.

As President, I will strengthen the National Guard’s role at the heart of homeland security. Members of the Guard have always stood ready to be deployed overseas for limited periods and in times of crisis and national emergency. But the Iraq war has torn tens of thousands of Guard members from their families for more than a year. It also deprived local communities of many of their best defenders.

The Guard is an integral part of American life, and its main mission should be here at home, preparing, planning, and acting to keep our citizens safe.

Closing the homeland security gap is just one element of what must be a comprehensive approach. We must take the fight to the terrorist leaders and their operatives around the world.

There will be times when urgent problems require swift American action. But defeating al Qaeda and other terrorist groups will require much more. It will require a long-term effort on the part of many nations.

Fundamental to our strategy will be restoration of strong US leadership in the creation of a new global alliance to defeat terror, a commitment among law-abiding nations to work together in law enforcement, intelligence, and military operations.

Such an alliance could have been established right after September 11, when nations stood shoulder to shoulder with America, prepared to meet the terrorist challenge together. But instead of forging an effective new partnership to fight a common foe, the administration soon downgraded the effort. The Iraq war diverted critical intelligence and military resources, undermined diplomatic support for our fight against terror, and created a new rallying cry for terrorist recruits.

Our administration will move swiftly to build a new anti-terrorist alliance, drawing on our traditional allies and involving other partners whose assistance can make a difference.

Our vigilance will extend to every conceivable means of attack. And our most important challenge will be to address the most dangerous threat of all: catastrophic terrorism using weapons of mass destruction. Here, where the stakes are highest, the current administration has, remarkably, done the least.

We have, rightly, paid much attention to finding and eliminating the worst people, but we need just as vigorous an effort to eliminate the worst weapons. Just as important as finding bin Laden is finding and eliminating sleeper cells of nuclear, chemical, and biological terror.

Our global alliance will place its strongest emphasis on this most lethal form of terror. We will advance a global effort to secure the weapons and technologies of mass destruction on a worldwide basis.

To do so, we will build on the efforts of former Senator Sam Nunn and Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And our effort will build on the extraordinary work and leadership, as Senator and as Vice President, of one of America’s great leaders, Al Gore.

The Nunn-Lugar program has been critical to securing the vast nuclear, chemical, and biological material inventory left over from the Soviet Union. Incredibly, despite the threat that the nexus of terrorism and technology of mass destruction poses, despite the heightened challenges posed by 9-11, the current administration has failed to increase funding for these efforts to secure dangerous weapons. I know that expanding and strengthening Nunn-Lugar is essential to defending America, and I will make that a priority from my first day as President.

Our new alliance will call upon all nations to work together to identify and control or eliminate unsafeguarded components – or potential components – of nuclear, chemical and biological arms around the world. These include the waste products and fuel of nuclear energy and research reactors, the pathogens developed for scientific purposes, and the chemical agents used for commercial ends. Such materials are present in dozens of countries – and often stored with little if any security or oversight.

I will recruit every nation that can contribute and mobilize cooperation in every arena – from compiling inventories to safeguarding transportation; from creating units specially-trained to handle terrorist situations involving lethal substances to ensuring global public health cooperation against biological terror.

A serious effort to deal with this threat will require far more than the $2 billion annual funding the U.S. and its key partners have committed. We need a global fund to combat weapons of mass destruction – not just in the former Soviet Union but around the world – that is much larger than current expenditures.

Our administration will ask Congress to triple U.S. contributions over 10 years, to $30 billion, and we will challenge our friends and allies to match our contributions, for a total of $60 billion. For too long, we have been penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to addressing the weapons proliferation threat. We urgently need to strengthen these programs in order to defend America.

The next President will have to show leadership in other ways to mobilize the world into a global alliance to defeat terror.

We and our partners must commit ourselves to using every relevant capability, relationship, and organization to identify terrorist cells, seize terrorist funds, apprehend terrorist suspects, destroy terrorist camps, and prevent terrorist attacks. We must do even more to share intelligence, strengthen law enforcement cooperation, bolster efforts to squeeze terror financing, and enhance our capacity for joint military operations – all so we can stop the terrorists before they strike at us.

The next President will also have to attack the roots of terror. He will have to lead and win the struggle of ideas.

Here we should have a decisive edge. Osama bin Laden and his allies have nothing to offer except deceit, destruction, and death. There is a global struggle underway between peace-loving Muslims and this radical minority that seeks to hijack Islam for selfish and violent aims, that exploits resentment to persuade that murder is martyrdom, and hatred is somehow God’s will. The tragedy is that, by its actions, its unilateralism, and its ill-considered war in Iraq, this Administration has empowered radicals, weakened moderates, and made it easier for the terrorists to add to their ranks.

