Some Other Reading That Might Interest You.
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of The United States of America
The Bill of Rights  and   Other Amendments
The Gettysburg Address

Campaign Journal:   FRONT LINES,  by Ryan Lizza, The New Republic, 3/25/03, (here)
 

Dean is hoping he'll be able to continue projecting this straightforwardness even after Iraq no longer dominates the Democratic race. He says he's going to spend the war laying out his positions on health care, education, and other issues rather than attacking the president. "I won't criticize the president during this time, but I will criticize the policy," he says. "It will allow me in the next three or four weeks, as this war is going on--I hope it only lasts that long--to limit myself to positive remarks. ... Instead of criticizing the president's policy on health care, I'll lay out my own. Instead of criticizing the president's policy on education, I'll lay out my own." But, once the war is over, Dean may face other challenges. With his Iraq hook gone, at least one rival campaign will try to pull the plug on another source of Dean's energy--the claim that he represents the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Expect an attack on Dean from the left on Social Security, the death penalty, guns, abortion, and federalism.

Dean's rhetoric on war creates a campaign stir
By Glen Johnson, Boston Globe Staff, 3/23/2003, (here)
 

WASHINGTON - Senators John F. Kerry and John Edwards are rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, but last week they were united on at least one point: disdain for the political and moral supremacy claimed by a third candidate, Howard Dean, over war with Iraq.

Iraq occupation a legal minefield
By Pete Williams, NBC NEWS, 3/22/03, (here)
 

— When the U.S. military reaches Baghdad and hostilities cease, it will become an occupying force, required to follow a system of international law and treaties, some of which could be applied for the first time in history.

Dean, Kerry about even in latest N.H. poll.   By Associated Press, 3/21/2003 14:31, (here)
 

In the American Research Group poll released Friday, 23 percent supported Kerry, with 22 percent for Dean. Kerry's support remained steady from a similar poll last month, while Dean's increased from 16 percent.

Howard Dean and the Liberal Identity: Addressing the Issues Middlebury College,3/20/03, (here)

Cattle Call: The Democratic presidential candidates talk war in California.
By William Bradley, American Prospect, Web Exclusive: 3.19.03, (here)
 

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- As the imminence of war in Iraq has increased -- and even as American public opinion has become more supportive of that war -- opposition emerged as the central theme of a California Democratic Party convention last weekend that was visited by a half-dozen Democratic presidential hopefuls. In the first major campaign "cattle call" outside Washington, the opponents of war with Iraq, most notably former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.), were rapturously received. The supporters of war, widely regarded as the leading candidates in the nascent campaign, were not.

DeLay’s ploy: Building up Dean to aid GOP   By Jonathan E. Kaplan, The Hill, 3/19/03, (here)
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is drawing as much attention as possible to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean in the hope that this will compel other Democratic presidential candidates to go out on a limb and match his anti-war rhetoric.

(3/19/03)
from our mailbox:

"This is a very simplistic story, but a powerful message.

AND SO IT MAY BE WITH GERMANY, FRANCE and BELGIUM one day."

Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 15:25:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Larry Green (lalygreen@yahoo.com)
Subject: Apathy
To: BillOReilly (oreilly@foxnews.com)
Cc: "Gov. Howard Dean" (gov@sover.net), "Gov. Howard Dean" (howarddean@sover.net), "H.E. Ambassador Dr. Gunter Pleuger" (contact@germany-un.org), "H.E. Ambassador Mr. Sergey Lavrov" (rus@un.int), "H.E. Ambassador Wang Yingfan" (chinamission_un@fmprc.gov.cn), "Rep. Jane Harman" (jane.harman@mail.house.gov), "Sen. Tom Daschle" (tom_daschle@daschle.senate.gov), "Rep. Anna Eshoo" (annagram@mail.house.gov), Sharleen Esler (sesler@leightongeo.com), "Rep. Samm Farr" (samfarr@mail.house.gov), Feinstein (senator@feinstein.senate.gov)

Barbs, jokes fly at St. Pat’s breakfast,   by Kevin Landrigan, Telegraph Staff, 3/18/03, (here)
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean accepted from Streeter a New Hampshire tie as a gift, calling it an upside-down map of his home state. Streeter didn’t wait long to try to put Dean in his place. “You’re a good sport, governor. I don’t see any reason in the world you can’t beat Al Sharpton,’’ he said.

A little snow may clear our minds, by Diane Carman, Denver Post, March 18, 2003, (here)
 

For weeks, it's been hard to think of anything but Iraq. The tortuous stalemate in the United Nations, the marshaling of troops in the Middle East, the incendiary rhetoric lobbed between Washington and Baghdad has the whole world on its last nerve.

On Saturday, with President Bush jetting to a summit in the Azores and war anxiety reaching new heights, the California Democratic Convention heard from six of the party's nine candidates for president. One of them, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, was booed off the stage for his support for war. Later that day in Denver, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont and former Sen. Gary Hart received enthusiastic applause for their opposition to a unilateral war against Iraq at the Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson dinner.

Presidential candidate says he will back troops, not Bush’s war policies
By Christopher Graff, Associated Press, Portsmouth Herald, Mar. 18, 2003, (here)
CONCORD - Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Monday that war with Iraq will not silence his outspoken criticism of the presidential policies that led to it.

Both Parties Close Ranks Behind the President, by The New York Times, March 17, 2003
Most major Democratic presidential candidates also said they would abandon their criticism of Mr. Bush's diplomatic efforts and support him now that it appeared the nation was about to go to war. One Democrat, former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, broke from the pack. (more)

Edwards, Dean split on Iraq in speeches to Calif. Democrats
by Erica Werner, Associated Press Writer, Saturday, March 15, 2003, (here)

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- California Democratic activists booed Sen. John Edwards Saturday as he pledged support for disarming Iraq by force, and greeted anti-war statements by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean with wild applause.

"I believe that Saddam Hussein is a serious threat, and I believe he must be disarmed including the use of military force if necessary," Edwards, D-N.C., told delegates to the annual California Democratic Party convention.

The crowd booed loudly and briefly interrupted his remarks with cries of "No war! No war!"

Hours later Dean issued an apparent challenge to Edwards and other Democratic presidential hopefuls, including Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who voted for last fall's congressional resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq.

"What I want to know is what in the world some of these Democrats are doing supporting the president's unilateral intervention in Iraq," he said to sustained applause.

"We want Dean! We want Dean!" the crowd shouted.

Meet The Nation: Howard Dean,   by Robert Corn, The Nation, posted 3/14/03, (here)

Dean Sounding Unusual Notes -- Boasts of cutting taxes,
in an interview at the Sun, by Ira Stoll, The New York Sun, Mar. 12, 2003, (here)

- Governor Dean, the former chief executive of Vermont, is sounding some unusual notes for a man with a reputation as the anti-war presidential candidate from the state that’s home to activist ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry’s and socialist congressman Bernie Sanders.

“We cut taxes a lot in Vermont,” Dr. Dean said yesterday in a visit with editors of The New York Sun, saying that under his leadership the state cut its marginal income tax rate by 30%. “I just don’t think you could get jobs to come to a state with the highest income tax rate in the country.”

UPI's Capital Comment for March 12, 2003:
 

A new poll from New Hampshire's 7News and Suffolk University shows Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry with a 15-point lead over his closest rival in the state's Democratic presidential primary. The survey of 496 voters likely to participate in the primary -- including a heavy bloc of self-identified independents -- has Kerry leading among men, women, Democrats and independents.

In second place among all voters is Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, at 17 percent among all voters. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who has a surprisingly low 63-percent name identification given the proximity of his state to New Hampshire, is in third place at 10 percent.

Dems campaigns cool as war talk heats up,  by Will Lester, AP, Salon, March 12, 2003, (here)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The looming war against Iraq is forcing the Democratic presidential hopefuls to rethink their campaigns during the coming weeks. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has postponed a speech on universal health care; aides say a major policy announcement now would be ill-timed. One- time presidential candidate Gary Hart has delayed disclosing his plans for a possible 2004 bid because of the likelihood of war. And Sen. Bob Graham of Florida may put off by several weeks his formal entry into the White House race.

Dean will appear at California's Democratic Party Convention in Sacramento, CA  (few details)
 

Sunday spin: DEAN'S LIST,   by Ryan Lizza, The New Republic, 3-10-03, (here)

There were two striking things about Howard Dean's performance on "Meet the Press" Sunday. First was Dean's ability to fend off the many Russertian gotcha questions thrown his way. Second, and more importantly, was the fact that the Howard Dean on "Meet the Press" sounded more like the Rockefeller-Republican Howard Dean one hears about from Vermonters than the red-meat Howard Dean one hears on the stump. For example, Russert established that on a chat show eight years ago, Dean seemed to endorse the idea that the retirement age for Social Security should be raised to 70, a position he now declines to commit to.

Presidential contender set for Phoenix visit,   Phoenix Business Journal, March 10, 2003, (here)
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean will be in Phoenix Tuesday, and is scheduled to meet with Gov. Janet Napolitano at the State Capitol.

Administration cautiously hopeful it can win necessary votes for U.N. Iraq ultimatum
Washington: Associated Press, Mar. 10, 2003, (here)
 

Criticism rose from several quarters, meanwhile.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean contended that a U.S.-led war would give license to other nations who felt they needed to pre-emptively attack.

"It might be considered as a precedent for others to try to do the same thing," Chretien said on ABC's "This Week." "Where do you stop? You know, if you can do that there, why not elsewhere?"

"What is to prevent China, some years down the road, from saying, 'Look what the United States did in Iraq _ we're justified in going in and taking over Taiwan?"' Dean said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Former President Carter, last year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, added his voice to that warning. "It is quite possible that the aftermath of a military invasion will destabilize the region and prompt terrorists to further jeopardize our security at home," he said in a New York Times opinion article Sunday.

Powell, Rice Reject Talks With N. Korea, By Ken Guggenheim, Associated Press, 3/9/03, (here)
 

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democratic presidential candidate, called for direct talks to ease tensions. "We now have a huge problem in North Korea which the president is claiming is a regional crisis. I think it's an enormous world crisis, which isn't being paid enough attention to," Dean said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

(3/9/03) First email and reaction:
 

"Dean's appearance on "Meet The Press" was a real eye-opener. While he refused to answer hypothetical questions posed by Russert, he stated that he would select potential judges by asking them hypothetical questions about their positions on key issues. It appears that Dean has two sets of rules. One for himself and another for every one else."

From: --"george beyer"   gsb1@worldnet.att.net

March 09, 2003 -- Sunday Morning News Shows
Guest lineup for today:
 

ABC's "This Week": National security adviser Condoleezza Rice;
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. 10:30 a.m.
 

CBS' "Face the Nation": National security adviser Condoleezza Rice. 10:30 a.m.
 

NBC's "Meet the Press": Secretary of State Colin Powell; former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Democratic presidential candidate. 9 a.m.
 

CNN's "Late Edition": Secretary of State Colin Powell; Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Pentagon adviser Richard Perle. 12 Noon,
 

"Fox News Sunday": Secretary of State Colin Powell. 10 a.m.
 

Campaigns wary of impact of war, By John Di Staso, NH Union Leader, Mar. 9, 2003, (here)

If war comes, the Democrats who would be President will be faced with a dilemma. Should they campaign or put their efforts to win their party’s nomination on hold while the nation holds its breath?

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Presidential candidate, reacted to Bush’s Thursday night news conference with words just as sharp.

“The President has failed to take all necessary steps to securing our homeland,” he said. “This failure, combined with an invasion of Iraq, would constitute unnecessarily putting the American people in harm’s way. We cannot afford to put homeland security or the North Korea crisis on the back burner while the President indulges in his obsession with Iraq.”

The Dwinell Political Report
March 07, 2003, Vol. 4, No. 10

YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE ...

Bob Scheiffer of CBS News notes that Walter Mondale made himself known with his "Where's the beef?" Ronald Reagan had, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" Now, says Scheiffer, Dean has come along and "electrified the crowd" by claiming to represent "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party."

Just one problem: Dean purloined the phrase from the late Senator Paul Wellstone. From The Progressive Populist in 1999: "I want to restore the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." From Wellstone for President 2000 web site: "Wellstone has been speaking up for what he calls 'the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.'" The Washington Post writes: "'I was representing the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,' said the man who opposed President Clinton's welfare overhaul." Everyone repeated the phrase at Wellstone's memorial: "It's obvious why liberals feel the loss of Wellstone so strongly. He used to describe himself as a member of the Democratic wing of the Democratic party,'" wrote the Weekly Standard.

DPR subscriber Rob Skinner tells us that FOX News regular William Kristol of the Weekly Standard asked last Sunday, "Shouldn't Howard Dean give credit to the late Paul Wellstone for that phrase?"

Yes Dean should, Rob observes, "but when something you say gets national recognition from Bob Schieffer it would take real character to own up to the fact the phrase was coined by someone else."

Read the Scheiffer comments here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/opinion/schieffer/main541700.shtml

As for the other quotes, they're easy to find. Just type the following into any Internet search engine and press enter: "Democratic wing" Wellstone

A Run for the Presidency Isn't for the Faint of Heart
By Miles Benson, Newhouse News Service, March 07, 3003, (here)

"It's like Tupperware parties or pyramid schemes, they all work the same way," says Susan Casey, a grass-roots activist who helped propel former Sen. Gary Hart into serious contention for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984.

"You find the first circle of two or three people and persuade those few that there is important work that can be done, and you inspire them each to pull together two or three more people, and meet with them, and inspire them that there are important things to be done and that they can help. And before you know it you have six or nine or 10 people, and gradually the circle widens."

Democrat Presidential Hopefuls Seek Funds
The Associated Press, ABC News, March 7, 2003, (here)
At Least 5 Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Lay Groundwork to Take Public Financing

Howard Dean committed Friday to taking taxpayer dollars to finance his presidential campaign while fellow Democrat John Kerry laid the groundwork to do the same with a letter to donors suggesting they could double their money by helping him qualify.

Former Vermont Gov. Dean said he has already met the requirement. He promised to make it an issue in the Democratic primaries if any of his rivals decide to skip public financing, as President Bush did en route to winning the Republican nomination in 2000.

(3/06/03) Unnamed Democrat Edges Bush In '04,   A Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Most Americans Are Not Satisfied With Life Today. (here)

The Internet helps supporters boost Dean,
By Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau, March 6, 2003, (here)
 

BURLINGTON — The four people sitting around the table inside Muddy Waters café Wednesday night, shifted awkwardly in their seats, their eyes fixed on the door.

It was 7:15 p.m. and the media outnumbered the participants of the Howard Dean for President 2004 Meetup session. The small gathering was one of 80 similar sessions that were scheduled to take place Wednesday night around the country to bring Dean supporters together to talk about issues and, ideally, spread the word about his presidential campaign.

The field of Democratic presidential candidates did not grow yesterday.
 

Countering a Trend, Dodd Won't Join Democratic Field -- after all.
By Dan Balz, Washington Post, March 4, 2003, (here)

An Unhealthy Dilemma
Media Notes, By Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, March 3, 2003, (here)
 

Craig Crawford, a new columnist for Congressional Quarterly, says Howard Dean is not what he seems:

"Dean likes to call himself the champion of the 'Democratic wing of the Democratic party,' a line rival campaigns insist he stole from the late Sen. Paul Wellstone.

"But Dean fails to mention he flunks a leading question on any liberal's litmus test: gun control. He gets an 'A' rating from the National Rifle Association. He argues that this makes him stronger against Republicans in a general election, especially in the South.

"Even Dean's primary claim for liberal support comes with a caveat. He boasts to Democratic interest groups of his victory as governor of Vermont to allow civil unions for gay couples. But gay rights lobbyists note that Dean refuses to endorse similar changes at the federal level, rendering his support irrelevant to them.

"Dean also irks advocates of drug law reform for successfully opposing a Vermont bill to permit seriously ill and dying patients access to medicinal marijuana."

The good news for Dean: He's become important enough for everyone to start criticizing.

Dean appears again on ‘Face the Nation’, By Krista Larson, Associated Press, 3/03/03, (here)
MONTPELIER — The United States faces a “full-blown crisis” in North Korea, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean told a national television audience Sunday.

State of Peace, by Ryan Lizza, The New Republic, (here)   Welcome to antiwar Iowa, where John Edwards is fumbling, Joe Lieberman is stalled, and they love Howard Dean.

Anti-war Gov. Dean evokes '68 race
Today's anti-war candidates revive memories of 1968's campaign by Eugene McCarthy
By Holly Ramer, Associated Press Writer, 3/02/03, (here)

Primary Power: California figures to be a major player in the presidential nomination process
By Steve Geissinger and Lisa Friedman - Staff Writers, Oakland Tribune, 3/02/03, (here)
For the first time since the Vietnam War era, California will play a pivotal role in choosing a presidential nominee one year from today - March 2, 2004

Many Big Democratic Donors Uncomitted. The Associated Press, ABC News, 3-02-03, (here)
Among reasons cited are a desire to see the nine candidates distinguish themselves and prove their campaigns viable; misgivings that the Democratic donor base might be unable to sustain so many national campaigns; and the thinking that even if candidates are campaigning this early, party activists do not have to.

Meet Mr. Credibility:
Candidate or no, Wesley Clark upstages Bush on Iraq and national security.
By Michael Tomasky, American Prospect, Issue Date: 3.1.03, (here)

Dean blasts rivals for pro-war votes, anti-war rhetoric.
By David R. Guarino, Boston Herald, Friday, February 28, 2003, (here)
 

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean yesterday criticized his rivals, including U.S. Sen. John Kerry, for supporting war with Iraq but campaigning as doves critical of the looming conflict.

Douglas says he'll support Dean order on Champion lands
By Wilson Ring, Associated Press, 2/27/2003 16:08, (here)
 

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) Gov. James Douglas said Thursday he would stand by an executive order of former Gov. Howard Dean that ensured public access to a section of the Northeast Kingdom that is to remain forever wild.

Democratic candidates offer broad health proposals, By Janelle Carter, AP, 2/27/03, (here)
In response, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has called for providing universal health insurance by expanding Medicaid, the government's health insurance program for the poor. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri has proposed giving employers tax credits to insure workers, a plan that would require repealing virtually all of President Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has said he would make health care coverage for all Americans a top issue.

'Vulnerable' Bush stirs swarm of challengers, By Susan Page, USA TODAY, 2/26/03, (here)
WASHINGTON — When Florida Sen. Bob Graham files papers at the Federal Election Commission Thursday, he will become the ninth candidate in what seems to be the growth industry in American politics: running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004.
 

