so Howard Dean is a peacenik, eh? - 6.23.03
Give Dean a chance
Readers who visit here regularly already know that I've been supporting former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's bid to represent the Democrats in the 2004 presidential election. Initially a dark horse, Gov. Dean has moved up the 'food chain' enough that he's starting to be the target of potshots from the right.
This morning while watching (ick!) Today on NBC I sensed that the honchos there know about Gov. Dean's surging popularity and are, perhaps, getting a little nervous about it. They went so far as to call Gov. Dean the 'peace candidate'. Hey folks, I'm old enough to remember young people going 'clean for Gene' during Eugene McCarthy's impressive run leading up to the 1968 election. Now listen up; Eugene McCarthy was truly a peace candidate, and he helped focus the seething anger that was developing in America as the Vietnam War dragged on and on; I don't believe that Gov. Dean is so easily pigeonholed.
Gov. Dean certainly is not a warmonger, but I think NBC's characterization of him as the 'peace candidate' is an effort to marginalize him. He's a Democrat. He's questioning the claims that WMDs justified the war in Iraq. But, most importantly, he's a physician with a proven record as a political leader and he's just the man to get the health care crisis in America under control. IMO, the biggest crisis facing this country is the breakdown in health care. Gov. Dr. Dean is the man to fix it.
And if President Dean could bring us peace, that would be good for everybody's health too.
Here's a question for the editors at Today - when are you going to start calling President Bush 'the war candidate'.