The next President will have to work with our friends and partners, including in the Muslim world, to persuade people everywhere that terrorism is wholly unacceptable, just as they are persuaded that slavery and genocide are unacceptable.

He must convince Muslims that America neither threatens nor is threatened by Islam, to which millions of our own citizens adhere.

And he must show by words and deeds that America seeks security for itself through strengthening the rule of law, not to dominate others by becoming a law unto itself.

Finally, the struggle against terrorism, and the struggle for a better world, demand that we take even more steps. The strategic map of the world has never been more complicated. What America does, and how America is perceived, will have a direct bearing on how successful we are in mobilizing the world against the dangers that threaten us, and in promoting the values that sustain us.

Today, billions of people live on the knife’s edge of survival, trapped in a struggle against ignorance, poverty, and disease. Their misery is a breeding ground for the hatred peddled by bin Laden and other merchants of death.

As President, I will work to narrow the now-widening gap between rich and poor. Right now, the United States officially contributes a smaller percentage of its wealth to helping other nations develop than any other industrialized country.

That hurts America, because if we want the world’s help in confronting the challenges that most concern us, we need to help others defeat the perils that most concern them. Targeted and effective expansion of investment, assistance, trade, and debt relief in developing nations can improve the climate for peace and democracy and undermine the recruiters for terrorist plots.

So will expansion of assistance to fight deadly disease around the world. Today, HIV /AIDS is the leading cause of death in many places.

We still are moving too slowly to address the crisis. As President, I will provide $30 billion in the fight against AIDS by 2008 – to help the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria meet its needs and to help developing nations meet theirs.

Fighting poverty and disease and bringing opportunity and hope is the right thing to do.

It is also, absolutely, the smart thing to do if we want children around the world to grow up admiring entrepreneurs, educators, and artists – rather than growing up with pictures of terrorists tacked to their walls.

We can advance the battle against terrorism and strengthen our national security by reclaiming our rightful place as a leader in global institutions. The current administration has made it almost a point of pride to dismiss and ridicule these bodies. That’s a mistake.

Like our country’s “Greatest Generation,” I see international institutions like the United Nations as a way to leverage U.S. power, to summon warriors and peacekeepers, relief workers and democracy builders, to causes that advance America’s national interests. As President, I will work to make these institutions more accountable and more effective. That’s the only realistic approach. Throwing up our hands and assuming that nothing good can come from international cooperation is not leadership. It’s abdication. It’s foolish. It does not serve the American people.

Working more effectively with the UN, other institutions, and our friends and allies would have been a far better approach to the situation in Iraq.

As I said at the outset, our troops deserve our deepest gratitude for their work to capture Saddam. As I also said, Saddam’s apprehension does not end our security challenges in Iraq, let alone around the world. Violent factions in that country may continue to threaten stability and the safety of our personnel.

I hope the Administration will use Saddam’s capture as an opportunity to move U.S. policy in a more effective direction.

America’s interests will be best served by acting with dispatch to work as partners with free Iraqis to help them build a stable, self-governing nation, not by prolonging our term as Iraq’s ruler.

To succeed we also need urgently to remove the label “made in America” from the Iraqi transition. We need to make the reconstruction a truly international project, one that integrates NATO, the United Nations, and other members of the international community, and that reduces the burden on America and our troops.

We also must bring skill and determination to a task at which the current administration has utterly failed: We can and we must work for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Our alliance with Israel is and must remain unshakeable, and so will be my commitment every day of our administration to work with the parties for a solution that ends decades of blood and tears.

I believe that, with new leadership, and strengthened partnerships, America can turn around the situation in the Middle East and in the Persian Gulf. I believe we can defeat terrorism and advance peace and progress. I believe these things because I believe in America’s promise. I believe in our capacity to come together as a people, and to act in the world with confidence, guided by our highest aspirations.

Again and again in America’s history, our citizens have faced crucial moments of decision. At these moments, it fell to our citizens to decide what kind of country America would be. And now, again, we face such a moment.

The American people can choose between a national security policy hobbled by fear, and a policy strengthened by shared hopes.

They must choose between a go-it-alone approach to every problem, and a truly global alliance to defeat terror and build peace.

They must choose between today’s new radical unilateralism and a renewal of respect for the best bipartisan traditions of American foreign policy. They must choose between a brash boastfulness and a considered confidence that speaks to the convictions of people everywhere.

I believe we will again hear the true voice of America.