The burgeoning field is forcing some candidates to adjust strategy. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, for instance, pitched himself until recently as the only governor and the only antiwar candidate in the race. But Graham's entry into the race will eliminate some of Dean's distinctiveness. Graham is also a former governor — of a much bigger state than Vermont — and he voted against the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use force against Iraq. Anti-war candidates Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Al Sharpton also have entered the race in recent weeks.

Dr. Dean Emerges From The Pack
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25, 2003. (CBS) In her latest Political Points commentary, CBS News Senior Political Editor Dotty Lynch looks at how the Democratic presidential contenders are responding to a possible war with Iraq. (here)

It's the Dean difference from Vermont,
By Wayne Woodlief, Boston Herald, February 25, 2003, (here)
 

Ex-Vermont Gov. Howard Dean - brash and a heckuva speaker for somebody most folks have never heard of - has become the media's latest flavor of the month in the growing Democratic presidential field.

So there he was, posed comfortably in pinstripes, undoubtedly happy that Manhattan's money-bags donors were being told that ``Howard Brush Dean III is the proud patrician product of Park Avenue and 85th Street, the son, grandson and great-grandson of investment bankers.''

But he's a lot more than that. Dean has adopted some Carter-like habits. He flies coach. He sleeps at the homes of supporters. (Activists in New Hampshire still gloat when they point to the bed where ``Jimmy slept'' in 1976).

And, for all Dean's fabled bluntness (``I'm very direct and very blunt,'' he tells the New York Magazine writer for openers, almost as if it were a pitch line), he can be a bit too cute.

off topic, but too important to ignore:
 

Bush faces increasingly poor image overseas
By Glenn Kessler and Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff Writers, February 24, 2003, (here)
 

The messages from U.S. embassies around the globe have become urgent and disturbing: Many people in the world increasingly think President Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Democratic Candidates, Playing to Two Audiences:
DNC Warms to Strong Rhetoric, but Governors Wait for Message That Will Lure Swing Voters
By Dan Balz and David S. Broder, Washington Post Staff Writers, February 24, 2003, (here)
 

At the DNC meeting, the candidate who drew the most enthusiastic reception, with a speech blasting President Bush on war with Iraq, affirmative action and the economy, was former Vermont governor Howard Dean, with Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) and Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) not far behind.

The governors were not publicly critical of any of the candidates, but they warned that those seeking the nomination need a positive message and demonstrated leadership skills to challenge Bush in 2004, not just the ability to deliver the biggest applause lines at party gatherings.

Dems keen on Dean at pep rally,
By Lynn Sweet, Sun-Times Washington Bureau Chief, Feb. 23, 2003, (here)
 

WASHINGTON--Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who said he wanted to win votes from Southerners "who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals" hit a home run Friday at the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting.

"He was the star of the show," said a surprised Tom Lakin, a Democratic National Committee member from a town near East Alton in southern Illinois. "Whether he is electable is something else."

'Gutsy' Dean rouses Democrats with call to arms,
By Donald Lambro, The Washington Times, 2/22/03, (here)
The Democrats' bitter split over Iraq broke wide open yesterday at their winter meeting when presidential candidate Howard Dean won standing ovations as he sharply rebuked party leaders and his political rivals for backing President Bush's war policies.

Rob Reiner endorses Howard Dean for president, AP Breaking News, 2/20/03, (here)

On the campaign trail with the un-Bush, By Jake Tapper, Salon, posted 2/20/03, (here)
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean blasts fellow Democratic presidential candidates for trying to "me too" the "most dangerous presidency since Herbert Hoover."

Dem-eat-Dem for president, By Donald Lambro, Washington Times, 2/20/03, (here)

from 2/19/03 ABC News The Note:   "The Unlikely Rise of Howard Dean" (entire article)
"New York Magazine's Gordon has written a rapturous profile of Dean, using the same spices that made Dean the flavor of the month sometime back in 2002. The writer is noticeably unskeptical in reporting, sans qualification or distinction, that Dean is "a strict fiscal conservative," and hints that Terry McAuliffe supports his candidacy (but only because of the Macker's favorable quips), and says that Dean has only "rare" moments of frustration.
 

What’s even more surprising is Dean’s brashness in setting his sights on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as an unknown without a national base of deep-pocketed supporters. The man’s sole political experience has been governing an aging- hippie and dairy farmers’ theme park of a state with a population-600,000-one third that of Queens. Even Dean’s loyal mother assumed her oldest son couldn’t be serious when he told her a year ago that he was planning to run for president. “I thought it was preposterous, the silliest thing I’d ever heard,” says Andree Maitland Dean, a widow (her husband died in August 2001) who works as an art appraiser. “It seemed like such a quixotic quest.”

Our favorite insider-y line: "Dean didn't just summer in the Hamptons; his parents belonged to the Maidstone Club, and his family's Sag Harbor roots trace back to an eighteenth-century whaling captain."
 

(While your editor here, admits having been a member of the Bar Harbor Club in Maine, I'm not into ancestor worship, and suspect most voters don't care at all -- about Howard Dean's family coat-of-arms, club affiliations, or what his forebears did for a living - unless they were pirates.)

YIPES! ............ More Dems Ready To Throw Hats In Ring, CBS News, 2/19/03, (here)

Candidate Dean visits city, faults Bush, calls for change

By Dean Shalhoup, Telegraph Staff, Feb. 17, 2003, (here)
 

NASHUA – Blasting the pro-war policies of the Bush administration as reckless and irresponsible, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democratic presidential candidate, said Sunday that he believes the country “is in serious trouble and in need of big change.”
 

Robert Fisk: The case against war: A conflict driven by the self-interest of America
 

In the end, I think we are just tired of being lied to. Tired of being talked down to, of being bombarded with Second World War jingoism and scare stories and false information and student essays dressed up as "intelligence" , (here)  (2/15/03) (numerous linked articles - for & against)

Wife of presidential candidate Howard Dean values her privacy
By Christopher Graff, Associated Press, 2/15/2003 14:55, (here)
 

SHELBURNE, Vt. (AP) As Howard Dean crisscrosses the country in his frenetic pursuit of the presidency, his wife Judy tends to patients in her medical practice. In the nearly dozen years Howard Dean served as governor of Vermont, Judy Dean was all but invisible. No speeches. No interviews. No campaigning. No public appearances.

How many presidential candidates have visited Ames, Iowa? Ask the Tribune, 2/14/03, (here)
One candidate, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, has visited Ames three times. (If he doesn't win the nomination, he may at least qualify for in-state tuition.)

Dean courts Boston: Presidential hopeful accepts runner-up role in Bay State
By Michael Kunzelman, Milford Daily News, Thursday, February 13, 2003, (here)
BOSTON -- A second-place finish in Massachusetts wouldn't bother former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean. In fact, when Dean's fledgling presidential campaign rolled into Boston yesterday, the Democrat said he has no designs on beating U.S. Sen. John Kerry on his home turf.

Commuter train's demise,  a/k/a "Dean's Choo-Choo",  earns it final TV appearance
By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau, 2/12/03 edition, (here)

MONTPELIER — The Champlain Flyer, a money-losing commuter train recently canceled by Gov. James Douglas, will make its third — and likely final — appearance on a national news program dedicated to government boondoggles. Crews from NBC Nightly News were in Montpelier Tuesday to film a story on the Flyer for the program’s “Fleecing of America” segment, which is devoted to exposing wasteful government spending programs.

I wonder if anyone told them about the $3 million bike bridge over the Winooski River, and how it will put the ferry boat operator out of business.     (Thanks, Jeffrey!)

The Champlain Flyer, requires $2 million yearly from the Transportation Fund, while generating only $28,000 in revenues. --email to the Editor

Want to avoid war? Start in Iowa, by Walter Shapiro, USA Today, 2/12/03 edition, (here)
"It wasn't too long ago that Dean was the Rodney Dangerfield of the Democratic race, the long-shot candidate from a minuscule state who didn't get much respect. But all that is changing fast, largely because of Democratic doubts about war. As Iowa party Chairman Gordon Fischer, who is neutral in the presidential race, put it Monday: 'I can see Dean winning the Iowa caucuses. He's as much a player here as anybody.'"

Vermont's Hospital Disaster, The Providence Journal, an Editorial, 2/11/03,  (here)

On his 25th visit to NH, Dean slams Bush budget
By James W. Pindell, PoliticsNH.com, 2/9/03, (here)
 

Goffstown, February 7 – At a U.S. Conference of Mayors committee meeting at St. Anselm’s Thursday, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean scoffed at President Bush’s budget saying it ignores the needs of cities and states facing record budget deficits.

Howard Dean's medical license expires, Associated Press, 2/06/03, (here)

Dean unconvinced by Powell’s speech, Rutland Herald, 2/06/03, (here)

Veterans, Republicans support peace letter, Rutland Herald, 2/06/03, (here)

Poll finds Lieberman, Kerry are threats to Bush in 2004
By Ronald Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, 2/05/03,   (here)
 

WASHINGTON -- The share of Americans favoring President Bush's re-election in 2004 has fallen below 50 percent, while Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and John Kerry of Massachusetts have emerged as the leaders for the Democratic nomination to oppose him, a new Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

Lieberman, the party's vice presidential nominee in 2000, led the field with 25 percent, followed by Kerry, with 20 percent. Former Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, who's exploring a possible candidacy, and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards tied for third, each with 8 percent each.

Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, who has said he is likely to enter the Democratic race, and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, who will formally announce his candidacy later this month, drew 6 percent each. Trailing the pack were activist Al Sharpton, with 2 percent, and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, with 1 percent.

(2/3/03) from ABC News "The Note" (Roll Call excerpts here)
 

"Dean, like the state's at-large Congressman, Independent Bernie Sanders, originally hails from New York, and it shows. In style, he's like a freight train. And it's only a slight exaggeration to say that he has the personal warmth of an empty fireplace on a frigid night in Novosibirsk."

"Confident to the point that some people will see arrogance, and so certain about his prescriptions that many will regard him as inflexible, Dean will need to overcome the fact that voters prefer their presidents to be likable, empathetic, even charming. Instead, he almost appears angry."   (This is the Dean most Vermonter's know, and the one that inspired the creation of this page in 1998.)

How blogging changed journalism -- almost, by Chris Mooney, Post-Gazette, 2/02/03, (here)
And it's fascinating to think of new directions that blogging may take.
 

Currently, I'm intrigued by the multiperson blog www.dean2004.blogspot.com, which is dedicated to following and hyping the presidential candidacy of Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Democrat. It will be interesting to see what effect a dedicated cadre of bloggers may have on Dean's candidacy, and whether other candidates develop blogs of their own. Instead of a war room, campaigns could have a "blog room."

Dean details contributions, by Christopher Graff, Associated Press, Feb. 01, 2003, (here)

THE DWINELL POLITICAL REPORT
January 31, 2003 Vol. 4, No. 5
 

WHERE'S WALDO?
 

Here, there and everywhere. The outrageous quipster is now the media's newest best friend. Dean is scheduled to go before Meet the Press, well actually Meet Tim Russet, this weekend. We expect that he will graphically display Dean's latest series of "unnuanced" remarks and ask him to defend them which of course he will with great aplomb.

Columnist George Will took a shot at him in this week's Newsweek. "Dean said that five Supreme Court justices 'are so far right that we can't see them anymore.' At breakfast he said, well, OK, only three...O'Conner and Kennedy were rehabilitated... Dean says the tripling of the national debt between 1980 and 1992 caused interest rates to rise. But the basic rate was 13.35 in 1980 (in the last year of the Carter presidency) and 3.52 in 1992 (the last of the Reagan-Bush years)." Natives know that Dean never let facts get in the way of a good story. Guess that is a surprise to the national media.

Newspaper Editorials Turn Against War, E&P Survey Marks Shift in Media Attitude, (here)

War Issue Splits Democratic Candidates, ABC News, 1/30/03, (here) "I don't mind somebody who gives the green light and then defends it," Dean said in a phone interview Wednesday. He said he's "concerned with the candidates who gave the green light" and now pretend they don't back the president's Iraq policy.

Howard Kurtz, Media Notes, Washington Post, 1/27/03 (here)
Democrats Slam on the War Brakes and other stories with links. Example: Thomas Keane Jr. in the Boston Herald: "What is it about John Kerry that causes us to pay more attention to Howard Dean? "Here at home we have the genuine article: A real candidate for president who could very likely win the nomination. Our reaction? We make fun of his hair and jaw. "Meanwhile Dean, former governor of Vermont, receives fawning articles in the Boston press. Elected by fewer people than now live in Worcester, he presided over a state whose only congressman is a socialist, whose most notable industry is Ben and Jerry's, and whose official beverage is milk."

A cheap shot used to gain subscribers?
 

Is Howard Dean for Real? Well, Not Entirely, by Morton M. Kondracke, Roll Call, 1/27/03, (here)
 

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean ought to do well in the Iowa Democratic caucuses — unless the anti-war folks out there find out where he really stands on Iraq.
 

Login | Subscribe to Rollcall.com     "The Newspaper of Capital Hill Since 1955"

great title!
 

Acute rehash syndrome, by Donald Lambro, Washington Times, 1/27/03, (here)

(1/26/03) National Public Radio's Tavis Smiley will spend the upcoming week interviewing all six of the presidential candidates. Check out NPR for the date, times, and locale near you. (here)
There doesn't seem to be a station in all of New England that airs this program!

'What you see is what you get'
Dean promises to deliver straight talk, by Lisa Wangsness, Concord Monitor, 1/24/03, (here)
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean accused his Democratic presidential primary opponents yesterday of trying to run against the very Republican policies they'd supported in Congress. "I think our party is suffering because we keep nominating people who will say anything they have to say to get elected," he said.

Bush Is Losing It
Reality is out-running the rhetoric, says Marty Jezer, AlterNet.org, 1/24/03,  (here)
Marty Jezer's books include The Dark Ages: Life in the U.S. 1945-1960.
He writes from Brattleboro, Vermont and welcomes comments at mjez@sover.net

Finally, a look at polling companies ...

John Zogby's Creative Polls
And a closer look at his methods, by Chris Mooney, American Prospect, Feb.'03 issue, (here)

and another poll sez ...

The new ABCNEWS/ Washington Post Democratic presidential horse race, testing only those candidates who have announced, shows Lieberman leading the pack with 27 percent, Gephardt at 14 percent, Edwards and Kerry basically tied at 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively, Sharpton at 7 percent, and Dean at 3 percent.  (here)   posted, 1/23/03

New poll shows Bush still strong against Democratic Field, /PRNewswire/, 1/22/03, (here)
-- A national InsiderAdvantage poll of 1,000 respondents conducted between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13 shows President George W. Bush leading all of his combined potential Democratic rivals, 48 percent to 33 percent, with 19 percent undecided.

Dean visits Iowa City, by Vanessa Miller, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 1/20/03,  (here)

A Doctor's Certainty , By Mary McGrory, The Washington Post, Sunday, 1/19/03,  (here)

(1/19/03)   Memo to the Democrats: Quit being Losers!  says Tucker Carlson in the
Sunday, NY Times Magazine. Carlson observes that parties are often revived by insurgents.
 

So he called up Howard Dean.   Switching the topic from Democrats to the Republicans ....
 

"Dean isn't surprised by the Trent Lott scandal. The Republican Party is fundamentally hostile to blacks and Hispanics, he says, riddled as it is with ''institutional racism.'' It's also full of liars. ''I find the Republican Party pretty bankrupt intellectually,'' Dean says, adding that he doesn't read anything written by conservatives. Nothing? ''No.'' Are there any conservatives who are intellectually honest? ''I don't think so. I can't think of any.'' He sounds cheery as he says this.

Dean's tone has changed a few hours later when he calls back and leaves this message: ''Tucker, this is Howard Dean. I was talking to some staff folks after I got off the phone with you, and they were worried about my term 'institutional racism.' Probably that might have been not the right word to use. I was a little nervous now that the word 'racist' was such a charged word that it might have been better if I talked about 'intolerance' and 'divisiveness.' If you could give me a call back, that would be great.''

Damn. The consultants. They've gotten to him already. Dean hasn't even had a chance to say anything truly outrageous, and already the campaign professionals, sworn enemies of colorful language, are telling him to tone it down, advising him to dilute his essential Howard Dean-ness. Fire them, I thought. Send them back to Washington before it's too late."

On the road again,
Former Gov. Dean was in Brattleboro VT, Thursday, January 9, to attend a fundraiser. (details)
Dean will also attend a fundraiser for the N.H. Young Democrats on January 11.
On January 16, Dean will address a gay business group in Atlanta. (here)   January 18, is the date for the Linn County, Iowa Third Annual sustaining banquet with guests Sen. John Kerry, Rep. Dick Gephardt, and former Gov. Howard Dean.

Governor expresses gratitude in speech, by Tracy Schmaler, Rutland Herald, 1/09/03, (here)
MONTPELIER — Gov. Howard Dean concluded his gubernatorial career Wednesday with a heartfelt speech expressing gratitude to Vermonters and a fondness for the state he is leaving to someone else as he pursues a presidential bid.

Dean bids farewell; Freed wins, by Tracy Schmaler, Rutland Herald, 1/09/03, (here)
The newly installed House selected Rep. Walter Freed, R-Dorset, to return as its speaker. The heavily Democratic Senate tapped political veteran Sen. Peter Welch, D-Windsor, to be its leader. In a race that turned out to be wider than some insiders predicted, the incumbent GOP speaker defeated former Minority Leader Rep. John Tracy, D-Burlington, 82- 68, drawing support from House Democrats and independents.

Howard Dean mentioned in Doonesbury comic strip, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2003, (here)

Dean: Vermont the way America ought to be, by David Gram, Associated Press, 1/08/03, (here)

He got through a 15-minute speech offering thanks and praise to Vermont and Vermonters as he addressed a joint session of the General Assembly for his last time in nearly 11½ years as governor. The speech was both a farewell and something of a launch in which Dean, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, made clear he wanted to take Vermont's political culture to the nation.

Dean ready to bow out, by Tracy Schmaler, Rutland Herald, 1/08/03, (here)

New Zogby Poll Released: January 07, 2003   (here)
Edwards jumps to second among 2004 Dem hopefuls; Bush job performance stays at 63%, re- elect at 51%; Nation still split on Iraq war - 50% support, 45% oppose; Dems lead on economy, health care, tolerance, GOP leads on terrorism, taxes, integrity, latest Zogby America Poll Reveals.

"IS EDWARDS SURGING? DON'T BET ON ZOGBY,
Remember John Zogby? He's the pollster who, the last time he had a poll to peddle on Democratic presidential preference, managed to get the New York Post to write a story about how Al Sharpton was looming "as a player in Democratic presidential politics" on the basis of 5 percent support in a Zogby poll with a 5 percent margin of error." (more here)

Dean to receive AFL-CIO's Paul Wellstone award, by Christopher Graff, AP, 1/6/03 18:17, (here)
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Democratic presidential hopeful Gov. Howard Dean will be honored Friday by the AFL-CIO for his support last year of the successful effort by nurses to unionize Vermont's largest hospital.

