Posted on 12/12/2003 11:23:25 AM PST by countrydummy
There you go again, Ho-ward.
For the second time in as many months, Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean has sparked a controversy, this time with a veiled dig at Southerners.
In an interview Thursday with Katie Couric on "The Today Show," he took a poke at southerners in general, and Republicans in particular.
"(Republicans) used issues like guns, prayer in school, gay rights, abortion rights - all these divisive issues," Dean told his television interviewer.
"What I'm going to say to voters everywhere, but particularly Southern voters is, 'Look, we're going to have to disagree on some of these issues.'"
Only a month ago, Dean angered many within his own party by suggesting Democrats start appealing to Southern voters who ride around in pick-up trucks displaying the Confederate flag.
In Charleston, state Republican Chairman Kris Warner said Dean's latest outburst proves he cannot resonate with West Virginia voters on a number of issues.
"Howard Dean continues to show he is completely out of step with the values and beliefs of West Virginians and disagrees with them on many issues," Warner said.
- E-mail: mporterfield@register-herald.com
And what we'll say is, "Go away Howard." We're voting for GW.
They'er only divisive from the Democrats' perspective. Dean doesn't like the fact that conservatives have made these issues politically potent ones. He'd rather that we all shut up about God, guns, gays, and abortion, and simply roll over all let the left dictate policy on all of these issues. I'm sure that if Dean could, he'd prevent us from ever expressing ourselves on these issues.
Not sure what part of Texas you're in, but the rest of the State has a Republican primary next spring, March 9, '04.
That is, according to the Texas Sec'y of State's office
(http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/candidates/guide/dates.shtml)
What a moronic thing for Dean to say. EVERY issue is devisive unless you can get 100% of the people to agree on a particular issue, which isn't very likely.
Every thing he says is moronic!!!
That dog don't hunt.
"[Republicans] used issues like guns, prayer in school, gay rights, abortion rights - all these divisive issues. What I'm going to say to voters everywhere, but particularly Southern voters is, 'Look, we're going to have to disagree on some of these issues.'" -- Howard DeanDean is stupidly laying out his general election campaign strategy early, but what's infinitely more moronic is the strategy itself.
He wants certain voters -- especially Southern ones -- to ignore his positions on guns, school prayer, gay marriage & other "gay rights" issues, and abortion. As a complement to this, he wants the same people to vote for him based on a weak economy that needs fixed, national health care, education funding, and reversing "tax cuts for the rich".
So, Dean's emerging platform (not just in the South, but nationally) may well be:
* We need to fix this broken economy (which has fought off 9/11 economic damage through domestic tax cuts and aggressive prosecution of the war on terror and will likely be in even better shape by November 2004)
* We need a national health care system or a large step in that direction (voters killed the Clinton plan in the 90's; there's not much evidence they'll be clamoring to vote for Dean for the same thing)
* We need education funding & reform (even though Bush has already passed his own version, and it includes a big education funding increase)
* The tax cuts were a bad, bad idea and were just a boon to rich fat-cats (even though the economy will almost certainly be in quite good shape by November 2004, and Bush will rightly be able to point to his tax cuts as the catalyst -- let's reverse what got us this good economy!)
* Meanwhile, please don't vote on guns (is he going to avoid even trying to play up his NRA grades?), God-related issues, gay issues, or abortion, because I know best, and those issues just aren't important to you... trust me!
It's like he has a case of permanently pursed lips. Watching him speak is like watching a dubbed Japanese/American movie. The lips don't match the speech.
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