It is the voice of Jefferson and our Declaration of Independence, forging a national community in which “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

It is the voice of Franklin Roosevelt rallying our people at a moment of maximum peril to fight for a world free from want and fear.

It is the voice of Harry Truman helping post war Europe resist communist aggression and emerge from devastation into prosperity.

It is the voice of Eleanor Roosevelt insisting that human rights are not the entitlement of some, but the birthright of all.

It is the voice of Martin Luther King proclaiming his dream of a future in which every man, woman and child is free at last.

It is the voice of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton bringing long-time foes to the table in pursuit of peace.

With these legacies to inspire us, no obstacle ahead is too great.

Our campaign is about strengthening the American community so we can fulfill the promise of our nation. We have the power, if we use it wisely, to advance American security and restore our country to its rightful place, as the engine of progress; the champion of liberty and democracy; a beacon of hope and a pillar of strength.

We have the power, as Thomas Paine said at America’s birth, “to begin the world anew.”

We have the power to put America back on the right path, toward a new era of greatness, fulfilling an American promise stemming not so much from what we possess, but from what we believe.

That is how America can best lead in the world. That is where I want to lead America. Thank you very much.

Publisher's Weekly reviews "Winning Back America"

The December 15th issue of Publisher's Weekly includes a brief review of "Winning Back America":

"I talk as simply and directly to people as possible," claims Dean, and though his official campaign biography-cum-manifesto is notable for its plainspokenness, it mostly lacks the passionate forcefulness the front-running Democratic candidate has shown on the campaign trail. The toning down appears deliberate; not only does Dean apologize for intemperate remarks, he goes out of his way to describe himself as a non-radical during his late '60s college years and compares his fiscal outlook to that of his "moderate business-oriented Republican" father. (He also has kind words for President Bush and his family, though he turns critical on the subject of the president's aides.) The account of his childhood and college years is bland, the result of downplaying his family's wealth. A feeling of enthusiasm doesn't set in until his decision to enroll in medical school, perhaps because that is also the period where he met his wife. Dean's flat facade also cracks in passages recalling the circumstances of his older brother's capture (and probable execution) by the Pathet Lao in Laos in 1974. Obliquely touching on the emotional effects of the trauma on his family, Dean also discusses how it has increased his reluctance to send American soldiers into combat and put their families through the same process. The final sections of the book veer away from the personal to the political, and much of its rhetoric will be instantly recognizable to anyone who's seen a Dean stump speech, possibly frustrating those who want to learn more deeply about the man and what he stand for.

Governor Dean Reacts to Saddam Hussein's Capture

Governor Dean issued the following statement in reaction to the weekend's events:

This is a great day for the Iraqi people, the US, and the international community.

Our troops are to be congratulated on carrying out this mission with the skill and dedication we have come to know of them.

This development provides an enormous opportunity to set a new course and take the American label off the war. We must do everything possible to bring the UN, NATO, and other members of the international community back into this effort.

Now that the dictator is captured, we must also accelerate the transition from occupation to full Iraqi sovereignty.

And the New York Times contends that the capture of Saddam Hussein could make the opposition by certain Democrats, such as Governor Dean, to the war in Iraq a moot point.

It could force Dr. Dean, Democrats said, to deal with a stronger incumbent in next year's general election, should the capture prove the turning point Mr. Bush has sought in the war. It could also lead to challenges from newly emboldened Democratic candidates who supported the war, who see an opportunity to attack Dr. Dean on his antiwar stance, the issue on which he has built his candidacy.

When asked whether he thought Hussein's capture would effect his run for president,

[Dr. Dean] refused to speculate on what it might mean for the presidential campaign or his own candidacy. "This is a day to celebrate the fact that Saddam's been caught. We'll have to wait to see what happens to the campaign later."

And at a fund-raiser on Sunday evening in San Francisco, a center of of the antiwar movement, Dr. Dean assured the crowd of 1,800 people that he was not bowed by the news from abroad.

"He is a bad person and we are all better off with him in captivity, but you should know that my views on Iraq have not changed one bit," he said to a standing ovation. "Some people said, `Oh, Saddam Hussein, he's caught, now the whole campaign's going to go away.' I don't think so."

To see the entire article, go here.

Guest Blogger John Burns: Dwight D. Eisenhower Stands Alone

John Burns is traveling through Spain and England and wearing his Howard Dean T-Shirt. He just sent in this uplifting report of European reaction to Dean:

The statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower stands alone. The statue is near the corner of the US embassy here in London. The area is cold and mostly lifeless. British security guards eye me from inside the compound with their automatic weapons at the ready. In better times families and workers strolled in front of our embassies. In better times, US Marines proudly provided security for our embassies. Now the area is triple fenced and there are multiple layers of concrete barricades. Tension and fear permeate the ghost town surrounding the embassy.