Dean, on "Face the Nation," says N. Korea more of a threat to world than Iraq, 1/05/02, (here) MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) A nuclear armed North Korea is more of a threat to the United States than Iraq, which does not have nuclear weapons, Gov. Howard Dean said Sunday.

Dean bids adieu, by Kathryn Casa, Brattleboro Reformer, Jan. 04, 2003, (here)
 

Dean was in southern Vermont on his farewell tour, less than a week before he steps aside after nearly a dozen years as governor. But the motivation behind Dean's tireless travels these days may be less his past politics than his political aspirations.

Champion land critics call on Douglas to reverse Dean plan
by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, posted 1/03/03, (here)     Champion lands section: (here)
 

A coalition of opponents to Gov. Howard Dean’s plans for the former Champion lands is calling on Gov.-elect. James Douglas to overturn a last-minute executive order Dean issued.

Governor begins his farewell tour this week, by Ross Sneyd, Associated Press, 1/02/03, (here)
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Howard Dean begins saying his final farewells as governor this week after spending 11 years and five months presiding over his adopted state.

First Democratic Race Is for Cash, by Thomas B. Edsall, Washington Post, 1/01/03, (here)
A wild card is Dean, whose sharp criticism of the Bush administration's preparations for war with Iraq has positioned him to be able to tap into the Democratic Party's substantial liberal, anti-war base. Dean could face strong competition if Sen. Bob Graham (Fla.), the only potential candidate to vote against the Iraq war resolution, decides to run.

(12/31/02) CHARLESTON, S.C. - Vermont Gov. Howard Dean returned to South Carolina and told members of Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church why he planned to run for president in 2004. (here)

(12/30/02) More Democrats expected to join 2004 pool, by Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY, (here)

Vermont Yankee false alarm rattles region,
by Eesha Williams, Brattleboro Reformer, Dec. 27, 2002, (here)
Gov. Howard Dean told the Reformer he was "very concerned" about the accidental alarm.
"In the 12 years I've been governor this has never happened before," he said.

Edwards to make it official on January 4, says The Scrum on Dec. 24, 8:28 PM, (here)

N.H.  primary field likely will be crowded with New Englanders,
by Ian Bishop, Lowell Sun, Washington Bureau, Dec. 23, 2002,  (here)   "Dean needs to score an upset if he wants to be taken seriously," Sabato added. "I don't see how Kerry or Dean goes forward without winning in their own back yard. So for one of them, it will be over."

Larry Sabato at the Univ. of Virginia's, Center for Politics, says: Howard Dean is 2004's media "pet rock," at least until their true love, John McCain, gets into the race. The governor of the "People's Republic of Vermont" is trying to present himself as a marvelous, unpredictable amalgam of right (NRA support) and left (gay civil unions). (more)

Here in Vermont, it's hard to imagine anyone thinking of Howard Dean as our "pet rock."

Post-Gore Democrats, by Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect , issue date 1/13/03, (here)

NATO Commander, Wesley Clark, May Enter Race, by Christine Hall, CNSNews.com, 12/23/02
"He brings tremendous credibility and experience with national security issues that are very much at the forefront of public debate right now," said Democratic strategist Mark Mellman. And his experience in the military with budget, racial and social issues would also be a plus, Mellman added (here)   Clark is a former Rhodes scholar, Vietnam veteran, and was NATO supreme allied commander in Europe from 1997 to 2000. Regularly on CNN giving easy-to-understand analysis.

"I also caught George Stephanopoulos grilling Howard Dean, and thought that Stephanopoulos did pretty well, while Dean was visibly waffling in response to some rather pointed questions." Posted at 01:58 PM, by Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit, Dec. 22, 2002, (here)

Kerry, Lieberman Lead Democratic Poll, by Associated Press, 12/21/02, 12:59 PM EST, (here)

Howard's end run, by Seth Gitell, Boston Phoenix, 12/19/02, (here)
In his presidential bid, Vermont governor Howard Dean hopes to bridge the gulf between New England and the Western states, and bypass the socially conservative South. Should John Kerry be worried?

The Dems have not won a presidency since 1960, without a Southerner at the top of the ticket.

Clearing the track for a crowd,
by Donald Lambro, Chief Political Correspondent, The Washington Times, 12/19/02, (here)
"Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is getting good early reviews in Iowa and New Hampshire, but he is at best a marginal candidate."

No Bush Lite, Dean says in Iowa visit, by The Daily Iowan /Associated Press, 12/18/02, (here)
"My problem with the Democratic Party is that folks in the Beltway have concluded that the way to win the presidency is to be Bush Lite," he said.

The doctor is in, and busy hanging a bigger shingle,
by Todd S. Purdum, New York Times, 12/18/02, (here) The crowd of upscale environmentalists at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club had come to hear Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont talk ..

Only 1 Percent of New York Democrats Favor Dean, WPTZ-TV-5, 12/17/02, (here)
A New York poll, by Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion, shows Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean is not benefiting from Al Gore's decision to drop out of the 2004 race.

Babbitt or Carter?, by John Distaso, The Union Leader, 12/17/02, (here)
One influential Democrat put it this say: “Is Howard Dean going to be Jimmy Carter? Or is Howard Dean going to be Bruce Babbitt, who in 1992 was everyone’s second choice.”

For 2004, bet on a governor, says Douglas Kiker, CBS News, 12/17/02, (here) "On Capitol Hill – where there are a whole lot of Indians and not enough chiefs, along with long paper trails – it's much harder for presidential aspirants to define themselves exactly how they'd like."

Of course, long-serving governors leave long paper trails too, and have fewer people to blame.

Gore decision shocks Q-C Democrats
by Ed Tibbetts, Quad-City Times, Davenport, Iowa, 12/16/02 updated 11:41 pm (here)

Gore withdrawal seen as a boost for Dean, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 12/16/02, (here)

Without Gore, Iowa is anybody's race, by David Yepsen, Des Moines Register, 12/16/02 (here)
The Des Moines Register handicaps the Iowa caucuses given the changed political landscape.

A Wide-Open Fight, More Democrats likely to join fray
By David S. Broder, Washington Post, posted Dec. 16, 2002 (here)
 

They're off -- Dem. pres. hopefuls gear up, by Bob von Sternberg, Star Tribune, 12/16/02, (here)
 

Dean is surprised, by Christopher Graff, Associated Press, 12/15/02 (here)
 

Gore Won't Run in 2004, says advisor. Sunday, Dec. 15, 4:30 PM
"Gore planned to make the announcement on CBS "60 Minutes," the advisor said. From another: "the minute I saw Al Gore in that hot tub on Saturday Night Live, I knew he wasn't running."

Fletcher Allen Health Care: What Went Wrong, WCAX TV-3 News, 12/13/02 (here)   (more)
 

"I do not do regulation," Dean told reporters at a press conference in Montpelier on August first. "I do not sit down with regulators and say here's what you gotta do." But Governor Dean has involved himself in the certificate of need process. For example, letters exchanged last year between Dean and former Fletcher Allen CEO Bill Boettcher indicate an agreement made over the Renaissance Project and mental health services.     See also: Dean's emails questioned

(12/12/02) ABC News The Note:   (cached)
 

Global Strategy Group/polling company survey of 200 likely IOWA caucus attendees shows:
 

WITH GORE:   Gore 37%, Kerry 17, Gephardt 15, Daschle 10, Edwards 2, Dean 1.
WITHOUT GORE:   Gephardt 26%, Kerry 18, Lieberman 16, Daschle 12, Edwards 4, Dean 1.

This last place showing is astonishing given that Dean has spent much of the past year in Iowa.

Dean claims budget balanced, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 12/12/02 (here)
Outgoing Gov. Howard Dean on Wednesday disputed the dire warnings of a looming budget deficit delivered recently by his soon-to-be successor, Gov.-elect James Douglas. Michael Smith, the administration secretary-designee for Douglas, stood by the figures the incoming Republican governor released last week, and confirmed by the state's Joint Fiscal Office.
See also:
Climbing out of the hole
By John McClaughry, Ethan Allen Institute, 12/18/02, (Rutland Herald)
"So when Dean claims that he is departing office with a balanced General Fund budget, honesty ought to compel him to confess just how he got it to balance: robbing other funds, increasing local share property taxes, and levying an unlegislated tax on health insurance paid by individuals, small businesses, and self-insured companies."

(12/11/02) Dean gets lukewarm reception
Dean "threw his first big home state fund-raising bash Tuesday night and 29 Democrats from all over the state came," (here) There were no reported traffic problems, however.

SEC nominee latest in hard-to-decipher Bush picks. By USA Today, 12/10/02 8:21 pm.  (here)
.. But Monday morning at the University Club in New York, William Donaldson sat down for an hour with Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who's running for the 2004 ...

Poll: Gore 31%, Kerry 28% Early Leaders in N.H.  ABC News/Assoc. Press 12/09/02  (here)
The poll, from Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion, had Gore, the party's unsuccessful nominee in 2000, favored by 31 percent of Democrats and independents who say they may vote in the primary, traditionally the first in the nation. Kerry, from neighboring Massachusetts, had the support of 28 percent of the potential primary voters. Next door neighbor, VT Gov. Dean came in at 6%, and Sen. Gephardt of Missouri at 5%.

It's been almost 2 weeks, and I can't ignore this any longer.
 

HE'S  BA-A-ACK !
by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, 12/01/02, (here)

The Latest Kissinger Outrage, by Christopher Hitchens,
Slate Magazine, (here)

Kissinger's Back ...As 9/11 Truth-Seeker, by David Corn,
The Nation, (here)

Cryogenic Staffing™ ,   by Mark Fiore Animations,   (here)
"Meeting today's staffing needs with yesterday's staff."

The book, on the left, is available in hard or soft cover.
 

(12/09/02) ABC News The Note says: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean will be in New York on Monday for several events, and in Massachusetts on Wednesday and Thursday, capped off by a Thursday evening reception at Steve Grossman's house in Newton. Next weekend he will be in New Hampshire, and Iowa, and California the following week.

Att'y Gen'l will continue Dean's opposition

Vermont Abenaki fight for recognition, heritage, 'Tribe's' battle with state raises issues of land and indentity. By Michael Powell, The Washington Post, Sunday Dec. 8, 2002  (here)
see also:
Abenaki press for recognition by Vermont, by David Gram, Associated Press, Jan. 19, 2002
"Abenaki school children had been scornfully told that they were not Indians ... because the government said so," said Frederick Wiseman, a professor of history and archaeology at Johnson State College. He and others said this attitude was the result of the state's stance that the Abenakis do not constitute a formally recognizable Indian tribe, and they attributed that stance to racism. (here)
 

On Sunday Dec. 8, Dean will speak at a holiday party of the Three Parks Independent Democratic Club located on NYC's Upper West Side.

Cost soars for protecting Dean on campaign trips, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 12/6/02
The cost of protecting likely presidential candidate Gov. Howard Dean outside Vermont has more than tripled in the past year, according to figures released by the state’s Department of Public Safety. Out-of-state travel expenses for Dean’s detail of Vermont State Police troopers more than tripled from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2002, going from $28,661 to $89,948. (here)

Douglas foresees tough budget times, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 12/5/02  (here)
Gov.-elect James Douglas painted a bleak financial picture Thursday, announcing a projected deficit of $40 million in next year’s budget that could force officials to lay off state employees.

Jerusalem Post says Dean supports U.S. providing $10 Billion in loan guarantees. 12/5/02 (here)

Presidential ambitions, Editorial, St. Petersburg Times, December 4, 2002
"Most politicians who rise above the level of ward boss harbor presidential ambitions that are more indestructible than cockroaches. What else could explain the gaggle of ambitious Democrats already maneuvering for the chance to challenge a sitting president with stratospheric approval ratings?" (here)

Dean meets with Israeli prime minister, by Christopher Graff, Associated Press, 12/3/02  (here)

A Burlington Free Press, Letter to the Editor,
Monday, December 02, 2002

Official portrait?

Is that really Gov. Howard Dean's official portrait? Looks like the cover of the L.L. Dean Catalog.

Wayne Davies
Waitsfield (VT)

A Nov. 21-24 poll by the Washington Post shows half of Democrats favor Gore
by Dan Balz and Richard Morin, Washington Post Staff Writers, Friday, Nov. 29, 2002

In the poll, 49% favored Gore, Lieberman placed second at 10%, Daschle and Kerry tied for third at 6%, and Gephardt runs fifth with 4%. Al Sharpton got 3%, and Edwards and Dean were at the bottom with 1 percent each.   (here)

Dean says he needs at least $8 million to run for president., WPTZ-5 TV, 11/27/02  (here)

Schedule details Dean's U.S. travels, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 11/27/02   (here)
Dean’s schedule, released this week after three Vermont newspapers sued for access to it, shows a hectic campaign itinerary that has gotten busier with each passing month.

Vermont governor Dean heading to Israel, by Ross Sneyd, AP, 11/27/02   (here)

Dr. Who? For President, by Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, 11/25/02
Every four years, the press swoons, at least briefly, over a presidential candidate like Dean. A lonely figure who takes controversial stands, who isn't afraid to tell it like it is. Bruce Babbitt in 1988. Paul Tsongas in 1992. Someone who, almost by definition, can't win.   (here)

One of the few, best researched and balanced articles on Dean.

On the campaign trail with Howard Dean, See Howard Run ,
by Charles P. Pierce, Boston Sunday Globe Magazine section, 11/24/02
"When I saw this guy for the first time," says Frank Bryan, a professor of government at the University of Vermont and a veteran member of the Vermont punditariat, "I said to myself, 'This is a guy on the make.'"   (here)

Kerry looks to N.H. for 2004, by John P. Gregg, Framingham Metrowest, 11/24/02.
But Kerry is not the only New Englander with home-field advantage in New Hampshire. He also will face a serious, determined bid by Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is leaving Montpelier after more than a decade in office. (here)

Dean looks back, and ahead, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 11/24/02. With only a handful of weeks left as Vermont’s governor, Howard Dean is, surprisingly, not that interested in talking about the last 11½ years. (here)

(11/22/02) In an interview by the "FORWARD", Dean is making a concerted effort to develop a national Jewish constituency. It also reveals a side of Dean unknown to most Vermonters. (here)

New tape may mean Al Gore is alive, "While the former Democratic standard bearer had been virtually invisible since the 2000 election, leading many to believe that he had disappeared for good, the “Today Show” tape offered chilling proof that he may in fact be alive and could be threatening to run for President again."   (Borowitz Report) (11/21/02)

Dean hires campaign manager from Colorado, by Ross Sneyd, Assoc. Press, 11/20/02 (here)
Rick Ridder, a Middlebury College grad., has worked for candidates from Gary Hart to Al Gore.

Dean: Fletcher Allen executives 'crooks', by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 11/19/02
Outgoing Gov. Howard Dean had his strongest words yet for Fletcher Allen Health Care management, calling hospital officials who misled state regulators “crooks” and saying he hoped some would be charged criminally. (here)   Related: (here)   Background: (Fletcher Allen section)

'04 Hopefuls on Charm Offensive, by Paul Kane, Roll Call Online, Nov. 18, 2002
On Thursday, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) was elected vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the fourth highest-ranking leadership post but an important enough victory to warrant some laudatory phone calls. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D), who just happened to be in town delivering a policy speech, called to congratulate Clyburn, the first black in Democratic leadership in more than a decade. (here)   (Roll Call is on C-SPAN, Monday & Thursday, 7-8 a.m.)

(11/17/02) The Los Angeles Times polls roughly three-quarters of membership of the Democratic National Committee  (article here) also (pdf file w/charts here) "Dean, who has been aggressively stumping for months, was viewed favorably by 49%, but nearly as many respondents -- 45% -- said they had not heard enough about him to form an opinion."

Democrats Seek New Messenger and a Message
by Adam Nagourney, New York Times -online, 11/17/02,
 

Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont is among lesser-known presidential contenders who see opportunity in the troubled Democratic Party.   (here)

(11/16/02) Those whose resumes have been enhanced by Dean's long tenure as governor, threw him a farewell bash last night. (here)   Tomorrow, Howard Dean is 54, and Danny DeVito is 58.

(11/15/01) Dean lays out vision for the Dems   (they're becoming more frequent now)
Dean used yesterday's meeting as an opportunity to chastise the leaders of his own party, including congressional Democrats, for paying too much attention to public opinion polls and trying to portray themselves as little different from the Republicans.   (vision here)

Civil unions in Vt. easier to enter than exit, by Sarah Schweitzer, Boston Globe, 11/15/02  (here)
 

"I tell all our clients, `If you're not a resident of Vermont, do not register for a civil union in Vermont,''' said Frederick Hertz, a lawyer in Oakland, Calif., who specializes in nonmarital partnerships. ''Have a party, have a religious ceremony, register as domestic partners, but do not register for a civil union because it is a can of worms."

On Thurs. Nov. 14,  Dean is to give opening remarks at the Coalition for Essential Schools Fall Forum, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. (link)

Boston Lands 2004 Democratic National Convention, says ABC news, 11/13/02
"Whether the home-state convention will benefit Kerry, a likely candidate for president, is uncertain. But it will be held in his political backyard, along with that of two other potential presidential hopefuls from New England: former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut."   (here)

Kerry downplays effect on his presidential run, by Andrew Miga, Boston Herald, 11/14/02, (here)

(11/11/02) Steve Grossman has signed on to the Dean campaign
Grossman has been a successful party fund-raiser for the Mass. Democratic State Committee and the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (during the Clinton era). He will bring much needed experience to the Dean campaign. Yes, it's the same Steve Grossman that was one of the five Democratic candidates who competed for the Massachusetts gubernatorial nomination. Where does Grossman, himself, stand on the issues? The (www.issues2000.org) website is the place. Business Week talks with Steve Grossman about the 2002 election results (here)

How the Chips Fell in Election 2002, by Richard S. Dunham, Business Week-online, 11/11/02
"And Governor Howard Dean, the Democrats' chief recruiter of gubernatorial candidates, failed to secure a majority of governorships for his party -- even after all the pundits had predicted it. What's more, Dean couldn't even keep his own state Democratic. He'll be replaced by a Republican in January. And to think Dean fancies himself a Presidential candidate." (more)

And now it's time to say good-bye:

Dean to be honored at gala in Killington this Friday, by Ross Sneyd, AP, 10/11/02   (here)

Wanted: A Democratic Dark Horse
by David Lightman, Washington Bureau Chief, Hartford Courant, 11/10/02   (here)
 

At the moment, though, there's no obvious dark horse. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is waging an energetic underdog presidential campaign, but lacks the stature of better-known aspirants. He's "like the friendly neighbor who's good company, but as president, well .... "

Dems in the Dumps, by Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, Nov. 18, 2002 issue,   (here)
... That gives candidates like Sen. John Kerry, Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Howard Dean a chance to advance their ideas more easily. ...

