Posted on 08/29/2003 4:54:52 AM PDT by chambley1
(The following is the text of a recent statement by Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer, Jr., a Falls Church businessman, explaining his role as National Treasurer for the Dean for America campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean) By Donald S. Beyer, Jr.
How often do we get to be part of a Profile in Courage?
I have known Howard Dean for 13 years, and for 13 years he has been surprising me with his fearlessness in addressing the pressing issues before him.
When Gov. Snelling died of a heart attack, and Lt. Gov. Dean was sworn in as Vermont’s chief executive, he faced the worst budget crisis in that state’s history. With discipline, focus and courage, he balanced the budget, alienating special interests and even friends from all sides.
A year later, dismayed by the intractable and persistent poverty of some in rural Vermont, he tackled welfare reform, making him the first governor in the nation to rebalance our responsibilities to both care for the poor and to give them the tools to lift themselves up. Again, his leadership to change the status quo was resisted by most.
Since 1948 and President Harry Truman’s call for universal health care coverage, Americans have looked forward to a leader who would recognize basic health care as a fundamental right.
In all those year, only one governor (a doctor, too, unsurprisingly) has put himself on the line to expand health care coverage to every person in his state. Howard Dean fought for universal health insurance in Vermont – the political realities limited him to a smaller victory: health care insurance for virtually every child under the age of 18.
Of 50 states, only Gov. Dean’s Green Mountain state can claim this care and investment in its children.
In 2000,.Howard Dean signed the nation’s first Civil Union legislation, guaranteeing equal rights for hospital visitation, insurance coverage, and inheritance for all committed couples. This legislation was deeply unpopular in the polls. The governor faced a tough reelection bid. Yet he did not waver, in fact he never even pondered the benefits of a veto, but with courage and grace made law and history.
In 2001, after the Supreme Court decided that Florida could not count the contested ballots and gave George W. Bush the power to run our country, Dr. Dean decided on the riskiest course of all – to run for president of the United States.
Howard had absolutely none of the traditional advantages most presidential candidates usually have. He did not come from a big, rich state. He had not spent years in the salons of the very wealthy. His national name recognition was around 1%.
But he had courage. He knew that someone had to go on the road to fight this president, and all the unhappy policies he has wrought. Someone had to speak out against economic policies that were bringing large-scale flights of capital out of the U.S., as our budget management looked more and more like Argentina’s.
Someone had to criticize President Bush’s tax cuts that only made the rich richer while doing nothing to stimulate new jobs and economic growth.
Someone had to fight for health care for all Americans.
Then came the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz run-up to the war in Iraq.
Through the long election season of 2002, in political machinations that reminded everyone of “Wag the Dog,” George Bush and Karl Rove drove a political agenda that stressed the imminent danger of Iraq to the American people, and the need for an immediate invasion.
Most Democrats, fearing the perception of “weakness,” in fact acted weakly, and gave George Bush a free ride, authorizing the president to use military force against Iraq at his own discretion.
Only Howard Dean offered a profile in courage.
Only Howard Dean said, “No!” Where was the evidence for current weapons of mass destruction? Where was the link between Saddam Hussein’s evil government and al Qaeda?
Would America be safer after we had alienated most of our allies, weakened support for the war on terrorism, fired up the hatred of the Muslim world, and mocked the United Nations which has kept the globe free of World War since 1945?
Of the many good people running for the Democratic nomination for president, only one has been unflinching in his defense of our national values, of courage, of unselfishness, of community, of tolerance, of investing in each other, and of our resolute commitment to character and strength: Gov. Howard Dean.
No wonder when he speaks, from Atlantic City to Sacramento, people end up standing on their chairs, cheering.
Now, in a desperate attempt to derail the campaign of the only man who can beat George Bush, the whisperers are questioning Dr. Dean’s electability.
Well, here are the facts:
• In Iowa we have moved to “statistical tie” for first place while three other major candidates are in a “free fall.”
• In New Hampshire we are tied with John Kerry.
• A recent Newsweek poll indicates that nationally the race has narrowed to a field of four that includes Howard Dean.
The momentum is all in our direction. We now have more than 186,000 Dean volunteers who have signed up via the Internet. No one in American history has ever achieved this number, and the Iowa/New Hampshire contests are still almost six months away.
Sh*t! Raisin Bran all over the keyboard.....
Courage = taking money from people at gunpoint and giving it to other people to get votes
How does someone with such a lack of understanding of world events reach a position of such responsibility?
Sorry...dumb question...
In a way, I hope that Hillary! does decide to run, because I don't think Howard and Al and Ketchup Boy are eager to step aside for the witch.
BTW, since when was being a Senator for 3 years sufficient experience to be a President? If Hillary! reverts back to 'co-President' mode, she's going to open herself up to some very interesting questions, ala, what did she know, and when did she know it?
This is one reason he is gaining momentum. I don't agree with him on most issues but a broken clock is right twice daily.
"Son of a Falls Church businessman" would be more like it. If Don Jr. ever had to make it in business himself, he'd starve within a week. Friends in the auto trade tell me that when Don Sr. put Don Jr. in charge of used cars at the Beyer Volvo (that's right, you guessed it) dealership in Falls Church, sales went from around sixty cars a month to around seven or eight and then, when Jr. went off to political life and the dealership went for several months without a used car manager, the number went back up to around forty. In other words, Jr. was about 30 cars a month worse than NOTHING.
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