My wife Karen and I are on day 7 of a 9 day trip to Spain and England. People over here are shocked and angry at George Bush over the Iraq war. Americans are viewed as immoral leaders in pursuit of oil profits and corporate gain. Americans are viewed as a world problem rather than a solution to the problems of the world. Americans are seen as bullies taking what they want by force. Americans are viewed as responsible for creating the terror that makes them and their embassies unwelcome around the world.

We have talked to business people, students, cab drivers, and security guards and the common feelings run deep. Everyone feels America (and their own governments) has let them down. The first hint of that took place a week ago when we touched down at Heathrow airport in London. The customs screener asked me about my Dean Tee shirt. I told her we were sending President Bush back to Crawford Texas. She said Bush should take Tony Blair to Texas with him! The motion was seconded by her fellow customs agent. The stories like this continue on and on and are too many to list.

The highlight of this trip for me was last Saturday in Barcelona, Spain. I was cheered by common Spaniards as I jogged down main street, La Rambla, with My Dean Tee shirt and Dean construction hat. I was viewed as representing a new kind of American. I had tears in eyes as I high five'd through the ecstatic crowd. One lady shouted to me that I was "phenomenal" and shouts of olé rang out as I passed by.

Not everyone here knows who Howard Dean is at this point. However, Vice President Gore's endorsement has been front page news and people here are catching on fast. Without question, the people on the streets are looking for a new kind of American leader and when they sense one, they rejoice.

Our great nation, like the statue of Dwight Eisenhower, should not stand alone. We should stand with our brothers and sisters in Europe, working together, to solve the world's problems. With Howard Dean's leadership, we will once again enjoy the international respect America deserves. Europe, like America, is ripe for Howard Dean.

John Burns
In London, England
Hometown Seattle, WA
December 11, 2003

Guest Blogger Annie Fox: This is a Movement, a Reawakening

Guest blogger Annie Fox describes her experience at a house party she hosted:

Recently we hosted a "Bushwacking party" in our home. There were 18 of us there. We had a really great group, very high level conversation, and an inspiring conference call with Dean.

Several people who came in on the fence, uncertain, cynical, absolutely jumped on to the playing field by the end and are now ready to get involved. Many of us in the room agreed that what's building here is about more than Howard Dean's candidacy. This is a movement. It's re-awakening millions of Americans to the importance of being politically active. For way too long we've let the "great white father" call all the shots. After Vietnam and Watergate it's surprising that we had fallen asleep at the wheel again, but most of us had and the car's been hijacked.

But things are definitely changing. Now that we've seen the gang at the wheel running the economy into the ditch, bleeding education, social and environmental programs. Now that we've seen them working overtime to erode our civil liberties and promote the message that dissension is un-American. Now that they've driven us dangerously close to the edge in the international arena, we've finally fixed our eyes back on the road again.

Bush and company are so obviously going in the wrong direction, racing down a one-way street and running over anyone who gets in their way. There are lots of us who refuse to along for the ride. We are patriotic Americans in the tradition of people who stand up against tyranny. And because of that deeply cherished American value, we used to be the good guys. But now, because of greed, arrogance, and bully-ism, we're the most feared and hated people in the world. So here we are, more and more of us each day, willing to do whatever it takes to get those other guys the hell out of the car. Then, as a reawakened nation, we'll chart the next part of the journey together, with the rest of the world. Because, after all, there are no roads off of this planet.

In friendship,
Annie

The Other Dr. Dean

There's been a growing amount of mentions about Judy Dean in the news lately. Salon has a detailed profile on Dr. Judy Dean:

Dr. Judith Steinberg Dean, M.D., the Vermont internist married to the state's former governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean, has been MIA on her husband's campaign trail, and is bold in her assertion that she will remain almost as absent from his presidency and instead keep up her full-time medical practice.

The quicksilver Dean campaign has already turned water into wine by making his just-folks country doctor act into the hip campaign with momentum. That fizzy, effortless Howard Dean magic may be at work on his wife as well, transforming the abstemious Judith Steinberg -- aka Judy Dean -- into the perfect foil for a new presidential millennium. An unlikely mating of rural career girl, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Donna Reed, Dr. Steinberg could be the anti-Hillary, anti-Laura first lady that Americans have been waiting for: a cipher onto which every woman -- whether she has a high-powered career or is a stay-at-home mom -- can project herself. A woman who, like the rest of her husband's campaign, is almost too good to be true.

