Vermonters: "Dean Not The Same Person We Knew As Governor"

http://www.npr.org/display_pages/features/feature_1592681.html ^

[Bush Cheney]

Jan. 10, 2004 -- Former Vermont governor Howard Dean leads his Democratic rivals in fundraising and seems to have an edge in activist support as the Iowa caucuses approach -- the first key test of the political season. Dean has won important endorsements from key members of the party, including former Vice President Al Gore, former Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey and most recently Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa.

Dean's followers praise his passionate opposition to the war in Iraq, and his plan to extend health insurance to all Americans. Some critics say he's too angry -- or too liberal -- to beat President Bush in the fall.

Yet as NPR's Steve Inskeep reports, the man who has gained all this attention is not quite the same politician who Vermont residents remember as their governor. Vermont lawmakers from both parties remember a governor who was low-key and pragmatic during five-and-a-half terms as the state's chief executive.

[Bush Cheney]

So What is it Dr. Dean?

[Support Free Republic]

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

So What is it Dr. Dean?

My name is Dr. Strangelove

[Bush Cheney]

Will the real Dean stand up.

[Yardstick]

FWIW, the ultra-leftist quarterly magazine, International Socialist Review, ran a profile on Dean a few months back, and they see him as a right-wing trojan horse who's so far managed to trick the Left into thinking he's one of their own. Dennis Kucinich was the only one of the Democrat presidential wannabes who they considered to be authentic.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Although I'd like to see Bush trounce Dean in the fall, I have a secret wish that Dean loses the nomination just so I can see the bum cry.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Will the real Dean stand up.

The Doc's 5'7" - if he stood up, how could you tell?

[freeangel]

Dean is a "different" person every day--depending on whom he is talking with.

[woofer]

Although I'd like to see Bush trounce Dean in the fall, I have a secret wish that Dean loses the nomination just so I can see the bum cry.

Me too, but I don't think he'll cry. I want to see him throw a tantrum on TV and threaten to take his 'toys' (meaning supporters) home.

[EggsAckley]

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Maybe he's the same person they didn't know as Governor.

[Paleo Conservative]

Does this mean a 50-state sweep?

[Recovering_Democrat]

Yet as NPR's Steve Inskeep reports, the man who has gained all this attention is not quite the same politician who Vermont residents remember as their governor. Vermont lawmakers from both parties remember a governor who was low-key and pragmatic during five-and-a-half terms as the state's chief executive.

BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Yeah, sure, we'll believe you, Steve Inskeep of NATIONAL PROLETARIAT RADIO!!

Yeah, Dean was a moderate in Vermont, which is probably akin to saying "Klaus Barbie was a sensitive Nazi doctor" or "Madonna is a very circumspect slut" or "As atom bombs go, 'Fat Man' was small..."; sure, all might be true by comparison, but compared to ALL doctors, sluts or bombs, these three are DOOOOOOOOOOOZIES!

Saying Dean is a moderate citizen of Vermont is not a compliment: hell, Jim Jeffords was considered the state's token "conservative", for God's sake...its saying he is to the left...WAY LEFT of most of the country.