17 Things You Don't Know About Howard Dean

People.com ^ | January 14, 2004 | JD HEYMAN and JANE SIMS PODESTA

[billorites]

He's a hardheaded penny-pincher, she's a publicity-shy doctor. PEOPLE magazine sat down with Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean, 55, and his wife, Judy, 50, for their first joint interview. Read 17 things we learned about him, then peruse the exclusive transcript.

1. He calls his wife "sweetie"; she calls him "Howie."

2. He wore his prom tuxedo to one of President Clinton's White House state dinners to save money, but coughed and split his pants and had to be escorted home by state troopers covering his posterior.

3. His staff forced him to buy a new suit at Paul Stuart in New York for the campaign (it cost $800). "It nearly killed me."

4. He always turns off the lights when he walks out of a room. He used to get into fights with his wife about turning up the heat in the winter, so now she pays the bill so he doesn't have to see it.

5. The last sitcom he watched was All in the Family in its original run.

6. He is compulsive about recycling. Once he picked up every newspaper off an airplane at the end of a flight and hauled them to a recycling center. He also does recycling inspections of his staffer's bins.

7. He insists that paper in his office be printed on both sides.

8. He likes Outkast and Wyclef Jean (his son's music) as well as Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead.

9. He fixes the toilet at home; plumbing is his "therapy."

10. He never takes taxis or limos. In New York City he takes the subway.

11. Asked his favorite food indulgence, he responds: fish. (He later amends this to chocolate chip cookies.)

12. He drinks generic ginger ale and snacks to save money.

13. He plays the guitar and harmonica. He sings '60s folk tunes (see: Peter, Paul and Mary above.)

14. Despite his reservations about cost, he was finally persuaded to take his shirts to the dry cleaner last year. He used to just throw them in the wash.

15. As the governor of Vermont, he drove himself and pumped his own gas.

16. He has been known to tape his shoes together.

17. He wears '70s-style gold-rimmed glasses that he won't update; his wife carries a purse covered in pen marks. They are both devoted discount shoppers ...

[evolved_rage]

He is compulsive about recycling. Once he picked up every newspaper off an airplane at the end of a flight and hauled them to a recycling center. He also does recycling inspections of his staffer's bins.

whacko nut case. He'll be scrubbing bathrooms in the White House while the Saudis buy Nukes.

[Wright is right!]

How on earth can someone walk if their shoes are taped together?

18. He gets anxiety attacks when told he's responsible for 600,000 people.

Michael

[ChuckShick]

19. He only wipes twice.

[alisasny]

10. He never takes taxis or limos. In New York City he takes the subway.

UMMMMM OK

[evad]

18..He spends hours on end looking for the strawberries and rattling his balls.

[admiralsn]

19.5 He only wipes twice ...with sandpaper

[Tijeras_Slim]

19. He only wipes twice.

Funny, he sounds more anal than that.

[T Minus Four]

I hate this kind of self-righteous, ahem......niggerdly-ness. My retired parents live in an upscale four bedroom three-story home, drive two newer cars, and like to brag about how they reuse foil and coffee filters.

[jsbankston]

15. As the governor of Vermont, he drove himself and pumped his own gas.

OK, 1 of 17 is cool.

[Khurkris]

Except for his musical and political tastes, he sounds ok to me.

Of course I DO NOT endorse him. Just a comment on his personal customs.

[mystery-ak]

He's certifiable....paging Dr. Krauthamer..

[billorites]

plumbing is his "therapy"

Guess the counseling didn't take.

[woofie]

He smokes old stogies he has found....

Short, but not to big around....

[Jaded]

And the words that made him swoon..... Attention K-Mart shoppers...

[Solson]

Did Letterman become a writer for People? This cannot be what the Deaniacs wanted to see....

[Tijeras_Slim]

Thrift is one thing, but certain forms of cheapness have always impressed me as a mental disease. (re: Dean, not your folks)

[Richard Kimball]

He fixes the toilet at home; plumbing is his "therapy."

Now this is one sick individual. I fix my own plumbing, but it sure as h*ll ain't for the joy of it.

[lugsoul]

Just so no one runs afoul here - I believe that word is niggardly.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

niggerdly

Proper spelling would be 'niggardly'. Gotta watch that.