For One Who Crossed Line, Time for Payback Is at Hand
by John Tierney, Washington Talk, The New York Times, 11/08/02
Colleagues on both sides of the aisle have some advice for Senator James M. Jeffords: now is probably not the best time to get money for a new bridge in Vermont. (here)

Sen. Jeffords may be the biggest loser, and he wasn't even on the ballot. (Brattleboro Reformer)

Vermont governor's race settled by concession, UPI, National Desk, 11/7/02   (here)

Time for change theme rang true with voters, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 11/06/02 "Certainly Dean's endorsement of Racine didn't deliver any results," says Eric Davis, a political science professor at Middlebury College. "I think his inability to deliver the governorship for a candidate of his own party raises questions about the viability of his own candidacy."   (here)

Dean bemoans results for the U.S. Congress, by Anne Wallace Allen, AP, 11/06/02   (here)
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean called election day 2002 “a great day for the nation’s governors, but a terrible day for the U.S. Congress.”

The November issue of Governing magazine names Dean among 10 Public Officials of the Year.

(11/01/02) The Vermont Supreme Court ruled today on Herald Association, Inc.   v.   Dean,
No. 2002-190   (decision link)   (see below: "Remember when the newspapers sued Dean .....?")

Dean must release part of schedule,
by Wilson Ring, Associated Press, 11/01/02   (here)

Nov. 1, 2002   Agreement is reached for Champion lands (here)
Gov. Howard Dean on Friday signed an executive order that provides perpetual access for hunting, fishing and trapping in a 22,500-acre wilderness known as the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area.   (see Champion lands section for (background) on this issue.

Poll:  56% Vermonters Won't Vote Dean President. Only 32 Percent Say They'll Vote For Dean. From the NewsChannel 5-Burlington Free Press Poll released Oct. 30, 2002. (News Ch-5 ) and the (Burl. Free Press-poll details)
 

Dean's answer:
 

"I think people are a little angry that I'm not going to be governor anymore." (here)  (10/31/02)

(10/28/02) Dean will speak to the Rhode Island Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Cranston. Later, will leave RI for Maine to campaign for John Baldacci, the state's Democratic gubernatorial nominee.

Who will be governor after Howard Dean?
by The Herald of Randolph, 10/24/02 (here)

Poll shows Douglas gaining on Racine,
by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 10/25/02 (here)

Douglas for Governor,
by The Caledonian-Record, 10/24/02 (here)

Douglas needs more than GOP to stay a winner,
by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 10/27/02 (here)

Remember when the newspapers sued Dean for access to his daily schedule? That Dean lost in superior court, appealed to the VT Supreme Court - who then heard it on June 11. Well, it's been over 4 months now, and like the legislature, the supreme court may be part-time too. But still, if Dean's daily schedules are part of his official activities, how could it not be a public record - as defined in the law? How complicated can this be? They should be able to rule on this over lunch.

On Jan. 31, 1997, Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy outlined his goals as Chief Justice. "I shall judge my success - or lack thereof - against three objectives."

" First - and by far the most important - did I contribute to the faith of Vermont citizens in our judicial system and to their trust in the character of those entrusted with its authority?"

"Second did I, as Chief Appellate Judge of Vermont, contribute to a body of law that clearly and concisely communicates to litigants, lawyers, and trial judges the standards to be used to achieve the just and timely resolution of disputes."

Swearing-in Ceremony Speech:   "I had so many people to thank, I didn't know where to end."
"But I still know where to start: Thank you Governor Dean."

That should have been thanks enough.

News articles dated: (April 23, 2002)   (June 11, 2002)   (June 12, 2002)

Dean loses ground to Bush in poll, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 10/27/02 (here)
49% of Vermonters said they disapproved of Dean's presidential bid and would not vote for him.

(10/26/02) Dean speaks at the Merrimack County Democrats Fall Harvest Supper, Pembroke Academy, Pembroke, NH. Then off to Boston to address the Boston Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign. (details)

(10/24/02) Dean will be in Portland, Oregon to host a luncheon fund-raiser for Democratic Senate nominee Bill Bradbury who is Oregon's secretary of state. Dean then leaves Oregon for Chicago.

(10/23/02) Dean will attend a Sullivan County Democratic Committee event in Newport, NH.

(10/21/02) ABC News, The Note, observes:
"Although the Vermont press is carping about Dean's focus being elsewhere than on his home state, the national press corps increasingly is viewing Dean as, while not on par with his better established rivals, an underdog worth watching. There is anecdotal evidence that his frequent trips to Iowa and New Hampshire are having some impact. Money remains the biggest question for Dean, who has the advantage of having built a clear policy profile from which he shows no sign of diverging. There is a pro- gun constituency in the Democratic party, as well as a peace constituency (Dean came out early with his flat-out opposition to war with Iraq.), though we doubt any candidate has ever tried to appeal to both at once."   (more here)

Governor on quirky, quixotic quest for the presidency,
by Julie Mason, Houston Chronicle, 10/20/02. He has no national organization, little staff and no real campaign Web site, .... Dean wears corny ties and gives windy, detailed answers... (here)

He's a long shot, but can still drive his message home
This is the second in a series profiling the three leading candidates for governor. By Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, Oct. 20, 2000 (here)

Con Hogan shakes up political scene by running for governor
By The Herald of Randolph VT, 02/21/2002 (here)

Hogan wins endorsement of  The Stowe Reporter
In an Oct. 3 editorial headlined "Pro Con" it said that it backed Hogan's candidacy because he was affiliated with neither political party. (here)

Oct. 22, 2002  The Rutland Herald endorses Cornelius "Hogan for governor" "...while his poll numbers suggest that victory for him would be the longest of long shots, his candidacy merits consideration from the voters." "Hogan brings unusual vision and experience to the task." "...the importance of his message is one that the two major party candidates ought to heed." (more)

CNN: On 10/20 "Dean heads to the bright lights of NYC to raise money for his 2004 campaign."

Dean, "The liberal Vermont governor, a physician before entering politics, is considered a hero by many gay and lesbian groups for leading the charge to make civil unions legal in his state. I think civil unions will continue to sweep across the country," he says. "As president, I would recognize civil unions federally, because equal rights under the law doesn't just mean equal rights under state law. It means equal rights under federal law." (here)

Dean's presidential campaign details contributions, The Times-Argus, Montpelier, VT, 10/17/02
Dean's campaign picked up roughly $97,000 in contributions in July, Aug., and Sept. (here) (FEC)

Dean's Fund-Raising Dwarfed By Competition,
Lieberman already over the $2M mark.   WPTZ-TV-5, Oct. 17, 2002 (here)

"To say there is a groundswell out there would be a gross exaggeration."--Gov. H. Dean, 5/24/02

Wed, Oct. 16, 2002   Dean maybe in Long Beach, California with Sen. Jim Jeffords fundraising.

Tues, Oct. 15, 2002   Dean is in Wisconsin to campaign for Dem. gubernatorial candidate Jim Doyle, who is running against acting Gov. Scott McCallum. Dean will also talk to the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine while he's in the neighborhood.

(10/14/02)   Anyone who went to Dean's campaign website, www.deanforamerica.com, and left their email address, received a letter from Howard Dean asking for your help in becoming eligible for public financing. (here)

According to (The Note) Vermont Gov. Howard Dean actually is in Vermont. Today. 10/14/02
 

Vermont's Next Governor?
 

Despite a liberal tag, Racine seeks moderate course. Oct. 13, 2002   (here)
 

By Tracy Schmaler, of the VT Press Bureau, who profiles the choices in a 3 part Sunday series.

Racine campaign gets endorsement from environmentalists,
By Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 6/27/02   (here)

Fri. Oct. 11, 2002   Dean in Savannah, Georgia to address the South Carolina NAACP. They are meeting in Georgia because of a boycott of South Carolina for flying the Confederate flag. (here)

lets-not-invite-him-back dept:

Vt. Gov. finds flaws in Nebraska's Medicaid, KETV, Ch 7 News, Omaha, NE, 10/09/02 (here)

Jeffords Campaigns for Vt. Gov. Dean, by Associated Press, Newsday, 10/09/02, (here)

"Jeffords has not formally endorsed Dean, but has arranged a series of joint appearances and fund-raisers with him next week in California."

Wednesday, October 9, 2002   Dean in Omaha campaigning for Stormy Dean (no relation) (here) who's running against a popular GOP governor Mike Johanns. Then back to Iowa again.

Tuesday, October 8, 2002   Dean talks about health care reform at the St. Louis University School of Law (here). Will also hold a fund raiser for his '04 campaign. Then it's off to Omaha, Nebraska.

October 7, 2002   Dean will meet with Boise, Idaho AFL-CIO officials, and then stump for Democrat Jerry Brady, who's trying to unseat GOP Gov. Dirk Kempthorne. (here)

"With all that travel you may not be aware of what's being said back here in Vermont." Recent comments by our gubernatorial candidates "translate into attacks on you and your record and also because what they are saying doesn't square up with what you are saying as you travel the country promoting your presidential bid." .... "Your legacy is on trial here."   (a-must-read)

Dean admin. calls for smaller aid to education, By Ross Sneyd, AP, Bennington Banner (here)

The Lessons of Empire, By Michael Elliott, Time Magazine, Oct. 7, 2002 issue   (here)
As Bush considers colonizing Iraq, he ought to look at the last attempt, by the British, no less.

U.S. issues warning to drug industry, in Washington Post, 10/02/02   (here) In a draft guidance to the drug industry, Janet Rehnquist, inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, said some of the industry's marketing practices could be illegal under federal fraud and anti-kickback laws.   Gov. Dean who in July signed the nation's first law requiring drug-sales representatives to report all their gifts to doctors worth more than $25, called this "very positive."
Draft OIG Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutial Manufacturers: (pdf file) (44 pages)

Fletcher Allen nurses approve union, by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 10/04/02   (here)

October 3, 2002   Gov. Dean and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will address the Empire State Pride 11th annual fall dinner at the Sheraton New York Hotel. (details)

October 2, 2002   Dean in NYC doing lunch with Young Presidents Organization and an event for Manhattan Young Democrats. At night, he'll address the Federal Club's "Captain's Table" reception. The Federal Club is an arm of the Human Rights Campaign. (link)

October 1, 2002   Dean in Wash. DC will meet with Communication Workers of America, also will address the Business Government Relations Council.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jay Bookman argues that war against Iraq is not really about Iraq: "It is not about weapons of mass destruction, or terrorism, or Saddam, or U.N. resolutions. Invasion would mark the next step toward an American empire." (here)

Dean to speak at "The Citadel" on Monday Sept. 30 in Charleston SC
 

State supported and chartered in 1842. From 1882-1910 it was named The South Carolina Military Academy. In 1999 the first women graduated from the school, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Vt. Gov. discusses political future with group, By Kris Banks, The Daily Texan, 9/30/02 (here)

Dean to be on "Face the Nation" this Sunday, Sept. 29th   "The Pros & Cons of War With Iraq"
with, Sen. Trent Lott, Sen. Chris Dodd, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Gloria Borger of U.S. News etc.

Stonewall Democrats of Austin Texas hosting Sunday Brunch for Dean on 9/29/02 (details)

Dean shares candid thoughts,
by Darek Fanton and with the Editorial Board of the Portsmouth Herald (NH) 9/28/02 (here)

Presidential hopeful slated to speak at Menger Hotel,
by Sherry Sylvester, San Antonio Express News, 9/27/02 (here)  "Early handicappers in the 2004 presidential race have dubbed Gov. Dean as a long shot, liberal policy wonk." Dean will speak to the Stonewall Democratic Club. (here) for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender Democrats.

Dean lashes out at Bush on Iraq  By Dennis J. Carroll, The Boston Globe, 9/25/02, (here)
BURLINGTON, Iowa - Governor Howard Dean of Vermont, once again stumping in Iowa to boost his presidential aspirations, charged yesterday that President Bush's saber-rattling against Iraq appears to be based more on politics than the existence of an imminent threat. ''It's beginning to look suspiciously like a diversionary tactic so we don't talk about health care and the economy, which the Republicans aren't in very good shape on,'' Dean said. The Hawk Eye in Iowa (here)

Dean Says Bush Hasn't Made Case
Story by Heather Woodward,
Iowa City Press-Citizen, 9/24/02   (here)
 

Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) said that "he would endorse a pre-emptive strike against Iraq if it can be proven that Saddam Hussein has access to weapons of mass destruction and the means to discharge them" but that President Bush "has never proven that case."

The Daily Iowan's (reg.req.) Chuck Larson notes Dean said "he would defeat President Bush by running to his right and leading the Democratic Party to the middle." "Coming back to Iowa means Dean would like to be a serious contender," UI political science Professor Peverill Squire said. "He's trying to fix that by coming to a university campus to get young people excited, but he's not on the big list yet."   (photo by Joanne White/The Daily Iowan)

A Vermonter's well reasoned letter to our governor & congressional delegation on Iraq. (here)

Vermont's Brattleboro Reformer says "Just Say No" in its editorial on Iraq.  9/23/02   (here)

"The Note" says "Vermont Gov. Howard Dean … goes to Iowa Monday and Tuesday to help candidates for Congress and the state Senate. He will go to Georgia Wednesday, back to New Hampshire Thursday then to Maine to raise money for Senate candidate Chellie Pingree. He also plans to visit Texas and South Carolina at the end of September." Monday 9/23/02  (here)

Dean says task of getting noticed accomplished.
"We're in the mix. Now we've got to raise some money." Story by Ross Sneyd, AP, 9/21/02 (here)

VT Public Radio Poll: released 9/19/02, ...shows that if the election were held now, George Bush would get 44% of the Vermont vote and Dean would receive 36%.  (article on Dean polling)   (on Iraq & the economy)   (VT issues)   Of course, with almost 12 yrs. of Dean as governor, and less than 2 years with Bush as president, you can't ignore "Dean fatigue" as a factor in Vermont.

Who's for real in Dems' race
Iowa caucus list shows Edwards, Dean, and Kerry are the serious entries, says Howard Fineman, MSNBC.com, 9/18/02   (here)   Dithering Democrats, In These Times magazine (here)

Homeland Security /Special Ops   A Mark Fiore animated cartoon strip.   (here)
 

Top Dems Back Bush on Waging Iraqi War
Hawkish consensus among possible presidential contenders could boost fortunes of Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, says Ron Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, 9/18/02   (here)

Vermont Gov. rallies Grand Forks Dems,
by Stephen J. Lee, Herald Staff Writer, Mon, Sep. 16, 2002
Providing free health insurance for every “man, woman and child,” in America should be a key part of the Democrats' plan to win back the White House, said Vermont Gov. Howard Dean at a fund- raiser Sunday in Grand Forks, North Dakota.   U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., introduced Dean as “the only one in this room who has an apartment in Iowa.”   (here)

Al Gore   (remember him?)   Tells Top Aides He'll Seek Nomination,   says the Drudge Report, 9/15/02   (here)

EU Debates Measures to Restore Democracy in Florida, from Le Monde et La Merde,  (here) Someone has a humorous solution to Florida's election problems.   (here)

Dean, relaxing on a parkbench talks to Bob Anderson, Editor of Iowa's Clayton Co. Register

While Dean would repeal most of the Bush tax cut, "though I wouldn't get rid of the estate tax, I would increase the income exemption from the current $1 million to $4 or $5 million."  (here)

Coincidentally, Dean's recently released financials show his net worth around $4 million. (here)

For those with multimedia capabilities, a well done September 11 Memorial site in NYC is  (here)

Portland bills political campaigns for police protection,  A.P., Portland, Oregon, 9/10/02 (here)

'Clean house in DC' urges Vermont's Dean, ... faults Bush's tax cut program,
by Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register, 9/06/02   (here)

Dean says Bush has not prepared U.S. for Iraq attack, by Mike Glover, AP, 9/04/02 (here)

Invasion Planz ....collect the whole set !   A Mark Fiore animated cartoon strip   (here)

The real goal is the seizure of Saudi oil,
says Mo Mowlam , member of Tony Blair's cabinet 1997-2001, The Guardian, 9/05/02   (here)

Travel tells who '04 hopefuls are, by Jill Lawrence, USA Today, 9/02/02   (here)

The "Dean for America" campaign website is finally online   (here)     (8/29/02)
"Join the email list" and "email this page to a friend" doesn't work yet, but the rest looks fine.

Dean's political director leaves state payroll to run presidential campaign full time. (here)

An alternative to Bush is demanding to be heard, says Hugo Young for The Guardian, 8/27/02 With this kind of good press in the U.K., maybe Dean should be running for Tony Blair's job.

"This president has the capacity to do more harm to America than any other individual," Dean said. "For the first time we have a man in the White House who can neither manage economic affairs prudently nor foreign affairs wisely."   (here)

MESSAGE TO HOWARD DEAN, from politics section, The Hartford Courant, 8/27/02   (here)

"You can look at it one of two ways - either the good people of Vermont just don't want their governor to leave the state, or they really don't think he'd make much of a president. Back in March, 59 percent of those polled in Vermont said they would not vote for Howard Dean, the outgoing governor, for president. Dean, a Democrat, has made it clear he's thinking of running and has sparked a good deal of national interest for his straight-talking independence. But a follow-up poll conducted a few weeks ago shows that Vermonters really meant what they said in March. Now 63 percent say they won't vote for him. You gotta wonder. What DO they know?"

Dean would make a great president, says Matthew Miller, Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/27/02  (here)
 

"He's the only Democrat aspirant so far willing to discuss an agenda bold enough to challenge Bush." (also) "....columnists (like me) frustrated with today's timid debate want to showcase Dean's ideas in hopes of expanding them."

Dean pledges state will reduce greenhouse gases, by Ross Sneyd, A.P., 8/22/02 (here)
 

Does this mean that Dean's suggestion to building a new coal-fired power plant in Northwestern Vermont is dead?     3/22/01 story (here)  Didn't someone get fired for criticizing Dean's idea?

