Posted on 01/03/2004 9:42:27 PM PST by rocky88
I know this is an old interview with Dean, but I was surprised to hear his complimentary words for Cheney as well as Bush. Besides, I picked up on this while lurking at DU and according to the Dean supporters, they are terrified of this interview getting out into the mainstream now!!! PLEASE DO YOUR BEST TO SPREAD IT AROUND.
Also, I did search FR to see if this was posted in 7/02 and to the best of my ability, it was not found.
Read on...
By DAVID WALLIS, NYTimes on the Web, July 14, 2002
Q You are arguably the least-known candidate running for the Democratic presidential nomination, even though you've served longer than any standing Democratic governor -- 11 years -- and according to a longtime observer of Vermont politics, you've been ''running for president since you were 15.''
That's abject nonsense. I realized that I could do this after my last election campaign for governor. I actually toyed with running before the 2000 campaign, but I realized at that time there was no way I was going to beat an incumbent vice president.
Going up against people like Al Gore in 2004, how hard is it for you to raise money?
It's hard. We're going to do most of ours in small donations. If you are not a household name, people are not interested in writing big checks or calling other people to get them to write big checks. The trick is gluing your fanny in the chair and dialing. You would be astonished to find out how many politicians will find any excuse not to do that.
Describe your worst day on the trail so far.
The worst one was when I got to Greek Day in Boston thinking I was giving a speech, but all the speeches were to be given in Greek.
Best day?
Having breakfast with the head of the United Auto Workers in Iowa, who invited me to speak at a convention. He's probably the leading labor leader in Iowa, and that's a huge invite for me because nobody knows who I am. The activists in Iowa are beginning to know who I am. In other states, people have never heard of me.
You used to be a practicing physician. Do your skills as a doctor come in handy on the trail?
There are three skills, but only two of them come in handy. The first is that I base my positions on fact, not emotion or ideology. That's a good thing. It keeps me in the center of most issues because the solutions are in the center. Secondly, I have the ability to make a decision quickly. The third quality I don't think has served me so well. Doctors tend to be impatient. I like results. And the legislative game is a game of process, not results.
You know Bill Clinton well. Has he given you any advice on running for president?
He was very helpful in framing an issue that's become the most important one in the campaign -- economic security. People are not angry at business, but they don't trust it. What he helped me do is frame the issue without sounding like a foam-at-the-mouth populist. In my speeches, I talk about playing by the rules, which is a great way of talking about corporations without seeming antibusiness, which I don't want to do.
He governed a small state and went on to the White House. Is he your political role model?
I don't have the kind of political skills he has. I will model my campaign more after Jimmy Carter's or Gary Hart's or even John McCain's.
Pundits often compare you to McCain for your candor. As he gained in the polls, his foes spread rumors that he was a loose cannon. Already rumors are starting to pop up that you've got a bad temper.
[Laughs] I don't think I've yelled at people on my staff in 11 years. There have been 4 or 5 people I've yelled at, maybe 10 or 11. One person a year is not exactly a bad temper.
Who would be your model as a vice president?
Dick Cheney. It sounds like an odd thing to say because I don't agree with almost anything he says, but he's incredibly competent. He knows how government works.
Rate President Bush.
He's doing a fine job on the war on terrorism. I think he gets an F on domestic policy. I think the tax cut is irresponsible. His welfare proposal takes power away from the states and centralizes it in the federal government, as does his education bill. And he's done nothing on health care. So I find no redeeming social value in the president's domestic agenda.
Debunk the theory that only Southern Democrats can win the White House.
I was born a Yankee, and there's nothing I can do about that. But I'm an odd duck. I signed the most far-reaching gay rights bill in the country, and I have an A grade from the National Rifle Association. So who knows where this will go?
If you don't make it to the White House, what will you do for a living?
Something in public policy.
You won't go back to medicine?
If I were you, I would not be my first patient after 11 years.
| Rank | Location | Receipts | Donors/Avg | Freepers/Avg | Monthlies | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Mississippi | 220.00 |
2 |
110.00 |
106 |
2.08 |
30.00 |
3 |
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Howard the Duck?
He is an odd duck!!!
A ham-handed version of what all politicians -- Clinton in particular -- do.
I think he's behaving like a politician who has never suffered a campaign with media saturation. He doesn't know how to appeal to one group without alienating the other.
That explains his constricted vision. Mercury poisoning?
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