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Howard Dean

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Howard Dean (born November 17, 1948) is the former governor of Vermont and a member of the Democratic Party. He is campaigning as a candidate in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

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Howard Dean began his 2004 Presidential campaign emphasizing his opposition to the U.S. plan to invade Iraq, using momentum from the online anti-war movement to build an impressive online campaign. He contrasted his positions with those of other Democratic candidates in an early debate by claiming that he was from "the democratic wing of the Democratic party" (implying that the other candidates' positions were barely different from those of their Republican opposition).

Some claim he has shifted towards the right since his official announcement, upsetting many Democratic party progressives. Reports of his tenure as Vermont governor, however, paint a picture of a man who has long been more moderate: "Dean's emerging national reputation as a liberal tribune obscures the centrist course he steered during his tenure as governor of Vermont" (Washington Post, Aug. 3 2003). As he told Salon.com: "I don't mind being characterized as 'liberal'—I just don't happen to think it's true."

Views

  • Justice and Civil Rights - Dean says: "I will support affirmative action, from which we have all benefited, because it has strengthened our institutions and provided opportunity. I will work to ensure that racial profiling ends and I will direct my Attorney General to use regulatory authority under existing anti-discrimination laws the 1964 Civil Rights Act to define racial profiling as discrimination, and to withhold federal funds from state and local law enforcement that violate those regulations. I will appoint an Attorney General who sees our constitution not just as a document to be manipulated, ignored, and violated, but who recognizes and respects it as the fabric that binds the American community together. I will oppose expansion of the Patriot Act, efforts to remove sunset clauses included in the act, and I will seek to repeal the portions of the Patriot Act that are unconstitutional. I will put the weight of my office behind the Innocence Protection Act, proposed by Senator Patrick Leahy, which would expand access to DNA testing and strengthen the quality of lawyers for defendants facing the death penalty. I will protect the civil rights of immigrants detained by the Department of Homeland Security. I will work for federal legislation to restore the right to vote in any federal election for ex-felons who have paid their debt to society."
  • Choice - Says, "I will unflinchingly defend a woman's right to choose against those who would take away this right. I will nominate federal judges with outstanding legal credentials, records of professional excellence, and demonstrated commitment to the constitutional principles of equality, liberty, and privacy."
  • Environment - Says, "My Administration will take ambitious steps to strengthen our clean air and water standards, promote renewable energy sources, conserve our wild and open spaces, strengthen our downtowns to reduce sprawl, and provide a safe and healthy environment for our children."
  • National Security - Says, "Fifty-five years ago, President Harry Truman delivered what was known as the Four Point speech. In it, he challenged Democrats and Republicans alike to come together to build strong and effective international organizations, to support arrangements that would spur global economic recovery, to join with free people everywhere in the defense of human liberty, and to draw upon the genius of our people to help societies who needed help in the battle against hunger and illness, ignorance, and despair. Harry Truman believed that a world in which even the poorest and most desperate had grounds for hope would be a world in which our own children could grow up in security and peace not because evil would then be absent from the globe, but because the forces of right would be united and strong. Harry Truman had faith as I have faith, and as I believe the American people have faith, that if we are wise enough and determined enough in our opposition to hate and our promotion of tolerance, in our opposition to aggression and our fidelity to law, we will have allies not only among governments but among people everywhere. Such an alliance can never be beaten. The creation of such an alliance will be my goal if I am entrusted with the presidency of the United States. Because, this is what will keep America strong.
  • 2003 Iraq War - Says, "I opposed President Bush’s war in Iraq from the beginning. While Saddam Hussein’s regime was clearly evil and needed to be disarmed, it did not present an immediate threat to U.S. security that would justify going to war, particularly going to war alone. From the beginning, I felt that winning the war would not be the hard part winning the peace would be. This Administration failed to plan for the postwar period as it did for the battle, and today we are paying the price."
  • Gun control - Supports new legislation to close the so-called gun show loophole. Opposed the expiration of the assault weapons ban. Opposes the repeal of the Brady Bill. Would leave most additional gun control to the states. An "A" rating from NRA most of his career.
  • Medical marijuana - Promises to force FDA evaluation and approval within one year after taking office.
  • Equality for Gays - "I will work to expand equal rights to same-sex couples and ban workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, strengthen federal protections against anti-gay violence, give federal employees the right to name same-sex partners as beneficiaries, remove bias from our immigration laws, and end the military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy."
  • Immigration - "I will work to ensure that people who work hard, pay taxes, and otherwise obey the rules can become full participants in our society, including becoming citizens. I will work to regularize the inevitable future migration of labor in a way that makes economic and humanitarian sense. Deaths in the desert do neither. I will propose reforms that ensure we can meet our economy’s need for workers at all skill levels, without pitting foreign workers against U.S. workers and while respecting workers' rights including the right to organize. I will work to forge stronger partnerships with countries from which immigrants migrate -- especially Mexico -- so that in the long run, fewer people will be driven by desperation to break laws and risk their lives for basic opportunities that every human being deserves. I will work to ensure that immigrants who are detained by the Department of Homeland Security are afforded their basic civil rights and that our concern for national security does not become another excuse for racial profiling. I will build on our country’s long history of welcoming immigrants in ways that reflect our need for security but do not sacrifice the basic ideals upon which this nation was founded."

Middle East - Dean has stated that he is supportive of AIPAC's position on Israel.


Dean is married to Judith Steinberg Dean, M.D. She uses her maiden name (Judith Steinberg) in their joint medical practice to avoid confusion with her husband. Elsewhere she goes by Judith Dean or Judy Dean.

External links