IRAQ:

OUR FIFTY-FIRST STATE?   As James Fallows reports, war with Iraq would mean shouldering the responsibilities of an occuping power once victory was achieved. Are we ready for a long term relationship?   Story in The Atlantic Monthly online (here)

A Vermonter's well reasoned letter to our governor & congressional delegation on Iraq. (here)

Vermont's Brattleboro Reformer says "Just Say No" in its editorial on Iraq.  9/23/02   (here)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jay Bookman argues that war against Iraq is not really about Iraq: "It is not about weapons of mass destruction, or terrorism, or Saddam, or U.N. resolutions. Invasion would mark the next step toward an American empire." (here)

Beyond Containment: Defending U.S. Interests in the Persian Gulf, an Institute for Strategic Studies Special Report   (here)

U.S. plans military rule and occupation of Iraq   By Julian Borger, The Guardian, 10/12/02 (here)

U.S. Has a Plan to Occupy Iraq, Officials Report   Story by David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, for The New York Times, 10/11/02  (here)

The Lessons of Empire, By Michael Elliott, Time Magazine, Oct. 7, 2002 issue   (here)
As Bush considers colonizing Iraq, he ought to look at the last attempt, by the British, no less.

Gore Assails Bush's Iraq Policy, the Commonwealth Club, San Francisco. 9/23/02 (here)
"In the immediate aftermath of September 11th, more than a year ago, we had an enormous reservoir of good will and sympathy and shared resolve all over the world. That has been squandered in a year's time and replaced with great anxiety all around the world, not primarily about what the terrorist networks are going to do, but about what we're going to do."

Top Dems Back Bush on Waging Iraqi War
Hawkish consensus among possible presidential contenders could boost fortunes of Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, says Ron Brownstein, Los Angeles Times, 9/18/02   (here)

Is there a doctrine in the house?  A Mark Fiore animated cartoon strip  (here)  
 

Top 10 Reasons Not to "Do" Iraq
By Ivan Eland, dir. of defense policy studies at the Cato Institute. 8/19/02 (here) (no liberals here!)

Dean says Iraq war would be a long one, and could lead to American troops being on the ground in the country for a decade. By The Associated Press, 8/21/02, (here)

Dean says Bush has not prepared U.S. for Iraq attack, by Mike Glover, AP, 9/04/02 (here)

100,000 troops already in place, as US forces prepare to quick strike and take over Iraq. (here)

The real goal is the seizure of Saudi oil,
says Mo Mowlam , member of Tony Blair's cabinet 1997-2001, The Guardian, 9/05/02   (here)

What war looks like, by Howard Zinn, The Progressive, 9/09/02   (here)
What is missing is what an American war on Iraq will do to tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of ordinary human beings who are not concerned with geopolitics and military strategy, and who just want their children to live, to grow up. They are not concerned with "national security" but with personal security, with food and shelter and medical care and peace.

Vermont can delay choice at six schools, by Krista Larson, Assoc.Press, 8/21/02 (here) The state has received federal permission to delay implementing choice at 6 public schools until mid-year.
 

Harebrained Howard, by Lee Bockhorn, The Weekly Standard, 8/14/2002, (here) Vermont governor (and Democratic presidential wannabe) Howard Dean is railing against school choice. But his argument is undermined by over 130 years of his own state's history.

(8/13/02) Dean calls vouchers "harebrained" in Albany NY, by Michael Hill, Assoc.Press, (here)

A quirky penchant for secrecy?
 

Our Gov. Dean "for America" seems to have gone private.
 

Peter Freyne of Seven Days reports, in the Aug. 7-14th issue, that "Dean's office has pretty much stopped issuing weekly schedules of any kind." (here)   [The Imperial attitude is still alive!]
 

In the lawsuit to gain access to Dean's official daily schedule by area news media, Dean lost the case -and quickly appealed to the VT Supreme Court. (here) (more)   Why the secrecy?

(8/19/02) Update: Eight scheduled campaign appearances are now listed on Dean's PAC website for Aug 16 to 29.  Listings are also (here)  The VT Supreme Court will rule on Dean's official schedule -sometime. Probably a week before Dean leaves office. Check countdown (here)

(8/12/02) from ABC news The Note:
"The Concord Monitor reported yesterday: "DEAN'S IN TOWN: Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is exploring a run in the Democratic presidential primary, will be the featured speaker at a brunch hosted by the Democratic Network next Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. The brunch will be held at Hermanos in Concord. Hermanos doesn't normally serve brunch, but Rob Werner, one of the group's leaders, says owner Bruce Parrish is opening for the special occasion and serving 'some Mexican breakfast foods he's experimenting with.' After that, Dean will head to a house party on Knox Road in Bow at the home of Peter Odom, who is running for the open Merrimack County attorney's job."   (here)   Vermonters wanting to check up on their governor on the campaign trail should book mark The Note. You'll also find out how the other candidates are doing too. Oh yeah, on Aug. 17 Dean will keynote the Arkansas state Democratic Party Dinner.
 

(8/08/02) ABC news The Note says:
"Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is getting more class time in his self- conscious-but-necessary national security adult continuing education process — by touring the Canadian Forces Station ALERT, located on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. Per Dean's office, CFS Alert is described as "the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world." Dean will return to the states on Friday."   (here)
 

Campaign Finance Reform:
 

Campaign Finance Law attacked from all sides, VT Public Interest Research Group,   (here)

Campaign finance ruling may not apply, By Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau, 8/13/02 (here)

Judge indicates campaign finance rules may be suspended, By Ross Sneyd,AP, 8/13/02 (here)

Federal judge schedules hearing on campaign spending case, By Ross Sneyd,AP, 8/09/02 (here)

Landmark Court Decision Upholds VT Campaign Finance Reform Law, 8/07/02, VPIRG, (here)

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Landell v. Sorrell, decision August 07, 2002 (here) 24pp.

Democracy in Action's Eric Appleman interviewed Dean on July 10, 2002.
He says a "Feature article is still in the works." (main page)   (interview)     (posted 8/5/02)
 

Appleman's feature article on Dean was posted on August 12, 2002   (here)

[If Appleman comes back to Vermont after Jan 2, 2003, when Dean leaves office, he will likely find a pent-up backlog of Dean stories to choose from. --the editor]

Bush, Lieberman Odds Slip; Gore, Dean Improve
David Scott at America's Line updates his 2004 presidential odds. (here)

Fletcher Allen Health Care
 

Anatomy of a scandal, and how Fletcher Allen hid truth about project cost
by Cadence Mertz, Burlington Free Press, 12/29/02, (here)

What Went Wrong, WCAX TV-3 News, 12/13/02 (here)
"I do not do regulation," Dean told reporters at a press conference in Montpelier on August first. "I do not sit down with regulators and say here's what you gotta do." But Governor Dean has involved himself in the certificate of need process. For example, letters exchanged last year between Dean and former Fletcher Allen CEO Bill Boettcher indicate an agreement made over the Renaissance Project and mental health services.   See also: Dean's emails questioned

Hospital gaffes prove costly, by Cadence Mertz, Burlington Free Press, 11/22/02 (here)

Fletcher Allen Report of the Ad Hoc Committee, 72 pages + Appendix A-C, 11/20/02 (pdf file)

Fletcher Allen releases internal investigation, by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 11/20/02 (here)

Fletcher Allen trustees says mgt. mislead them, state, by Wilson Ring, AP, 11/20/02 (here)

Dean: Fletcher Allen executives 'crooks', by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 11/19/02
Outgoing Gov. Howard Dean had his strongest words yet for Fletcher Allen Health Care management, calling hospital officials who misled state regulators “crooks” and saying he hoped some would be charged criminally. (here)

Fletcher Allen nurses approve union, by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 10/04/02   (here)

Fletcher Allen CEO resigns ($525,000) job by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 9/17/02   (here)

FAHC operating rooms must close, may apply again, by Cadence Mertz, BFP, 9/06/02   (here)

Commission reviews hospital budget, By John Dillon, VPR news, 8/26/02   (here)
 

Hospital regulators unsure of FAHC's credibility, By Cadence Mertz, BFP, 8/08/02   (here)
 

Vermont Law School dean joins FAHC probe, By David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 8/06/02   (here)

Fletcher Allen inquiry widens, By Cadence Mertz, Burlington Free Press, 8/02/02, (here)

"You guys clearly want blood," said Gov. Howard Dean in summing up his whenever-he-is-in town press conference which occured August 1, noted the Dwinell Political Report. (here)

State, feds probing Fletcher Allen, By David Mace, VT Press Bureau, 8/02/02   (here)
Dean suggested that the scandal [at FAHC] was much broader than already has been reported.

 Video of Gov. Dean's Press Conf. w/ Atty Gen'l Sorrell on FAHC matter, 8/01/02   (here)
CCTV actually posted the video-stream, on their website, the same day as the event!

Gov. Dean comments on FAHC allegations, By Bob Kinzel, VPR News, 7/31/02   (here)
 

FAHC puts president on leave amid allegations, By John Dillon, VPR News, 7/31/02   (here)
 

Fletcher Allen cannot police itself, By Sam Hemingway, Burlington Free Press, 7/31/02   (here)
 

Enron Medicine, By Peter Freyne, Seven Days, week of  7/31 to 8/7/02   (cached)
Enron Medicine Updated, By Peter Freyne, Seven Days, week of  8/7 to 8/14/02   (here)

Use the farce, deregulate!  A Mark Fiore animated cartoon strip about Enron, etc. (here)

-and now this!
Ben & Jerry's fudging the truth, says Center for Science in the Public Interest. 7/30/02 (here)

Why Clinton is now a hot commodity
It's hard to imagine our aristocratic, self-aggrandizing Gov. Howard Dean kissing Bill Clinton's ring down in Harlem, but Howard Fineman of Newsweek noticed.   (here)   (cached)   Several emails said they were hoping to find a photograph of the event.

see also:
Dean sees no need for special prosecutor, By Susan Smallheer, So.Vt. Bureau, 1/23/02, (here)
Friends of Woody website: (www.justiceforwoody.org)   Report of VT Attorney General (here)

Professor disputes attorney general's report, by Susan Smallheer, So.Vt. Bureau, Dec. 16, 2002, (here) A Marlboro College professor, who has studied the attorney general’s report on the police shooting of Robert Woodward, said Monday that the report was full of contradictions, misrepresentations and exaggerations.

Is Vermont Open for Business? ... By Keith Baldi, Channel 22 TV, July 26, 2002   (here)

Dean says US tax cut should be repealed, ... says money could finance universal health care.
By Susan Milligan, Boston Globe Staff Writer, 7/22/02,   (here)   (he's got this one right)

A Time to Face Fiscal Reality, By David S. Broder, The Washington Post, 7/24/02   (here)

Tim Russert brought up the recent Vermont poll that has Bush at 45% and Dean 40%, and also whether or not Dean should run for president: 45% approve of him running, to 44% disapprove. Russert: The man who took that poll -- the pollster had this to say: "There clearly isn't overwhelming support for [Dean] running and ... If I were him, these are not the numbers I would look for as a favorite son." Russert turns to Dean: "Those who know you best." Dean: "You know what? I don't worry about it a bit because there's only one other contender for the Democratic nomination who had better numbers than I did." Dean rambles on about "... this president is a popular president. Every state sees -- in every state, he's very popular, including my own." After trying to explain that "those numbers are actually --" Russert interrupts: Who? Gov. Dean: John Kerry. There was one additional question before the interview ended. Full Transcript (here)

Dems overwhelmingly prefer Al Gore in  ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll. (here)   Gore 50%, Daschle 9%, John Kerry 7%, Gephardt 7%, Edwards 3%, Dean 1%, others 4%, no opinion 20%.
Poll sampled 1,512 adults nationally - between July 11-15, 2002.   (released 7/18/02)

The "Dean for America" presidential exploratory committee that was formed on May 31, 2002, does not seem to have a website yet!   Dean's PAC website, "Fund for a Healthy America" had its last update entry on June 29, 2002.  (here).

Dean's campaign boosts security costs
By Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau, July 18, 2002   (here)

The cost of providing security to Gov. Howard Dean as he travels the country exploring a presidential bid has more than doubled in the past year, according to figures released by the state Dept. of Public Safety.

Is it 2004 yet?  Questions for Howard Dean, by David Wallis, NYT Magazine, 7/14/02   (here)

For '04 Run, a Walk in Carter's Shoes, By David S. Broder, Washington Post, 7/12/02,   (here) "Like [Jimmy] Carter, he travels with a single aide and stays as often as possible in the homes of local Democrats. Asked if he follows the former president's custom of making his own bed, Dean said, 'Of course.'"

Economists: Manufacturing hits 33-year low, By Ross Sneyd, Assoc. Press, 7/10/02   (here)

State Economist ... issues revised report on July 10, 2002. (here) Adobe Reader file size: 53k

Nomination is Gore's for the taking, By Steve Neal, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/10/02   (here)
 

Al Gore has decided to make another run for the presidency, and his renomination by the Democrats in 2004 is inevitable. Two other Democrats, Andrew Jackson and Grover Cleveland, lost the presidency while winning the popular vote. Four years after their respective losses, Jackson and Cleveland captured the White House. History could repeat itself in 2004, says Neal.

Vermont's Dean calls corp. ethics major campaign issue
By Greg McDonald, Senior Writer, Stateline.org, July 9, 2002,   (here)

"Dean's message to Vermont's business community: stop moaning and groaning."
Talking business with Bruce Edwards: an interview with Gov. Howard Dean
The Rutland Herald, Business section, July 8 and 15, 2002 interview   Part 1: (here)   Part 2: (here)

Semiconductor Business News, on 7/05/02 reported that United Microelectronics Co. of Taiwan is shopping for a plant, perhaps in Vermont. (here)   UMC, is the world's second largest silicon foundry company.

From where? Dark horse runs from back of pack
By Elizabeth Mehren, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2002 picked up by the Rutland Herald (here)
 

"He has had a charmed political career and a charmed decade to be governor in," said John McClaughry, president of a "free-market think tank" called the Ethan Allen Institute in Kirby, Vt. McClaughry suggested Dean launched his presidential bid because "he's in the prime of life and he has exhausted his opportunities here." Unless Dean waits to run against independent Sen. James M. Jeffords in 2006, "there's nothing here for Howard except going back to the clinic," McClaughry said.

To some he represents the ideal politician, slippery when necessary, cautious when appropriate and ruthless in advancing his agenda through the accumulation of more than a decade of political power.

The core is the issue in the Champion lands deal
By David W. Smith, The Times Argus, July 5, 2002, Part 1 of 4 parts   (here)
 

Camp owners don't want their culture to fade
By David W. Smith, The Times Argus, July 5, 2002, Part 2 of 4 parts   (here)
 

Aiming to protect a 'jewel'
By David W. Smith, The Times Argus, July 6, 2002, Part 3 of 4 parts   (here)
 

Legislating the forest
Future of Champion lands still up in the air at the Statehouse
By David W. Smith, The Times Argus, July 7, 2002, Part 4 of 4 parts   (here)

Nov. 1, 2002 Agreement is reached for Champion lands   (here)
Gov. Howard Dean on Friday signed an executive order that provides perpetual access for hunting, fishing and trapping in a 22,500-acre wilderness known as the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area.

Champion land critics call on Douglas to reverse Dean plan
by David Mace, VT Press Bureau, posted 1/03/03, (here)
 

A coalition of opponents to Gov. Howard Dean’s plans for the former Champion lands is calling on Gov.-elect. James Douglas to overturn a last-minute executive order Dean issued.

Political scientists are trying to clone Dean and create a new version of  Lt. Gov. Doug Racine. The trouble is, Racine has memory problems and doesn't remember what he's supposed to believe today!

Will the Democrats notice Howard Dean?
Invisible Man
By Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic online, Post date 06.20.02 | Issue date 07.01.02   (here)

The Darkest Horse
By Robert Dreyfuss, The American Prospect, Posted 06.20.02 | Issue date 07.15.02   (here)

Vermont's Supreme Court justices on Tuesday grilled lawyers for the state and three newspapers' fight to gain access to Gov. Howard Dean's daily schedule.

Papers take fight for Dean schedule to Supreme Court
By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau, 6/11/02   (here)

"Ultimately, we’re entitled to know where our elected officials are and what they’re doing," Robert Hemley, attorney for the Rutland Herald, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus and the Burlington weekly Seven Days, told the court.

"Workforce Rebalancing" Title of the 6/04/02 memo from IBM's CEO.

(6/04/02)   IBM cuts nearly 1,000 Vermont jobs   (Rutland Herald)

Stories also at the (Burl. Free Press) and the (Alliance IBM) websites.

Update: A life in tune again after IBM,
By Robin Palmer, Staff Writer, The Times Argus, July 21, 2002,   (here)

One month before the nation was to celebrate its independence, 988 workers were granted theirs from financially struggling [?] computer giant IBM.

Update: "Part of it, of course, is the global recession, and that explains why jobs are moving overseas, but it doesn't explain why jobs are moving to New Hampshire.." --Jim Douglas in the Brattleboro Reformer, July 17, 2002   (here)

Update: Semiconductor Business News, on 7/05/02 reported that United Microelectronics Co. of Taiwan is shopping for a plant, perhaps in Vermont. (here)   UMC, is the world's second largest silicon foundry company.

Layoffs are political fodder
By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau, 6/5/02   (here)

Maybe too busy campaigning for himself?

If Dean really had good friends at IBM, they would have given him advance notice. Dean says he meets with IBM quarterly, but with his manic-like speech delivery and poor listening skills, it's hard to imagine that anyone else got a word in edgewise. "The governor has a temper," says John O'Kane, manager of government affairs for IBM Microelectronics Burlington. "He's thin-skinned. We choose our words very carefully around him." (The American Prospect, The Darkest Horse by Robert Dreyfuss (here) If this was a real working meeting, why not a phased-in approach to lessen the severe impact? This also would have been politically astute. They could have taken 6 months to do this - until Dean left office - rather than suddenly lay off 1,000 people all at once. At IBM's recent annual meeting, it authorized buying back  $3.5 Billion of it's shares. IBM could well afford a 6 month gradual solution. Instead, IBM rebuked Dean, saved the money, and really sent Vermont a message. The feeling is that IBM may have been taken for granted.

About 18 months ago with little fanfare the "O'Neal Report" was released. Since its release, one would have difficulty finding a copy. A website check of Vermont's Dept. of Tourism & Marketing and the Dept. of Economic Development turned up nothing called "O'Neal Report" or study, or survey, etc. The reason being? Its not called the "O'Neal" anything. The report is filed under the generic name "brand_study.pdf ". Even the stated file size of "67K" is wrong. The actual file as downloaded weighs in at "954K" and prints out to 37 pages. This website is operated by the VT Dept. of Economic Development. (view publication listings) or (download) the report.

(6/17/02) Thanks to Ken Horseman, of the Dept. of Economic Development, a recognizable title for the "O'Neal Report" is at the above "publications" address. The file size is now correct, too.

How to cut costs and look good doing it   --just don't get caught bragging.

By James Ehlers, Ideas and Opinions, at PoliticsVT.com, 6/04/02   (here)

June 6  Thursday is Vermont Dairy Day
That's the day school children go to the Statehouse to see where the taxpayers get milked. This year they'll probably get to meet the legislature.

worth a second look dept:
 

Photo shows Dean hiking amongst marijuana plants?
...and no, he's not doing an anti-drug commercial.