And the Des Moines Register attempts to inform its readers before the rapidly approaching primary:

"I love my practice and I have a commitment to my practice - I can't just leave my patients," Judy Dean, an internist, said in a recent interview with The Des Moines Register. It was one of the few she's given since her husband, also a physician, vaulted to the top tier of the nine-candidate field in the race for the nomination.

"That's my job, and Howard sees it that way, too," she said. "I don't plan on traveling unless I absolutely have to, just because it would really disrupt my practice, my life, my son left at home - that would be really difficult."

Gore Shocker

It's at this time of year our thoughts turn to Florida. For humorist Andy Borowitz's take on Gore's endorsement of Dean, go here.

Guest Reviewer: Jerome Wiley Segovia, Latinos For Dean

Jerome Segovia from Latinos For Dean sent in this review of Howard Dean's, "Winning Back America ."

Latinos For Dean, as an organization, has been planning to put together a book for all its volunteers by early 2004. In the book, we are planning to include information about Howard Dean, about his policies and plans for Latinos and for the country in general, as well as general information about primaries, electoral politics and a bit of history about the struggle of Latinos as members of the American community.

We were encouraged when we saw that Howard Dean was planning to publish a book about his life and candidacy. We thought, if Governor Dean, who is campaigning non-stop 24/7 can find the time to take notes, write, and help produce this book, then Latinos for Dean, with over 500 volunteers in 21 states and growing, can surely also work towards getting a book put together.

Howard's book finally became available a few days ago, and what a great read it has turned out to be. Perhaps we will see it translated into Spanish someday! It is a book that includes the major information a volunteer would want to know about his candidate, a good starting point for those who need to be eloquent about this incredible campaign, so they can continue communicating its message on the radio, at town hall meetings, at Meetups and many other situations.

Jerome Wiley Segovia was most recently employed by Electronic Data Systems and is now volunteering full time with Latinos For Dean.

It's Official: Gore Endorses Dean

Al Gore officially announced that he would give Governor Dean his support for the 2004 presidential election. In the New York Times this morning:

Mr. Gore announced his endorsement this morning at a fundraising event in Harlem, and planned to appear with Dr. Dean later in the day in Iowa, a state where Mr. Gore remains highly popular.

"I have come to the conclusion that in a field of great candidates, one candidate clearly now stands out,'' Mr. Gore said, standing alongside Dr. Dean. "So I am asking all of you to join in this great movement to elect Howard Dean president of the United States.''

"Democracy is a team sport,'' Mr. Gore said, "and I want to do everything I can to convince anyone who is interested in my judgment about who among these candidates has the best chance to win and the best chance to lead our country in the right direction. I want to do everything I can to convince you to get behind Howard Dean."

From CNN:

Gore said part of the reason he chose to endorse Dean was his ability to appeal to the nation's "grassroots" elements, a reference to Dean's success in organizing and raising funds on the Internet and in small voter gatherings.

Gore also praised Dean's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The former vice president called the Iraqi war a "catastrophic mistake" by the Bush administration, a move that leaves the United States less effective in the nation's battle against terrorism. He said the United States is now in a "quagmire" in Iraq.

"He was the only major candidate who made the correct judgment about the Iraq war," Gore said. "And he had the insight and the courage to say and do the right thing. And that's important because those judgments -- that basic common sense -- is what you want in a president."

See photos of the announcement here.

Gore to Endorse Howard Dean

Hot news flash, Al Gore is expected to announce his endorsement of Howard Dean tomorrow. Articles are now appearing in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, CNN, and elsewhere. From the New York Times:

"This is huge," said Donna Brazile, who was Mr. Gore's campaign manager in 2000. "It gives Dean what Dean has been missing most: Stature. Gore is a major league insider, somebody with enormous credibility that Democrats respect, who can rally the grass roots, and who's been speaking very strongly in the last few months about the direction he wants to take the country in."

Dr. Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, declined to confirm the report. "We're having our event tomorrow at 8 o'clock," Mr. Trippi said. "People can find out who it is then. We're not saying anything."

In the Chronicle:

Gore, who lost to President Bush in the disputed 2000 election, has agreed to endorse Dean in Harlem in New York City on Tuesday and then travel with the former Vermont governor to Iowa, site of the Jan. 19 caucuses which kick off the nominating process, said a Democratic source close to Gore.

In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said Gore's endorsement is more significant than all of Dean's labor endorsements.

"It goes so far in dispelling this idea that swirls around that Dean would not be a good candidate in the general (election), that Dean in some way would be damaging to the Democratic Party," McEntee said. "If there is anybody in this country who wants to beat George Bush again, I think it's Al Gore."

