Dean the Draft Dodger? The Worst of Howard Dean

Slate ^ | 08/28/03 | Slate

[jmcclain19]

http://slate.msn.com/id/2087543

Slate continues its short features on the 2004 presidential candidates. Previous series covered the candidates' biographies, buzzwords, agendas, worldviews, and claims to fame. This series assesses the story that supposedly shows each candidate at his worst. Here's the one told by critics of Howard Dean—and what they leave out.

Charge: In 1971, Dean, who had been a wrestling team captain in high school, received a draft deferment for an unfused vertebra in his back. In the Aug. 15, 2002, Aspen Times, Dean said he "skied 80 days" in Aspen during the winter of 1971-72. The Times reported that Dean "loved skiing bumps," otherwise known as moguls. (Some health publications note that moguls can put particular stress on the spine.) "It was a great time to be a kid and do something relatively fun," Dean recalled. He added that he also worked that year "pouring concrete." Time reported on Aug. 11, 2003, that Dean spent the year "skiing and bumming around. … He hit the slopes, tried pot, washed dishes, poured concrete and drank impressive amounts of beer." On June 22, 2003, Tim Russert asked Dean on Meet the Press, "Why were you able to ski on Ajax Mountain, pounding your back, and pouring concrete, and not serve in the military?"

Defense: Dean told Russert, "I was given an examination. I had a previous back problem, which is evidently congenital, which prevented me from doing any sustained running, a problem that I've had since then, since that time, which requires that when I get out of the car I often have some pains up and down my leg and back and so forth. But I have been able to exercise [and have] a vigorous athletic life except for some things. One of those is long-distance running, which is how the problem came to my attention in the first place. I noticed the pain when I was in high school running track. … After the physical, I received a 1-Y deferment, [which] means you can only be called in times of national emergency. I didn't have anything to do with choosing any draft deferment. … The United States government said this is your classification. I'm not responsible for that."

In the May 25, 2003, Washington Post, Dean's campaign manager, Joe Trippi, said, "[Dean's] view is, 'Look, I went in, got a physical and was rejected, and then I went on with my life.' "

[jmcclain19]

From Today's Slate - Could it be we have yet another Draft Dodging Democrat leading the pack?

[gonzo]

klintoon had Fulbright to pull strings. Who did Dean have???........FRegards

[overlord]

Or could it be just another chicken hawk?

[MHGinTN]

Draft dodging? ... Simply irrelevant ... the man has performed abortions, so he's a serial killer now seeking the highest office of this Republic. Everything else the ghoul has done or said is an 'also ran' when placed beside such gross behavior against human life.

[Russell Scott]

Come on, he was young and stupid, just like Arnold.

See what happens Freepers when you start excusing candidates behavior. I don't care what is behind their name, CHARACTER COUNTS!!!

Go Tom go!

[GOPyouth]

Is this an accurate title of the article? It may have changed since you posted it, but it's different than what you have.

[VietVet]

No, this is one where I have to agree with dean's campaign manager. My brother received a 4-f deferment/exemtion for much the same thing, and his had already been corrected -- as much as it could be corrected -- by surgery. And my brother is and was very athletic, skiing, swimming, track and field.

Of course my brother managed to find a way to work for the U.S. Government in Vietnam anyway. He was stationed there longer than I was, in fact.

VietVet

[q_an_a]

Dean is a doctor, was the doctor in the local draft board a family friend? Was Mr. Dean's father a doctor? Local draft boards, in those days,were/are all powerful, this is an easy inside job.

[Non-Sequitur]

Considering all the draft dodgers at the head of the GOP leadership I don't think we want to go down this path.

[AppyPappy]

Hell, the military shot me down for a bad heart because I had been checked for a heart murmur as a child. They didn't want any medical conditions they would have to fund later.

[judywillow]

The whole world was dodging the draft during the Vietnam war. Unless you have some sort of a grand scheme for ruling the entire baby-boom generation out of any consideration for political office, you'd be better off finding other arguuments against the Howard Deans of the world. They aren't that hard to find.

[J. L. Chamberlain]

Could it be we have yet another Draft Dodging Democrat leading the pack?

Draft dodging? Dean showed for his physical and was found unfit for duty. How's that draft dodging?

J

[donozark]

Not everyone was dodging the draft during the Vietnam War. I can name almost 60K who did not...

[jonalvy44]

Sorry, I have to share this...

I was at the Stark County Fair yesterday (Canton, OH) and I was walking thru the "political" building, where all the local politicos have tables, etc. I saw a Dean table. It was being manned by this pony-tailed hippie who could only guffaw when I asked if Hillary was going to join the race and that it didn't matter b/c GW was gonna whip either one of em.

Then I noticed a chick standing their with a Dean sign. Talk about a couple of the misfits from our social order finding a home with the Dean campaign. This chick, not to disparage too much, looked seriously ill, as in mentally. She was a little on the heavy side, but wore tight and short blue polyester slacks with a green buttondown that was too short. She also had a full-grown mustache. I'm serious. Like a car wreck, I couldn't look away.

Point being, mainstream America isn't going to support Dean when his base is the fringe, anti-war left.

Bush 2004