An astute reader noticed a picture of our Howard standing in the midst of tall green plants - with the details of the leaves obviously air brushed out. The suspect Photo is (here)   What do you think?

Mixed Signals
From ABC News,"The Note", Washington, May 29, 2002
ABC 2004: The Invisible Primary
 

"While a Gov. Howard Dean source tells us that the Rutland Herald lead today, that Dean has made up his mind to run for president in 2004, is wrong --Dean has not made "any firm decisions"-- Dean will indeed be mailing papers to the FEC today to establish an exploratory committee, Dean for America, making him the second possible presidential contender to do so (after Al Sharpton)."   Latest political news (here)  in "The Note."

(05/29/02)  Dean in Maine for Chellie Pingree, Dem. for U.S. Senate and author of Maine's Rx Program. Has a great website. (here)

The latest update contains some of the most dire expressions seen in more than a decade.

(5/31/02) Full report available (here)  It's a "pdf" file, so you may need Adobe Reader (here)

Dean's decision: Running for president, By Tracy Schmaler, Vt. Press Bureau, 5/28/02, (here)

from the not-delusional-after-all dept:
 

"To say there is a groundswell out there would be a gross exaggeration."

Dean says his straight talk sells
By Nancy Remsen, Burlington Free Press, 05/24/02,   (here)
 

Dean's campaign
The Rutland Herald Editorial Page, May 24, 2002   (here)

Dean "seven-eights" certain to enter race for White House,
By Mike Glover, The Associated Press, 5/23/02, (here)

Dean is "annoyed" again and is running around defending his stewardship of the Vermont economy in wake of Jim Douglas's announcement speech on 05/23/02 (here)   The April report on the Vermont Labor Market by the Vermont Dept. of Employment & Training is (here)   Notice it's a "pdf " file, so you'll have to install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer -if you want to read this report. Pretty user friendly, huh?   Adobe Reader (here)   It's becoming more prevalent.

According to The Essex Reporter article, an important reason it's been delayed again is because Dean and Racine don't support it!

Dean urges caution on 9/11 issue.
By Thomas Beaumont, Des Moines Register Staff Writer, 05/22/02   (here)

News by the People, for the People
By Paul Andrews, Online Journalism Review, 05/20/02   (here)

Can Al Gore go home again?
By Anthony York, Salon.com Politics, 05/21/02

The former vice president tries to reconnect with the homestate that deserted him, amid criticisms he's "still caviar, not catfish." Al Gore became the first presidential nominee to lose his home state in 28 years, losing 11 of its electorial votes, and with it, the presidency.   (here)   Dean could too.

Dean recently said that Senate budget writers were "in la-la land."

"It seems more than a little hypocritical for Gov. Dean to travel around the country running for President and bragging about his Vermont health care accomplishments, then return to chop up some of those very programs other Vermonters fought so hard to implement," says Progressive gubernatorial candidate Michael Badamo. (5/11/02) (AP) (story)   (Badamo)

Tip:  If you have a sound card installed in your computer and a reasonably fast internet connect -ion, you can actually see and hear how our Gov. Dean acts when he's back home from his speech making tours. Just hop over to CCTV "Streaming Video of Vermont Government Events" (here)  The 5/08/02  Q&A session on the budget is typical.  Enjoy -while it's still there.

With the Rev. Al  Sharpton polling numbers twice those of  Gov. Dean, Dean's expectations are starting to look unrealistic. See polling by: Zogby America, CNN/Time, Marist College, and CNN/USA Today/Gallup   (here)

Court rules for newspapers seeking Dean's schedule
By David Gram, Associated Press, (4/26/02)     (cached)

Judge grants papers' access to Dean's schedule
By Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau, (4/27/02)   (here)

The "calendars are generated by the staff of the governor's office for the convenience of his staff and in furtherance of official business," Cheever wrote. "As such, the governor's calendars constitute public records" under Vermont law.

Please Support Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for President.
Let's bring "The Vermont Miracle" To All American's, by Robert Baral, Readsboro, VT   (here)

(This satire, slightly edited, is posted as received in my mailbox, 4/20/02. The email and phone number are good. You decide the rest. --the editor)
 

(Robert) Baral slams government, civil unions in bid for house seat,
Robert Baral is not running for office to become a politician; he's running to spread the message of God. By Daniel Barlow, Brattleboro Reformer, 9/6/02, (here)

Newspapers sue Dean for access to schedule
By David Mace, Vermont Press Bureau, (4/23/02)   (here)

(4/26/02) Update: This afternoon, Washington County Superior Court Judge Alan Cheever rules against Gov. Howard Dean in the above case. Dean is expected to appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court.

Dean's our-test-is-better-than-yours rebellion against new school-testing - could cost Vermont $26 million.

Dean has raised few funds
By Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau, (4/15/02)   (story)     (FEC-filing)

May 11: Dean keynotes Wyoming Dems convention, Rock Springs, WY
May 13: Dean helps raise money for Rep. Jim Maloney, Southbury, CT
June 7: Dean gives commencement at Univ. of Michigan Medical School
June 8: Dean does the same, at Dartmouth Medical School, NH
 

Dem. Presidental Hopefuls heading to Florida.

This weekend, Florida's Democratic State Conference, April 12-14, has attracted candidates - like ants to a picnic. It's being held at the Wyndham Palace Resort & Spa in Orlando. Over 2,000 Democrats and dozens of national reporters are expected. Some candidates will just parachute in and give their remarks and leave. Others, will have "scheduling issues" such as Dick Gephardt, Tom Daschle, and Howard Dean. Those with the double-digit poll numbers will likely be there. (more)

Dean doesn't think so. "The White House seems to be insistent on micromanaging the states' affairs," Dean said in an interview about his remarks to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, April 10. (more)

.... for 20 minutes. Gephardt and Edwards pulled rank and got an hour each.

"Progressive Strategies for the New Era" in Wash.DC, April 10, 11, 12, 2002. Besides Dean, speakers include House Minority Leader Gephardt, and Sen. John Edwards. (4/3/02)     (here)

Dean will address the National Jewish Democratic Council in Wash.D.C. on April 11, 2002, while he's still in town. (here)

attempt at censoring panelist and occasional host of "Vermont this Week", Peter Freyne, backfires. (here) (more)   VTW not only needs Peter Freyne, it really needs a wider diversity of panelists and viewpoints. To do it right, would probably require an hour program.

There is a widely held opinion that the VPT board and management are operating as though they were a private club, and must be ever-so-careful who they let in. The latest controversy does help reinforce this. The attitude removes any lingering doubt.

It's also not an unreasonable expectation that we have uncensored  political commentary  from our only public television station. "Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate," said Hubert H. Humphrey - in a rare moment of profundity.

VPT is also low on "Actual original production of public affairs, educational, and artistic non-commercial television for local interest." For fiscal year ending 2000, it was only 79 hrs/yr. For fiscal year ending 2001, it was 112 hrs/yr. The average is just 2 hours a week. These hours are much lower than those posted on the VPT website, which includes reruns. There are signs that the numbers may be better this year.

There's still not much Vermont, in Vermont Public Television.

State budget deficits caused severe cuts for the elderly and disabled , but VPT still wants their $604,136 from the Legislature. In legislative testimony VPT sniffed that this $600,000 is a 2.5% decrease in how much VPT was awarded last year.   Their haughty attitude is unbecoming for a group always looking for money.

This really has become an undeserved entitlement. The Legislature should "just say no" , at least for this year, sending them the only message that management will probably hear.

It is notable that Vermont Public Radio while having got state help with it's new studio in Colchester, and a new transmitter in Burke, are not making annual trips to the Legislature for money - as VPT does!

Not since mid-1998 when this webpage started, has an off-topic matter received so much email. Months after the "event" - an email or two - still arrives here on this topic.   -- the editor

Governor's Study Group ... finds way to fund Act 60.  (here)
By Lawrence Auclair, (4/1/02)     (Switzerland won't like this.)

Dean Visits Iowa, says voters are upset with Bush
By Mike Glover, The Associated Press, (3/29/02)   (here)

Vermont's Dean tests Iowa waters
By Thomas Beaumont, Staff Writer, Des Moines Register, (3/29/02)   (here)

"I intend to do everything I can to move this party and move this nation toward a platform that invests in children instead of people who make $350,000 a year," vowed Dean.

Vermont's WCAX-TV was there too. Andy Potter reports (here)

"Dean used this, his fifth trip to the nation's earliest primary state during the last six months, as a chance to take stabs at President Bush, as well as highlight his positions," says Lori Ayotte, Assoc. Press Report at Boston.Com (here)

As surely as Lincoln freed the slaves, they say, the gay community feels that Howard Dean has freed them too. So they honored him at their 7th annual Tennessee Human Rights Campaign Dinner & Silent Auction. No, they didn't auction off our Howard. "The campaign works to promote homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights." Dean's best quote: "I think most Americans believe that everyone ought to have equal rights, they just don't want special rights for some."   The Tennessean (here), Human Rights Campaign: (here)

The auction was unable to find anyone in Vermont who would pay to have Howard Dean back.

June 2000 interview, 'Out in The Mountains' by Paul Olsen. (here)

Gov. Howard Dean, By Stephanie Dziczek, Holmes High School, Covington, Kentucky. (here)

Recent news reports about the financial contributions made by Vermont utility executives or board members to Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign political action committee were "too much of a coincidence," says Mark Sinclair, senior attorney with The Conservation Law Foundation.

Mark your calendar:   June 6, 2002   is Vermont Dairy Day
That's the day school children go to the Statehouse to see where the taxpayers get milked.   (other)

Dean in an interview said he's looking pretty seriously at becoming a candidate for president. "I'll probably have a decision later in the year," Dean said. He figures he'll need $20 million to be competitive. Also, he pointed out, he has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.

"Once again, Governor for a day, paid for a week. Howard Dean did a cameo appearance in Montpelier today announcing that he would be gone for the next thirteen days. Off first to South Carolina to talk with anti-sprawl folks. Then he is off for Texas to talk with a group concerned with child abuse and another gay and lesbian group. Then off to Brazil and Chile on a trade mission."

Dean follows president's lead in funding for campaign bid, in the Brattleboro Reformer,
Dean turns to utility executives to finance new campaign, in the Burlington Free Press,
Dean raises money from energy sources, in the Times-Argus.
All are titles to a story by David Gram, The Associated Press, (2/26/02)   (here)

"When Gov. Howard Dean wanted to raise money for a possible presidential bid, he followed the example of a former governor of Texas and called on his friends in the energy industry."

Dean got a real taste of retail politics in N.H. stumping for local and regional candidates hoping for their help in the "first in the nation primary" two years from now.

"With a doctor as governor, you would expect that Vermonters have good access to health care. But when the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency, ranks Vermont number 2 in the country in per person Ritalin use ... a controversial drug that is most often prescribed to children ... people want to know why."

Dean, who quietly signed the civil unions bill into law without any pesky press or cameras present, has since been promoting civil unions with all the zeal of a born-again Christian - outside Vermont.

from the petitioners-should-have-known-better dept.

To better understand this, read the Rutland Herald, August 16, 2001 editorial (here) about "Dean's openly expressed bias" and the "seeking to counter the biases of the governor." It was "Just two years ago Dean tried to prevent Appel (then Defender General) from accepting a $150,000 federal grant aimed at assisting defendants with mental disabilities."

"Abenaki school children had been scornfully told that they were not Indians ... because the government said so," said Frederick Wiseman, a professor of history and archaeology at Johnson State College. He and others said this attitude was the result of the state's stance that the Abenakis do not constitute a formally recognizable Indian tribe, and they attributed that stance to racism. (here)
 

Gov. Dean's former Republican opponent for governor, Ruth Dwyer, will become a television reporter for WVNY-TV CH22 beginning January 31st. She ran twice and lost both times. Dwyer had previously served two terms in the Vermont legislature. (1/15/02)   (www.abc22.com)

"The fact that Dean is apparently testing the presidential waters as he serves out his term means taxpayers have a right to know if he is taking trips or making political appearances at public expense," says Scott Fletcher, managing editor for the Times Argus. (here)

(1/09/02) Seven Days also joined lawsuit to require Gov. Dean make daily schedule public.

Howard Who? ...By Eleanor Clift, Newsweek & MSNBC online, (1/04/02) (here) (link moved or expired)
 

Babington also observes that our Gov. Dean is "hardly known outside his tiny state." (here)

Since September 11th of this year, our governor has traveled to Germany, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Finland, and Canada. This week its Ouagadougou. (cached)

How far? Dean has traveled to Miami, Phoenix, New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the last seven months as he wrestled with a decision about entering the presidential sweepstakes in 2004. (here)

(12/06/01) Dean's PAC Website goes online, by Jack Hoffman, Vermont Press Bureau. (here)

Another Dean clarification for our growing "Dean doth protest too much" dept. (here)

Freyne gives us the story behind the story on the formation of Dean's PAC, the "Fund for a Healthy America," with the Federal Election Commission. (cached)

(11/20/01) "Dean Tests Waters for White House run" and forms a PAC. (here)

An appeal before the state Environmental Board regarding the expansion plans of Okemo Mountain Resort and questions about emails exchanged between it's owner Diane Mueller and Gov. Howard Dean have been raised. For any litigant to be communicating with the person who appoints the judge hearing your lawsuit - raises serious ethical questions. (story here)   (unfortunately there is no follow-up)

It seems our "Dr. Humility" had boasted in a recent CNN interview that his fiscal leadership had been so outstanding, Vermont would be left with $100 million in the bank when he leaves office. Also, it seems that Dean's press secretary hasn't been especially nice lately. Both stories are in Peter Freyne's 11/07/01 column. (cached)
 

(9/27/01) Rumor: Democratic party activists are hopeful that Gov. Howard Dean will leave office early to "give Lt. Gov. Doug Racine some experience at governance." Six months would be good.

"Ecologically speaking, the term 'wetland' has no meaning .... for regulatory purposes, a wetland is whatever we decide it is." --- Robert J. Pierre, member of the EPA team that wrote the 1989 wetlands manual. Quoted in the National Wetlands Newsletter, Nov/Dec 1991, P.12

"To put it bluntly, the governor doesn't know what he is talking about, and just because he used to be a physician, doesn't mean he knows what goes on in today's hospitals." (link expired)

"... a series of careless acts and glaring gaffes by Gov. Dean's administration jeopardizes all we've achieved" .... "Seeing tens of thousands of unprocessed tax returns, thousands of inaccurate tax-related letters and out-of-whack budget projections,".... (more here)

The Rutland Herald Online -
 

For the defense

August 16, 2001

(from the Editorials section)

Dean chose not to reappoint Appel for a third four-year term as defender general, the state official who heads the state’s public defender program. In appointing Valerio, of Proctor, the new defender general, Dean had kind words for Appel. But Appel had clashed with Dean on numerous occasions in his efforts to secure for his office the resources necessary to fulfill his duties conscientiously.

Just two years ago Dean tried to prevent Appel from accepting a $150,000 federal grant aimed at assisting defendants with mental disabilities. For Dean to block a government agency from receiving federal money was unusual in itself. But Dean’s openly expressed bias against criminal defendants provided a partial explanation.

Dean has made no secret of his belief that the justice system gives all the breaks to defendants. Consequently, during the 1990s, state’s attorneys, police, and corrections all received budget increases vastly exceeding increases enjoyed by the defender general’s office. That meant the state’s attorneys were able to round up ever increasing numbers of criminal defendants, but the public defenders were not given comparable resources to respond.

The problem with giving a disproportionate share of state resources to prosecution and enforcement is that it throws the justice system out of kilter. A just result occurs in court only when the prosecution and defense both are ably represented.

Thus, Appel felt compelled two years ago to notify the court that the Rutland public defender’s office would take no new cases unless the defendant was in jail. The Rutland office was so short of staff that case backlogs threatened to overwhelm the public defenders.

Vermont is not Texas, where the public defender’s program is notorious for signing up incompetent, inebriated, or sleep-deprived lawyers for indigent clients. But lawyers who are short of resources cannot serve their clients well. Thus, Appel found himself in a bind five years ago when the court ordered him to provide expert testimony on behalf of Ruth Lizotte, a Rutland woman who was charged with murder by arson.

Appel noted that the public defender didn’t have the money to pay for expert witnesses. Thus, the burden is on the legislative and executive branches to make sure the judiciary has the resources it needs. And the judiciary includes the system as a whole — police, prosecution, defense, and courtroom personnel.

Making the case for adequate funding of the criminal defense system will be one of the principal jobs of the new defender general. Valerio, an experienced criminal defense lawyer and the incoming president of the Vermont Bar Association, will owe his appointment as defender general to Dean. But he will owe it to the people of Vermont to push Dean to include in his budget adequate resources so the state’s public defenders can do their jobs.

Public defenders handle most of the criminal defense work in the state. It is a thankless task in some ways. But one of the important differences between democracies and police states is a fair justice system. Without it, police round up people and throw them in jail as a matter of routine. Law becomes, not a guarantor of justice, but a method of intimidation.

Appel has served the state well by seeking to counter the biases of the governor. Let’s hope Valerio is willing to do the same.

Also related:

(08/15/01) Dean names Rutland lawyer next defender general, by Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau   (here)

(08/14/01) Defender general's status in doubt, by Tracy Schmaler, Vermont Press Bureau   (here)

 

June 25, 2001

Governor Howard Dean
Vermont State Capitol
Pavilion State Office Building
109 State Street
Montpelier, Vermont 05609

Dear Governor Dean,

It was with great disappointment that I learned of the overtly negative and partisan remarks you made about my record as Florida's governor at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner held in Miami Beach last Saturday. As members of the National Governor's Association, we take great pride in our bi-partisan approach to working together to better serve the residents of our states. Therefore, your misleading and erroneous comments came as a surprise to many. As a fellow governor and the target of your critical assault, I found your remarks unfortunate.

During your comments, you stated that the number of Florida's uninsured is growing. In fact, over 81% of all eligible children are now receiving insurance under the KidCare program - a staggering improvement from the 54.8% being served under the previous administration. Under the 02-03 budget that I recently signed into law, an estimated 88% of eligible children will be served under this program. We have increased funding for health insurance for low-income children from $167 million in 98-99 to $311 million in 01-02, an 86% increase in the past three years. In addition, the most recent survey on the subject, taken from March through September 1999, showed that the total number of uninsured Floridians is down to 2.1 million from 2.6 million in 1993. These facts prove that the number of children and adults receiving insurance in Florida has increased -not decreased- during my tenure as governor.