And on CNN's Web site:

Paul Begala, a political adviser for President Clinton and now a host of CNN's "Crossfire," called the endorsement an "enormous boost" that would clearly give Dean momentum going into Iowa and New Hampshire.

"The Dean Connection"

Samantha Shapiro's article, "The Dean Connection", in this weekend's New York Times Magazine discusses the untraditional methods of the Dean campaign and how it is successfully tapping resources that more conventional candidates have either yet to explore or truly take advantage of. And along with Dean's message, it is these methods that are attracting the scores of volunteers that continue to offer themselves up to Dean For America.

Long before Howard Dean was considered a plausible candidate for president, he seemed to emit some sort of secret call that made people, many of them previously apolitical, drop everything and devote themselves to his campaign. Even after the campaign's 45 official intern positions were filled, people kept showing up -- mostly young people, but also senior citizens in R.V.'s and middle managers from Microsoft.

At the headquarters of most political campaigns, there's a familiar organizational structure: a group of junior employees carrying out a plan devised by a bunch of senior advisers. The Dean headquarters feels different: a thin veneer of Official Adults barely hovers above a 24-hour hive of intense, mostly youthful devotion. When the adults leave, usually around 10 p.m., the aisles between cubicles are still cluttered with scooters and dogs; when they return in the morning, balancing just-microwaved cinnamon buns and coffee, they climb over pale legs poking out from beneath their desks and shoo sleeping volunteers off their office couches.

Shapiro's account of the seemingly endless stream of volunteers echoes Dean's own impression that he describes in "Winning Back America" of how so many Americans have found something to relate to in his campaign's message.

Click Here to read "The Dean Connection" in its entirety.

Gandhi Quote

I noticed this blog is mentioned on another blog that's supportive of Howard Dean, Value Judgment. When I visited there, I saw one of my favorite quotes:

First they ignore you
then they laugh at you
then they fight you
then you win.
- Gandhi

So, we're in the fighting stage? Definitely past being laughed at!

Guest Review by "Dean Fan": Read Dean's book!

This review was posted in the comments by one of the visitors to this blog. We wanted to make sure you didn't miss seeing it so we're copying it to the main page.

The Dean book is excellent. I've just started reading it and he's warm and funny and genuine.

I've read a ton of candidate books over the years and this one of the best. Dean is able to inspire confidence while remaining close to the reader. To the extent that it's a bit wonky, that's ok, even a good thing. Dean is a bit wonky. You feel like you're having a long dinner conversation with him. And because of that, it works as a book, and is not just some long promotion.

Most of all Dean comes across as a straight shooter.

Get your friends to read his book. If they read it, they'll vote for him. They'll even want to read a second book by him. (And no one since JFK has made me feel that way.)

If you submit a review to this blog, we might highlight yours too!

In The News

Across the country, people are talking about "Winning Back America". Renee Tawa of the Los Angeles Times writes about Governor Dean's book as well as those of the other presidential candidates in her article:

Today, Democratic front-runner Howard Dean is releasing "Winning Back America" (Simon & Schuster), a statesmanlike campaign biography, just as the former Vermont governor is struggling to widen his lead over Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and other rivals before the key Iowa caucuses on Jan. 19.

Linton Weeks in his Washington Post piece discusses the various candidates' books as well. Weeks breaks down the highs and lows of each book, and credits Governor Dean with one of the best jabs at President Bush:

It's official: Now there is at least one book either by or about every one of the nine announced Democratic candidates for the 2004 presidential nomination.

Some are good, some are bad. Some are thick, some are thin. Some are short, some are shorter. Some are direct, some are long-winded.

And that goes for their books, too.

Three of the hopefuls appear to have done most of the heavy lifting on their volumes -- at least, they take credit for the writing. The promo material for 'Winning Back America' by Howard Dean, for example, explains that the book was 'written in the candidate's own words.'

Molly Ivins: Picking a Winner

Author and Austin columnist, Molly Ivins, threw her support to Governor Dean today in her column. Here's an excerpt:

No one has been waiting with bated breath for me to make up my mind about the Democratic presidential candidates, but I have, and you might be interested in how I got there. I'm for Howard Dean -- because he's going to win.... I went up to Vermont and talked to a bunch of liberals there. They all said Howard Dean is no liberal. Funny, that's what Howard Dean says, too. And indeed, he isn't, but in politics, everything's relative. The conventional wisdom first dismissed Howard Dean (the man has never been to a Washington dinner party!), then condescended to him, then graciously offered him instruction on how he should be running his campaign -- which seemed to be going along quite well without their input....

Dean gives a hell of a speech -- even if you're Republican, you should go and hear him just for the experience. But I fretted about Dean on TV -- TV is so important. How could anyone poker up on Margaret Carlson of PBS, not one of the world's toughest interviewers? But then I saw Dean laugh his way through a Chris Matthews interview (which he should have done with Tim Russert, who was hell-bent on gotcha questions), and I know the guy can take care of himself. So he fights back if you get in his face -- that's not all bad.

I know, he's even less of a liberal than Bill Clinton was, but I don't think Dean is a moderate centrist. I think he's a fighting centrist. And folks, I think we have got ourselves a winner here.

Read the entire article here.

Transcript from 12/1/03 Good Morning America

On Monday, December 1, 2003, Governor Howard Dean appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to promote his book. Here is the complete transcript:

CHARLES GIBSON, ABC NEWS: Well, we're gonna turn to the front running Democratic candidate for president of the United States, Howard Dean. He has a new book out, it is called "Winning Back America." And the former governor of Vermont, Governor Dean is joining us live from Burlington, Vermont. Governor, good to have you with us.

GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRAT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) I, I, we'll get to the book in a moment, but I can't help but note, and I think everyone did, that you're recently back from Hawaii. And you were there for the repatriation of the apparent remains of your brother who's been missing for 29 years. And I wondered as you were there, and as you went through something that must have been quite moving, what your thoughts were as you watched that.

DEAN: Well, I was very grateful, first of all, to the United States military. They, the POW-MIA recovery operation is extraordinary. It's been going on for a long time to find the kind of remains they found of my brother and Neil Sharman, his Australian friend who he was traveling with, is extraordinary, after 29 years. And I think my family is really just very, very grateful for the closure. It, it's really quite extraordinary, what, what our, our troops are doing over there in terms of recovery.

GIBSON: (Voice Over) Who killed him? And is there bitterness in your heart?

DEAN: No. It's, that's, it's a long time. We suspect the North Vietnamese, but we don't know and we probably will never know.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) How do you carry that around daily? It's not something that you can put down. I'm not sure there is something of closure. And I'm curious ...

DEAN: No, there, there isn't.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) Sorry. Go ahead.

DEAN: There, there really, once you, a loss like this, the only worse loss I think is the parents' loss of a child. This was very, very tough on my parents. It was tough on us, but it was even tougher on them. And you never forget this. It, it lives, you live with it for the rest of your life. But there is a lot of closure in not having him missing anymore. About two years ago, I flew over to look at the operations and I went to five excavation sights for POW-MIAs that are over there. And the operation is just incredible. And what, what you do get when the remains come home is a sense that at least he'll be buried with everybody else in the family. And, you know, for the POW-MIAs who have been -or families who have been, had their loved ones repatriated, it makes a big, big difference. And for those who don't have their loved ones repatriated, it's, you, you understand what it's like after 29 years of waiting and wondering. It just, I can't explain it. I didn't expect to feel the closure I, I had. We all had. The four, three of us went out there, plus my mother. And it was really an extraordinary, an extraordinary thing.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) Let me ask you about the book, "Winning Back America." As I read it, and was able to read some of it last night, it, it seems to me there's a conscious attempt, and I don't mean to put words in your mouth, but it seems to me there's a conscious attempt in here to reassure people that you're not as far to left as some Democrats fear and as the Republicans will try to paint you. Is that a fair reading?

DEAN: No. That's not what I set out to do in the book. All I set out to do in the book was tell the story, tell my story of my governorship and a little bit about who I am and how I got to be where I was. Something about my childhood. And also some things I believe. I believe this country, this government has moved too far to the right. I don't think the government represents where the country is. To think that we ought, that we're the only industrialized country left without health insurance is pretty unbelievable, really, and it's not much of a tribute to the leadership or lack of leadership, of the president. To think that we're now stuck in Iraq, losing troops every single day for reasons that are never clear, because it didn't seem like we had a national security interest in Iraq and I don't think we did, is pretty unbelievable. To, to see Pell Grants being cut for college students and health care being cut for kids in order to give tax breaks to people like Ken Lay who ran Enron, by our government, is unbelievable. I think we want a different kind of America, and that's what the campaign's all about.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) You mention the president and Iraqi policy. I'm curious, what did you think of the president's trip to Baghdad?