As it pertains to reduction in services and programs for expecting mothers, another issue that was misrepresented during your remarks, I proposed no such cuts in my budget. While the Senate proposed a reduction in Medicaid eligibility limit from 185% to 150% of the federal poverty level, this recommendation was not picked up in the final budget. The final budget contains no reductions in benefits or eligibility groups for Medicaid.

You also stated that the infant mortality rate has increased under my watch. In reality, the provisional infant mortality rate in Florida for the year 2000, the most recent year for which we have data available, is at its lowest level in Florida history.

Governor Dean, I have always known you to be a man of honor and am therefore confident that you received misinformation about the issues you spoke on Saturday night. However, those who provided you with this wrong information in the hope that it would be distributed in the form of a partisan attack on my tenure acted irresponsibly towards the citizens of Florida. In the future, I would urge you to contact me personally when you have questions regarding my record and I will look forward to providing the facts about the services and programs offered to the people of Florida.

Sincerely,

Jeb Bush

cc: National Governor's Association

"Ho Ho didn't get his cigarette tax nor his beer tax. Nor has he driven heroin out of Vermont like he promised in his inaugural address. Dean's ready to go national and the hair dye proves it." 7days here

Dean, speaking at a New England conference on health care, "suggested that Vermont be viewed as a national model, because 93.7 percent of residents have health insurance. [According to official Census reports, the percentage is actually 87.7, but Dean uses his own private numbers to make his record look better.] Continuing: "Vermont's insurance program will be $50 million in the red if something isn't done, Dean said." (Caledonian Record, 5/15/01). Let's see now. Vermont has 0.22% of the nations population. If Dean's plan were a national model, the 50 states would be $21.7 billion in the red. Some "national model".

(5/06/01) Federal officials say the cases involve more than 100 acres and are the largest potential violations of wetland regulations in Vermont. Two cases have been sent to the U.S. Attorney's Office and a third case is being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency. The use of taxpayer money to help farmers who are under investigation for potentially violating state and federal wetlands laws concerns Kelly Lowry, lawyer for the Vermont Natural Resources Council, a statewide environmental group. "As a policy matter, it's very peculiar for the governor's office and the Agency of Natural Resources to help defray costs associated with an enforcement action."   (story here)

Gov. Dean's thoughtful, well crafted plan would have saved Act 60. He didn't want to embarrass the legislature, so he quietly let out a few tibits to key leaders to help them along in their work. After all, you don't graduate from Albert Einstein's medical school being dull of wit. If our Howard said he has a plan - then why can't we just accept that he has a plan - and give him the benefit of the doubt?

The truth is, it's missing. It's an embarrassment Dean is sure the press corps will never let him forget. If he could just retire and get over this "I gotta be president" thing. Eventually, with the passage of time Howard Dean will be remembered as one of Vermont's best governors. Really. Just like Tom Salmon. You'll see.
 

"Democratic guvs are already lining up to run for president and vice president in 2004. Top Dem sources say three are in the presidential hunt: Georgia's Roy Barnes, Iowa's Thomas Vilsack, and Vermont's Howard Dean. Two are eyeing the No. 2 spot: New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaneen and Mississippi's Ronnie Musgrove."

Never too comfortable around environmentalists, Dean decided to oust his environmental advisor Elizabeth Courtney after her criticism of his idea to build a coal-fired power plant in Northwestern Vermont. To advise Howard - whose mind is already made up on almost everything - must have seemed like a terrible waste of forensic oratory for Ms. Courtney who was Chair of the Vermont Environmental Board from 1990 to 1994. She is the Executive Director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council, a trustee to the Vermont Law School, and is also known as a 'real tart' herself.

Vermont's Auditor of Accounts Elizabeth Ready, at a Orange County Democratic meeting, gave a surprise endorsement for Lt. Gov. Doug Racine to succeed Gov. Dean in 2002 -assuming that he steps down. This according to The Herald in Randolph, and also the Dwinell-Sternberg Report.

(So what - if Doug doesn't remember names too well. We can all wear nametags for a while. It's a small price.)

He suggested building a coal-fired plant in Northwestern Vermont. This suggestion is raising concerns in neighboring New Hampshire about adding to the amount of acid rain already caused by coal plants in the West.   Barely a word heard from Vermont's normally vocal Chablis and Volvo crowd.
 

(3/14/01) Dean warns Legislature, time is running out to fix Act 60 this biennium. (Rutland Herald)
Un-official answer: "We would have been happier receiving his card from some far-away place."

Just before the great blizzard of 2001, Gov. Dean and the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, headed to South America for one of those trade missions governors like to go on - when things get boring at home. So, Lt. Governor Doug Racine is our governor until March 16. Enjoy the peace.

There he goes again. Governor Dean once again lashed out at folks with whom he disagrees by resorting to the schoolyard bully's favorite weapon - name-calling. He referred to the folks who make up PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as "wackos." Now, we're no fans of PETA, but isn't it just a shade declassé for a governor (who has never been a member of the WWF) to be hurling epithets at people with opposing views? Sad to say, it seems to be a habit with Dean. During the primary, if you recall, he referred to some social conservatives as "low lifes." And he called Republicans who supported ending quotas "racists."

Here's the irony: it wasn't all that long ago that Governor Dean used his State of the State address to showcase a report of a committee chaired by former Governor Hoff that talked of incidences of racism in some Vermont schools. (DSR tried to obtain a copy of Hoff's report from his office but the request went for naught.)

To Dean, diversity seems to mean only race. In reality, diversity is much more than that. Even among white kids, there has always been diversity in Vermont schools. Who doesn't remember the lack of tolerance for the overweight, the stuttering, the non-athletic, the ugly, the poor, the slow, the stupid, the bright, the lame, the Jew, the Catholic, the Irish, the French Canadian kid?

And who doesn't remember the juvenile name-calling that resulted from that lack of tolerance?

The guv might disagree with Republicans, PETA, or whomever, but it's not unreasonable for Vermonters to expect a little more self-discipline from their governor when he talks of those folks.

In his FY 2002 budget proposal, Dean has proposed eliminating a number of benefits in the Vermont Health Access Plan (VHAP). These include: dental services, chiropractic services, eyeglasses and vision care services, durable medical equipment, medical supplies, prosthetics and orthotics, over-the-counter medications, respiratory therapy services, and skilled nursing services.
The Dean Administration also proposed to establish a $250.00 copay requirement for each non-emergency inpatient hospitalization and require, for beneficiaries enrolled in managed care, payment of a 60 percent coinsurance for each covered prescription or refill up to an annual maximum per beneficiary out-of-pocket coinsurance expense of $750.00.

If you should happen to survive what ails you, stay tuned, Dean probably has a plan for you too! Contact your local caring legislator and let them know what you think about these cuts!   (1/30/01)

"Here is what Dean's proposal says to me.
If you are disabled and poor enough to require assistance from the government in order to survive, your vision matters not. Further -- in your fiscally unworthy state -- dental care, respiratory care, medical supplies and equipment are but a few of the luxuries that will be denied to you. Until you are once again deemed financially productive, you will be asked to make a choice: shall I use my limited funds to pay for food and shelter or prescribed medications and needed hospitalization?"   (2/06/01)

Denise Hok (dehok@sover.net)
Brattleboro, Vermont

(1/11/01) Education Week has issued it's Annual Report Cards. The Vermont results are (here)

(1/04/01) Dean's 2001 inaugural address: The speech was delivered in a tired, measured, almost pained way - much like a child reading his homework before the class. What it lacked in delivery was fortunately rescued by the message. Better you read it here - than watch the tape. A Deerfield Valley resident suggests our governor include his next speech with our Income Tax Booklet.

Bush Dismayed Over Low Presidential Pay   "I'll just have to do the job the American People want me to do -and make the best of it. No wonder Clinton rented out the extra bedrooms."   (more)

(12/07/00) "Dean's folly"? Maybe not. Yes, this train is 5 years late and cost 3 times more than expected. The Champlain Flyer began its daily 12-mile trip from Charlotte to Burlington this week. The train makes two round trips in the morning, and two more during the evening commute. The route runs parallel to Shelburne Road - famous for its traffic congestion. If this is the beginning of a real public transportation network in Vermont, this could go down as one of Dean's best ideas.

Jeffords mulls running for Dean's job in 2002.
(sorry, but I wouldn't have got re-elected if you knew beforehand dept.)     (story here)     Thanks Jim !

(10/29/00) Remember those "Republicans for Dean" a few weeks ago?   Ruth Dwyer says, "..what I saw was a bunch of guys looking for Act 250 permits, quite frankly." Does she really think Dean was peddling land-development permits in exchange for political support?   (more here)

(10/11/00) Dear Ruth Dwyer: Recently you have accused Christopher Graff of the Associated Press, of printing "rumor and innuendo" and of "promoting Howard Dean for all he's worth." The following snippet is offered as an example of an uncomplimentary truth about our governor written by Mr. Graff during the last campaign. "This is, after all, the governor who has at times tried to cut benefits for the aged, blind, and disabled, whose no.1 priority is a balanced budget." (from "A Weekly Perspective on Vermont Affairs" by Christopher Graff, Associated Press 10/3/98 15:34)   (There are a few others, but this one's our favorite. -the editor)

at a Burlington Community Health Center meeting.(here)   Maybe, this could be achieved with the rationing plan he espoused last week at the Stowe Mountain Resort. Yeah, that must be it. Howard's on a roll now!

"Patients should be told to take their business elsewhere if they objected," he said, before a gathering at the Stowe Mountain Resort last week. "Doing this would be controversial, Dean acknowledged. But it would help small businesses by containing health-care costs," he said. (Stowe Reporter)

(9/29/00) U.S. Census Bureau says number of Vermont's uninsured jumped 30,000 between 1998 and 1999. Gov. Dean contends Vermont has one of the lowest rates of uninsured in the nation. Has our Howard been telling stories? Ruth Dwyer thinks so. (murky details here)

(9/15/00) Republican Bernard Rome who lost a 1998 gubernatorial primary to Ruth Dwyer, surfaced 2 days ago to accuse Ruth Dwyer of making anti-Semitic comments to him - 3 years ago. Bernie's new friend, Howard, says he's not surprised. Ruth Dwyer's ex-husband John, now living in Florida after 15 years with Ruth, says "If anybody's got animosity toward Ruth it's me. I can tell you honestly that she has never said anything anti-Semitic or bigoted."     (see related story)

(9/13/00) Dean says, Dwyer campaign stooping to "low-life" tactics.
Our governor is becoming more glib and reckless than the opposition these days. If the rumors prove true that Bernie Rome and Howard Dean are in the "Ruth-as-anti-Semitic" campaign together, then this desperation tactic could well cook our Howard's goose come November.
(9/16/00) Several emails received by the editor of this page suggest that while Dean may be grateful for any "help" he can get, and that he's often more glib -than smart, there is no evidence so far that Dean had prior knowledge or encouraged Rome's allegations.

(9/05/00) Vermont's Agency of Human Services is spending $40,000 to promote Doctor Dynasaur. It features our Gov. Howard Dean MD talking about kids health insurance, and its running just a few days before the primary. What timing! WPTZ-TV Ch.5 says, "Incumbents have ENOUGH advantage" in its editorial (here) and has refused to run the advertisements.

(8/23/00)Dean's campaign has formed "Environmental Cartoonists for Dean." This ad hoc group hopes to be able to find and highlight the governor's environmental record. (here)

Off Topic: "Thank you for your email. This Internet of yours is a wonderful invention."
( Email message from George Bush to Al Gore, 3/15/00.)

(8/22/00) Meub says, Dean and Dwyer acting like "petulant children." (Rutland Herald)

(8/18/00) Dean scraps public campaign funding that limited his spending to $255,000. Dean will use $310,000 saved from previous campaigns, and may decide to raise more. (Rutland Herald)
Anthony Pollina /Progressive candidate for Gov. told WCAX ch.3 news: "Frankly, I think it's sad that he thinks he needs to run a big money campaign to get his message. He's been getting his message out for ten years - either Vermonters like his message or they don't. But I don't understand what it is he's going to say that is going to be new for average folks."

NEA's endorsement of Dean divides union, by Tracy Schmaler, VT Press Bureau (here)

(7/11/00) "Everybody wants somebody other than Howard Dean," said Republican candidate William Meub. "I was looking on Dean's Web site and I saw a link labeled 'Want to do business in Vermont?'" I clicked on it, and a sign came up that said "This page not available," said Independent Phillip Stannard. Ruth Dwyer said that under Dean, Vermont has gone from having 36 health care providers to only three. "Blue Cross-Blue Shield might as well be the state of Vermont," she said. "It's a goverment-controlled monopoly." It was standing-room only at the Old Chapel at Castleton State College for a gubernatorial forum sponsored by the Castleton Republican Party.

(7/09/00) Anthony Pollina, gubernatorial nominee of Vermonts Progressive Party, told the party's first-ever state convention that he intends to work hard to win in November. He paints our incumbent Gov. Howard Dean as a johnny-come-lately to liberal causes. "He's actually calling up environmentalists," Pollina said of Dean. "He's calling up labor leaders. He's getting back in touch with people that he abandoned 10 years ago. And, he's wondering if it's not too late to make a deal. I think it is."

"Governor snubbed" and how the 250th "Halifax Old Home Day" committee came to dis-invite our governor (here) in the June 29, 2000 Deerfield Valley News.

Dean goes into the closet ...to sign Civil Unions Bill

Afflicted with a sudden case of camera-shyness, Governor Howard Dean signed the civil unions bill granting marriage benefits to same-sex couples behind closed doors on Wednesday with only a few staff members present. He claimed he did it in private so the state could start healing its fissures after the heated debate on same-sex marriage. This unusual move (many bill signings are done with a public ceremony) prompted some to wonder if the real fissures that need healing are those in the governor's campaign plans for November. A photo of Dean signing the bill was sure to become a symbolic rallying point for opponents. Now there is no such photo.

For even more irony, Dean announced the signing by saying the bill "is a courageous and powerful statement about who we are in the state of Vermont." Are we the only ones who have trouble reading that with a straight face? If it's such a courageous statement, guv, why were you skulking around in your office with those bill- signing pens? Why not let all Vermonters (about whom this bill makes such a "powerful statement") see you put your John Hancock on the bill?

The guv went on to explain that there's a "long history of... straightforwardness, and honesty and directness... That was played out in the debate." (Uh... where was that straightforwardness when he was signing the bill?) We could go on an on, but you get the picture.
Oops, on second thought, you don't.

(from the Vermont GOP Update, April 27,2000)

Dean says..... Budweiser Drinkers Are Litter Bugs!

WCAX-TV Wed 12-APR-2000 6 P.M. News Script: Governor Howard Dean is hoping the makers of Long Trail beer will take over the assets of the Catamount Brewery. The state is a creditor of the closed brewery -- having loaned Catamount nearly $600-thousand dollars over the last decade. Dean says his desire to save the jobs and the state's investment is NOT inconsistent with his stands against drunk driving... Especially he says, when over 50-percent of the empties found along a one mile stretch of road in Jericho each year are Anheuser-Busch products. ((Gov. Howard Dean/D-Vt: "You know, I think for the most part the people who drink Catamount and Long Trail are - how shall we say, upscale drinkers and they may have a problem with drinking but many do not, and if they choose to get hammered they more likely to switch to lower expense brands that are not made in the state of Vermont... So I assume that people who are less socially responsible are more likely to drink Budweiser than other brands."/laughter/))...

Date: Tue,14 Mar 2000 12:17:20 -0500
Reply-To: Vermont Forum (VTFORUM@LIST.UVM.EDU)
Sender: Vermont Forum (VTFORUM@LIST.UVM.EDU)
From: Jeffrey Pascoe (pascoe@TOGETHER.NET)
Subject: Three Years Later
To: VTFORUM@LIST.UVM.EDU
 

Hello Folks,

On Thursday 3/16 the Ethan Allen Institute will present a State House roundtable on "Education Finance: Act 60 after Three Years." Panelists will be: Jeff Wennberg, Paul Cillo, Peter Bluhm, Jay Barrett, Donna Gaston Carpenter, Allen Gilbert. John McClaughry will moderate. The event is in Room 10 from noon-1:30. The general public is invited.

In anticipation of that event, I reproduce the following: Nearly three years ago, South Burlington Educators Association President Rich Wise delivered this speech to South Burlington teachers, and a few days later, to the Vermont NEA Board. It was also posted on the Vermont NEA web site on September 7th, 1997, but was removed a few weeks later with no explanation. Enjoy.

Vermonters Entitled to Skepticism, and Alarm!
by Rich Wise

Good morning, and welcome back. I know that many of you have spent considerable amounts of time this summer on professional development. I hope you have also found some time to enjoy your families and the outdoors before we head back to our classrooms, and what promises to be an eventful year.

And while there may be dancing in the streets in Whiting, here in South Burlington the mood is somber. We are faced with a legislative decision that has serious implications for our community and our schools. I am struck by the irony that the craftsmen of this bill are the same individuals who have placed education in our state in jeopardy for the past twenty years. While they would have us believe that they were merely following the ruling of the Supreme Court, there was nothing in the court's decision that mandated the pillaging of any community. Instead, this legislation has become a political Christmas tree, with South Burlington receiving nothing but coal in its stocking. After suffering through years of unfunded mandates and unimplemented formulas, it is no wonder that we are skeptical of their current solution. As is becoming increasingly clear, South Burlington is entitled not only to skepticism, but also alarm.

Throughout the past years, a handful of communities such as ours have said to state government, "If you won't do it, we will do it ourselves." We did what we had to in order to pay for our schools. We welcomed the Burger Kings and the University Malls. We put up with the traffic and congestion. We voted yes for our school budgets, even in tough economic times. We gave up the scenic vistas in order for our children to have the finest education we could provide. As surely as our rural neighbors became known for their bucolic meadows, South Burlington became known for its schools.

And now we are faced with a legislature that, despite all promises to the contrary, has decided that the price of equity is mediocrity. They stand poised to cut off the mountain tops in order to level the playing field....

We spend a great deal of time talking about the importance of creating critical thinkers and helping students to make connections. This is a lesson we would do well to remind ourselves of as we deal with the ramifications of the Equal Educational Opportunity Act.

What, for example, is the connection between a state department of education that demands the implementation of new and higher standards of performance, and a state legislature that is guaranteeing that districts such as ours cut budgets, increase class size, and go without needed supplies? Are we to assume that education in the so-called "gold towns" has been too good? Have we reached such a level of excellence that it's necessary for us to decrease the amount of educational opportunities we provide? If we were to keep ourselves focused on the real objective of this legislation, we would remember that it is about children and education. There should be no losers. The Robin Hood mentality currently being played out should be recognized for the shell game that it is. We will not improve education in our state by increasing opportunity for some and decreasing it for others.