DEAN: I thought it was great. I think that's the kind of thing that really helps the troops. The trouble is, last August he tried to cut the combat pay of the troops. He just cut, he's about to cut 164,000 veterans off their health care. So, this is a president who is big on the flashy gestures, but when it comes to substance and really helping America's veterans and America's troops, I don't see it there. And I don't think it's right to treat our troops in Iraq by doubling their tour of duty and then trying to cut their combat pay. Now they've backed off and they've increased the combat pay but the thought was there last August when he tried to do that. I, I don't think this president really understands what it takes to defend America. What it takes to defend America is treating the troops and treating your veterans properly, because those are the people who do defend America.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) I'm curious, you mention in the book you try to tell the story of your governorship in Vermont. A lot of reporters and other indeed representatives of the candidates who have gone up to Burlington to try to find out a little bit about your record as governor have found a lot of those records. I wonder why? Is there something in those records that you don't want public?

DEAN: No, sealing gubernatorial records is routine. You don't actually get to seal the majority of the records, just those sensitive parts that apply to other people. President Bush sort of takes the cake for his sealing. He, he actually had his sent, as I understand it, to his - father's Presidential Library, where there's a 50-year seal. So what I've said is every governor does seal their records. I'll unseal mine if he'll unseal all of his.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) All right, Governor. Appreciate your being with us. Once again, the name of the book is "Winning Back America," written by former Governor Howard Dean of Vermont. Good to have you with us, Governor. Thanks for being here.

DEAN: Thanks very much.

GIBSON: (Off Camera) You take care.

Tell Us What You Think About "Winning Back America"

If you've read the book, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Please post a review in the comments section below. We'd like to feature some of your reviews here on the main page.

Links to this Blog

Now that we've had our official launch (both of the blog and the book), we're starting to get mentioned in other blogs. One of the first is Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

Ten Questions About Governor Dean's New Book, "Winning Back America"

1. When did Dean work on his book?
Governor Dean started work on his book in April of 2003.

2. Does it tell me anything I don't already know?
Probably. There are sections that deal with family, his father and brother. "Winning Back America" reveals some of the personal facets of Dean that people don't often see. Governor Dean has written about his upbringing and family life for the first time. He also gives his personal account of his political career and reasons why he was prompted to run for President.

3. Why did Governor Dean decide to write this book?
People invariably want to know about the personal histories of the people they will vote for as President. Governor Dean wanted to present his side of the story, in greater depth and detail than any feature article or web piece can provide.

4. From reading the book, can we tell who the greatest influences have been on Howard Dean?
He lists his political heroes. A chapter goes into detail on what the loss of his father and his brother Charlie meant in his life.

5. Will Governor Dean be signing books anywhere?
Currently there are no scheduled signings, though keep checking back for updated information. You can always ask the Governor to sign a book if you meet him on the road.

6. How much of it is about his stint as Governor, and how much is about his plans for our country as President?
The book is mostly Dean's personal story, though it contains stories about how he got involved in politics, and his opinions on a number of issues like diversity, the economy, and education.

7. Has Governor Dean been interviewed on TV about the book? If so, where?
Click Here for a list of upcoming media events.

8. Does the Dean Campaign get any portion of the money from book sales?
No part of the proceeds for this book go to the campaign.

9. Why isn't the book being sold at DeanMart?
"Winning Back America" is not a product of the campaign, but it is available in almost every bookstore and through a variety of online retailers.

10. What is the most surprising detail in the book?
Readers may be intrigued by the story of how the Governor decided to become a doctor; by the manner in which he became Governor of Vermont; by his view of George W. Bush as a person and as a President. But you'll have to read the book to find out more.

Howard Dean on Chris Matthews's Hardball

Yesterday Governor Dean was featured on a special edition of Hardball at Harvard, and was grilled by Chris Matthews for an hour. Dean got to hold up his book, "Winning Back America", a couple of times:

MATTHEWS:  Let's go to fun questions and lighten it up here. Governor, it's nice to meet you in this circumstance in front of these smart people here. It's sort of like a cock fight here. Let me ask you, what's your favorite movie?

DEAN: Oh, probably "A Beautiful Mind." Pretty impressive movie.

MATTHEWS: Do you like Jennifer Connelly. She's pretty good. Just guessing. Let me ask you about -- you know you don't have to have one. Your favorite book.

DEAN: Well, Chris, I hate to do this to you, but...

MATTHEWS: Oh, no.

DEAN: [holding up his book] It's actually issued today, by Simon and Schuster and it says "Too to Chris, with warmest wishes, Howard Dean."

MATTHEWS: You know, it's amazing how all these books go straight to paperback. Lets go too...

DEAN: Chris, that's 20 percent off on amazon.com, but Kerry's is 40 percent off. So, I'm still ahead.

Click Here to watch part of the interview. Read about the show in this Boston Globe article.