What will be the connection between the phasing-in period and increased educational opportunities? We have every reason to fear that this period will consist of nothing more than the opportunity for us to gradually resign ourselves to the erosion of our system. We have watched other communities around us suffer the gradual decline that has occurred when budgets have been defeated in consecutive years. Unfortunately, we stand to have this condition imposed upon us from Montpelier, with only the hollow promise that we can maintain what we have if we are willing to foot the bill for another community to have it as well.

And what is the connection between a governor who has nothing to say about his colleagues in the medical community making $800,000 a year, but the following week tells us that the way to fund this legislation is to reduce special education costs and teacher salaries? At a time when we continue to struggle with mainstreaming special needs students, he wants to reduce funding for our neediest students. At a time when all economic indicators suggest that the hard times are behind us, our governor continues to expect teachers to bear the brunt of his questionable policies. The fact is, Vermonters are struggling just as hard to afford health care as education, yet we don't hear Dr. Dean suggesting that the path to regulating medical costs lies in retiring all those experienced six figure doctors and replacing them with interns. One can't help but wonder what impact that would have on quality of care, and yet Governor Dean continues to perpetuate the offensive notion that experience in the teaching profession equals deadwood instead of expertise.

The complexity of this legislation is overwhelming, and brings with it the challenge of ensuring that we and all members of our community fully understand it's implications. Perhaps the biggest danger facing us now is complacency and resignation. If we as a community allow ourselves to believe that things will somehow work out, or resign ourselves to what we believe to be inevitable, we will be at the mercy of the misguided architects of this plan. Every faction of our community has cause to be concerned. For those people with children in our schools, the risk of a diminishing education is real. For property owners, the risk of lowered property values is real. The risk of increased taxes is real. For a town that has found it's very identity in it's school system, the risk of becoming nothing more than the fast food center of Chittenden County is real.

I urge you to get involved, and to do what you can to educate others. If we truly believe that our school system is our proud tradition, we need to be prepared to fight for it. As the dust settles around the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, it is my hope that we will stand as a united community, ready to defend our children. They deserve nothing less.

And despite the cloud hanging over our heads, I know that each of you are prepared, as always, to reach the level of excellence in education that has become our trademark. Thank you.

Gov. Dean to help attract economic development, has appointed a nine-member group without legislative confirmation, who meets in secret, and has given away almost $65 million in tax breaks in only 1 and 1/2 years since the program began. click here: "The VEPC Scandal Grows" (2/21/00)

Gov. Howard Dean in order to better promote his most excellent self, has included in the new Fiscal 2001 Budget to the Legislature, almost $600,000 for Vermont Public Television + another one-time $310,000 gift to get VPT out of debt. Just by coincidence, the station will start airing the governor's weekly press conference - in its entirety, on January 21st. Check for times.

What a Difference a Week Makes - Dean endorses Gore !
 

On January 13th Gov. Dean was conspicuously absent from Gores's list of campaign officials in Vermont - with Dean saying he liked Bill Bradley's health plan better than Gore's. Today, on January 19th Gov. Dean journeyed to nearby Lebanon N.H. after experiencing a near religious conversion to endorse Al Gore for the position that Dean himself had once lusted. The reality that our Howard is not taken too seriously in the beltway of Washington D.C. and that Al Gore has paid his dues by toiling in the party vineyard for years - has finally dawned on Howard Dean. Besides, when you have ambitions, fence-mending is important.

(1/13/00)Gov. Dean is not on V.P. Al Gore's list of major Vermont campaign officials. The campaign in Vermont will be chaired by Sen.Patrick Leahy, Lt.Gov.Doug Racine, SOS Deborah Markowitz, and Senate pro tem Peter Shumlin. Gov.Dean said he liked the health care plan of Sen.Bill Bradley more than Gore's.

Rumors are that our Gov. Dean is sniffing the political hustings eager to become someone's veep. Howard's political ambitions are such that it seems preferable to take almost any opportunity - than run for governor again - and lose to Ruth Dwyer. John Nance Garner, FDR's vice-president, once referred to the vice-presidency as "not worth a bucket of warm spit." It seems our Howard is even willing to bring his own bucket. "Not so" says an acquaintance. "Ruth or no Ruth, Dean just wants out." However, if Gov.Dean lacks a face-saving way out, he'll probably run for another term.

The Curmudgeon Newsletter's latest poop on what Gov. Dean's State Dept. of Education and SRS offered homeschooling mom Karen Maples, just in time for Christmas! Click here for latest. Hopefully, Vermont's Supreme Court will give homeschoolers something to celebrate the new year. Update: (Friday 5/26/00)The Vermont Supreme Court ruled today that jailed home schooling mom Karen Maple was properly educating her son at home.

"Dean fatigue" is the reason Progressives are going to run someone for governor this year.

"Don't Blame Me I Voted for Ruth Dwyer" says the bumper sticker seen on the vehicle of Whitingham's Town Clerk. The town is the last holdout in the Act 60 'revolt.'

Dean's State educators bully homeschooling mom
(from the It's-our-way-or-jail dept.)

(9/07/99) Vermonts State Dept. of Education is using heavy-handed tactics to inflict their views on how Karen Maple should educate her children - when the evidence seems to show she was doing a much better job than the professionals! Several items here.

Update: (Friday 5/26/00)The Vermont Supreme Court ruled today that jailed home schooling mom Karen Maple was properly educating her son at home.

(Sept.10,1999) The Wall Street Journal's editorial page noted that cases like Maple's extend "beyond the issue of home schooling to the fundamental rights of families to raise their children the way they see fit."

The Vermont State Board of Education has 7 members, ALL are appointed by the governor for a 6 year term.

(12/15/99)Gov. Howard Dean (a/k/a Howard Brush Dean lll or just Ho-Ho by Peter Freyne of Seven Days) probably won't be wearing his favorite UVM Hockey Cats jacket for awhile. Not that Ho-Ho's an alumnus of UVM. He is however, a UVM trustee and this week the "UVM Hockey Hazing Scandal" went national in The New York Times and on CNN. This coming so soon after Burlington's designation as the "most livable town in America." The story: "Baa! Baa! Black Sheep" -- is a must read. Peter Freyne's column "Inside Track" is the political junkies favorite stop in Chittenden County. His latest is here: Seven Days. (1/14/00)Update: UVM cancelled the remaining 15 games of the men's hockey season after it was determined players were lying to them.

(2/03/00) Attorney General Sorrell's UVM Hockey Team Hazing report released. click here.

(7/16/00 Update) Lawyers for the former UVM hockey player who sued his teammates and the school over alleged hazing have asked a judge to remove five hockey players and the schools president from the lawsuit. Story here in the Rutland Herald.

Gov. Dean ticketed again!
(from the I-could-of-mailed-it dept.)

(7/15/99)Gov. Dean stopped in Brattleboro during his one-day Windham County tour, to deliver a grant check to help Building a Better Brattleboro, a local economic development organization, transform the now empty Rite Aid building. This pass-thru grant of nearly $150,000 is actually given to the town to be put toward the project. Meanwhile, across the street in front of the also vacant Dunkin Donuts, Dean's official transport received a ticket for unlawful parking. Even if Brattleboro's hoped-for parking garage existed, it probably wouldn't have mattered. (see below)

"Traditionally, when parking garages open people don't necessarily flock to them," says Gov. Dean.

Dean didn't, and gets parking ticket.

(6/11/99)Vermont's outdoorsman-hiker-governor just couldn't make it one more block to the new transportation center where 575 new spaces sit largely unused. Instead, Dean's official transport - a big new Chevolet Suburban - parked in a space marked "No Parking Any Time" while visiting Rutland on Friday.

Dean may replace Kunin as Ambassador to Switzerland !
 

(6/6/99) Gov. Howard Dean is reportedly on the short list to replace Ambassador Madeleine Kunin as ambassador to Switzerland. Amb. Kunin served previously as Governor of Vermont for 3 terms, from 1985 to 1991. Kunin has accepted an academic position at Middlebury College starting in September. The Clinton administration who had once tried finding a suitable job for Dean, may have found a winner this time. If Dean accepts, it will give Vermont a much-needed break.

Gov. Dean ashamed ?
(from the you've-got-to-be-kidding dept.)

"Gov. Dean is crowing about a $70 million surplus but has still not given money to the Council on Aging so they can help the destitute elderly people who gave their time and best years of their lives to the service of the community. He should be ashamed of himself." Brattleboro Reformer, Speak Out, 4/10/99

The Vermont Times gives...

DEAN IN WONDERLAND: A giant gas-guzzling thumbs down to our not-so eco-smart Governor Howard Dean and his brand spankin' new Chevy Suburban. Eighteen miles to the gallon? Remarkable! With all that extra cargo space, maybe now those welfare moms who need transportation to work or to take their kids to child care can get a ride from the good doctor. Heck, this mode of transit is big enough that we might as well start calling it "Vermont Force One."

( Maybe, it's to carry his secret service people around too? ) The latest issue: Vermont Times

"Howard Dean since his re-election has become Vermont's very own Rudolph Giuliani."
 

It defied explanation, until now....

"There are of course, some Vermonter's, native and new, who still wear ties and suits. Our governor, for example: Howard Dean is the best argument I've ever seen for never wearing a tie. His shirt collar is always closed so tight that his head seems to have been squeezed up under pressure from his clavicle, like a protruding bulge in a squeegee ball."

From a Marty Jezer column in the Brattleboro Reformer, "My Brooks Brothers shirt" on 12/3/98. Marty Jezer, historian, journalist, and jazz buff has authored biographies of Abbie Hoffman and Rachel Carson. No word on whether he's doing Howard Dean.

Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time will pick himself up and continue on.

"Gov. Howard Dean is the best governor New Hampshire ever had."
Brattleboro Reformer, Speak Out, 10/15/98

Gosh, we almost forgot about that!

"This is, after all, the governor who has at times tried to cut benefits for the aged, blind, and disabled, whose no.1 priority is a balanced budget." (from "A Weekly Perspective on Vermont Affairs" by Christopher Graff, Associated Press 10/3/98 15:34)

Dean's 50th birthday soon.

1. No boxes of fruit please! He's surrounded by enough fruit already.
2. Our Gov. could use a dog. A bloodhound he could have really used last Earth Day.
3. For a high tech substitute for the dog, perhaps a GPS receiver. With Global Positioning Satelites circling the earth - Howard doesn't ever have to be lost again.
 

Lobbyists and other well-wishers need your suggestions. Send us your own list today. It's his 50th, so please be nice. It's an emotional enough milestone as it is. Oh yes, the date is November the 17th.

"It's not the size of the dog that matters in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." says Maine activist Mary Adams, at an Act 60 gathering in Montpelier on Sunday Sept.27th.

Bumper sticker wars?

The bumper sticker "Live Free or Dean" reported earlier in August, has been answered by a vehicle seen in Brattleboro. It sported a "Robin Hood Was Right" on its bumper!

The Stowe Reporter has in its July 30th issue an interview of Gov. Dean by John Zicconi. This provides a fine example of Howard prostrating himself before the folks in Stowe. He predicts that Stowe will one day like Act 60. He pledged to become personally involved with Stowe's struggle to build a sewer line. "I will be as helpful as I can," the governor said - leaning on his ceremonial shovel. He thinks "it's absolutely terrific" that private money will support a local school system. One gets the feeling that Howard would have offered to clean Rep. Dick Marron's toilets if the interview lasted much longer!
 

note: Rep.Dick Marron is also a lodge owner as well as the Stowe Selectboard's Chair.

Gov. Dean encourages wealthy towns to stockpile money, by John Zicconi, Stowe Reporter

Classic Howard Dean falling all over himself in Stowe. "I spend a lot of time in Stowe, and I have a lot of friends in Stowe," Dean reminds the rest of us.

Success by.......?

The Best States to Raise a Child ..... by the Childrens Rights Council
Vermont drops from 2nd to 10th Place! Of the other 49 states, only Alaska had as large a loss in standing - since last year. Vermont was also in 2nd place the year before. The ratings were based on eleven indicators. Also included are state rankings and comparisons from 1995-1998.

A Perspective......

Vermont Governors of the Modern Era ....... by Michael J. Badamo
Brief Comments on their Respective Contributions. (from Hoff to Huffy*)

* huffy: 1.Easily offended; sensitive; touchy. 2.Irritated or annoyed; indignant. 3.Arrogant; disdainful; haughty. (from the American Heritage Dictionary by Houghton- Mifflin Company)
 

Dean's Dept. of Education flunks math!

Oops, it's 35 Million, not 5 Million you owe us. Sorry.
 

The state Department of Education made this multi-million dollar "mistake" in it's calculation of Act 60 revenues. It was originally reported that property taxes in the "gold towns" would increase by about 5 Million dollars. The tax increases will actually be more like 35 Million dollars, coming from about 70 property wealth towns. Of these 70 towns, about two dozen will be "sharing" the largest amounts. This is where the ratio of property wealth to school-aged children is the highest. Be glad it's for educating our kids and not about power and money - this time. Right?

In any collection of data, the figure most obviously correct, beyond all need of checking, is the mistake.

Other stuff........

Vermont Corporate Welfare to Proceed Unabated....by Rep.Terrill Bouricius.

A Report from "The Battle of Seattle."..............by Michael Moore

Vermont military school defends training of Indonesian cadets...by Tony Munroe, Reuters

Norwich Univ. to End Training of Indonesian Military..by John M. Miller,
from the East Timor Action Network.

Vermonters Entitled to Skepticism and Alarm................by Rich Wise

Money, Schools, and Courts.............................by Stan Karp
Inequities in school funding are clogging courts elsewhere.

Dean Appoints Act 60 Commission.....from the Associated Press.

Electricity, Rates, Restructuring, etc..... by Michael J. Badamo
The legislature did nothing.....thank God.

Howard Dean and Electric Utilities Finalize Deal.....by Michael J. Badamo.

The Enforced Drugging Bill...........................by David Briars
Even with amendments, this should never become law.

A Call for Talent

This web page is the result of having seen one too many of Howard Dean's news conferences.
 

If you are able to write short humorous (or humorless) commentary - or better yet - create cartoons of our imperial governor at work, this web space will showcase your contributions. And best of all, our Howard will contribute most of the material! (see Earth Day'98) You probably noticed we're keeping the use of graphics to a minimum, so pages will load faster, and save space too.

Remember when our Gov. went to Washington to tell Gore he was going to run for the top job? Did you notice they ate Howard's lunch and the bag he brought it in? Well, it looks as though we're going to be stuck with Howard for a while longer, maybe a lot longer, and you know what that means.

In order to lighten this burden, it's going to require that from time to time, we let some of the air out of Howard's tires...err...tirades. It's for his own good. Really. Some reporters covering the governor have been carrying around portable tape recorders to play back and prove to Howard - he actually said something - he insists he never said!

New bumper sticker seen in Montpelier: " LIVE FREE OR DEAN "
Acquiring one is almost as difficult as a "Howard Dean for President" campaign poster.
 

Overheard in.....

MONTPELIER: "If Dean can take a state trooper camping in Colorado, why not when he's hiking in Vermont?"   answer: "because nobody expected him to get lost in Vermont - but he did"

STOWE: "But if everyone's children achieve, How will we know ours are superior?"

BRATTLEBORO: "Trust Howard to squeeze from the less fortunate and redistribute to the gold towns. It's the rich thing to do."

WASHINGTON D.C.: "The trouble with resisting temptation is it may never come your way again."

Your Comments....

• "Since Howard Dean has ambitions and ego far larger than Vermont can satisfy, why doesn't he go back to Long Island (NY) and run for Congress?"

   

• A cartoon of Hiz Honor perched on a highchair, with indignant facial expression, saying "There's just NO way I can support this!"

   

• "Dean is the Democrat's enfant terrible - but he's a low maintenance model that pays his own way and doesn't accept his full paycheck."

   

• "P.S. Why is he still grubbing for contributions?"

   

• "He probably would be happier as a Republican - but we don't want him!"

   

• "Our governor skis doesn't he? He's the poster boy for the ski industry."

   

• "So our governor is a pain in the caboose - who else have we got?"

   

  There once was a governor named Howard,

  who cast his line way too far southward.

  To being Prez. he fondly looked forward,

  until fish of the Gore chased him homeward.

   

• "You really have the big guy's number. Too bad Clinton couldn't find him a job. We could really use a break up here."

   

There were numerous others, but quite frankly they were a bit much for a page that is willing to poke fun and make pointed observations without becoming nasty. This is not easy during election years.
 

[Off Topic] Draft of U.S. Supreme Court decision found in dumpster on Capital Hill. (here)

It's November 4, and obviously not enough of you took the best advice Howard ever gave!
 

"Should you all vote for me for Governor? I wouldn't."...says Howard Dean (story here)

Deerfield Valley News writer Dawn Nieters snagged this gem at a meeting in Wilmington.

Dean wins the....Davis!

Yup, our governor is off to the Marriott Hotel in Washington D.C., which is not your average vacation destination, to receive the Dr.Nathan Davis Award on Sept 23rd. This award is named after an early founder of the AMA who was only 30 years old at the time of its founding in 1847. Gov.Dean will be receiving this award for his promotion of public health issues.

This award will better position our governor for a future appointment as U.S. Surgeon General, who of course is the chief medical officer in the U.S.Public Health Service. This position even comes with a residence that Howard will no doubt be checking closely for termites. It's not expected that he'll be dropping in to see Al Gore while in the beltway.

Dean to buy overalls?

Gov.Dean was visibly alarmed when two farmers won hotly contested state primary races. Worse for Howard, his challenger Rep.Ruth Dwyer won big over the well financed campaign of Bernard Rome. Rep.Ruth Dwyer a Thetford farmer, presents the first real opponent Howard Dean has ever faced since inheriting the job from Gov.Snelling in 1991. Howard has been on easy street since. Watch for a photo opportunity of our Howard dropping in on some farmer to help milk a few cows. Stay tuned.

Howard Sitings.....

Click on the email address at the bottom of this page, so you can tell us when our Governor is whining again (such as muttering "veto" every day during the legislative session), or is picking on a poor person.

"This is, after all, the governor who has at times tried to cut benefits for the aged, blind, and disabled, whose no.1 priority is a balanced budget."(by Christopher Graff (AP)10/3/98)

Lately, Howard has been accused of picking on the rich too! However, sending them 60 million dollars to ease their Act 60 pain doesn't really qualify as abuse!

All interesting entries will be published. Where it gets placed depends on what you dig up. If it's good - you'll get your own page complete with bold headings and bragging rights. If you want to remain anonymous - we won't publish your name or email address. However, it might be mentioned that "anonymous" is from Bennington, for an example. The Governor has been making lots of new friends there. In fact the Governor has been spreading it around just about everywhere - whether invited, or not.