Jay GW
02-08-2005, 02:55 PM
Former U.S. presidential candidate Howard Dean is expected to win election as chairman of the opposition Democratic Party later this week.
Mr. Dean's last challenger in the race to lead the party's National Committee dropped out on Monday. Former Congressman Tim Roemer warned Democrats they must take stronger positions on national security in order to win national elections.
Mr. Dean will take over a party that is trying to rebuild after losing last year's race for the White House.
Party leaders predict the new chairman will provide a boost with his proven ability to excite supporters, raise money and organize.
But analysts say Republicans may use aspects of Mr. Dean's image to portray Democrats as out of touch with the mainstream. Mr. Dean is a supporter of gay rights, and drew widespread ridicule last year for a scream he let out while addressing supporters at a campaign event.
Howard Dean's politics:
Abortion
# Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision. (Dec 2003)
# Government should not make personal medical decisions. (Nov 2003)
# Rollback restrictions on stem cell research. (Nov 2003)
# Abortion is none of the government's business. (Nov 2002)
# Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother. (Nov 2002)
# Favors abortion rights. (Nov 2002)
Civil rights
# Gays deserve equal rights under the law. (Nov 2003)
# Gay rights are a matter of principle. (Oct 2003)
# Supported civil unions for same-sex couples. (Nov 2002)
The economy
# I'm much more conservative with money than Bush is. (Jan 2004)
# Kept GOP predecessor's agenda of fiscal frugality. (Oct 2003)
# Politicians promising everything causes budget deficit. (Sep 2003)
# Balance budget, even if unpopular. (Sep 2003)
# Republicans haven't balanced a federal budget in 34 years. (May 2003)
# Stand up to Bush for a balanced budget. (May 2003)
# Social justice with fiscal responsibility. (Nov 2002)
# Fiscally to the right of "borrow-and-spend" Bush. (Nov 2002)
# Regional transportation network to foster trade & economy. (Jul 2000)
# Bankruptcy reform: limit Chapter 7; protect states' role. (Feb 2001)
# Uphold commitments to states before other spending. (Sep 2001)
On crime
# Death penalty for extreme crimes, but applied fairly. (Jan 2004)
# Even terrorists deserve a fair trial. (Dec 2003)
# Death penalty for extreme and heinous crimes. (Nov 2003)
On drugs
# Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one. (Nov 2003)
# Smoked marijuana in the past, as did other Dems. (Nov 2003)
# Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes. (Aug 2003)
# Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users. (Jan 2003)
Education
# No diversion of taxpayer funds to private schools. (Sep 2003)
# Bush's "No Child Left Behind" is an unfunded mandate. (May 2003)
# Don't let Congress dictate definitions of school prayer. (Nov 2002)
On energy
# Global warming is most important enviro problem we face. (Nov 2003)
# No new nuclear plants until waste disposal is safe. (Nov 2003)
# Help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases. (Jan 2003)
# Our energy policy is one of our biggest security threats. (Nov 2003)
On foreign policy
# Bush has squandered foreign goodwill. (Dec 2003)
# Repair relations with world by ending Bush arrogance. (Nov 2003)
# Let the UN handle the Iraq situation. (Nov 2003)
On free trade
# Enforceable & enforced labor and environmental standards. (Jan 2004)
# We've globalized corporations; now globalize worker rights. (Jan 2004)
# Globalization is here to stay, but the rules can be changed. (Nov 2003)
# I support NAFTA & WTO-but they need revision. (Sep 2003)
# Support NAFTA & WTO with level labor standards. (Sep 2003)
# Free trade based on labor and environmental standards. (Sep 2003)
On health care
# Medicare was put in place without a single Republican vote. (Jul 2004)
# Improved economy is best fix for Medicare. (Jan 2004)
# Join every other industrialized country on health care. (Sep 2003)
# Cover 42 million uninsured then reform healthcare system. (Jun 2003)
On immigration
# Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants. (Jan 2004)
# Be careful about granting citizenship for military services. (Jan 2004)
# Don't divide immigrants-we all are. (Dec 2003)
# If immigrants work & pay taxes, give them citizenship. (Nov 2003)
On social security
# Reverse Bush tax cuts to shore up trust fund-don't privatize. (Nov 2003)
# Considered raising retirement age to 70-now keep it at 67. (Sep 2003)
# Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. (Aug 2001)
On welfare
# Children and schools suffer under Bush policies. (Jul 2004)
# Promote the next generation of welfare reform. (Aug 2001)
http://archive.ontheissues.org/Howard_Dean.htm
To be honest, when I heard he was running for the chairmanship I had to go online and look up his political stances. I had no idea what he stood for because during the presidential race he was not a favorite and the media didn't cover him except to mock him once and a while. He comes across as a hothead and not focused or disciplined at all.
I agree with some of his viewpoints, but he's probably too far left for alot of moderates. He has a big problem with Blacks and Hispanics, because he's from Vermont, which is about 95 percent White college educated Volvo drivers. He has no credibility with those two (big and important) ethnicities.
George W. Bush would get as many Hispanic votes as Howard Dean would, and Hispanics have always voted Democrat. Pretty pathetic what's happened to Democrats with that ethnic group.
Mr. Dean's last challenger in the race to lead the party's National Committee dropped out on Monday. Former Congressman Tim Roemer warned Democrats they must take stronger positions on national security in order to win national elections.
Mr. Dean will take over a party that is trying to rebuild after losing last year's race for the White House.
Party leaders predict the new chairman will provide a boost with his proven ability to excite supporters, raise money and organize.
But analysts say Republicans may use aspects of Mr. Dean's image to portray Democrats as out of touch with the mainstream. Mr. Dean is a supporter of gay rights, and drew widespread ridicule last year for a scream he let out while addressing supporters at a campaign event.
Howard Dean's politics:
Abortion
# Individual freedom should apply to abortion decision. (Dec 2003)
# Government should not make personal medical decisions. (Nov 2003)
# Rollback restrictions on stem cell research. (Nov 2003)
# Abortion is none of the government's business. (Nov 2002)
# Partial birth abortion ok to protect the mother. (Nov 2002)
# Favors abortion rights. (Nov 2002)
Civil rights
# Gays deserve equal rights under the law. (Nov 2003)
# Gay rights are a matter of principle. (Oct 2003)
# Supported civil unions for same-sex couples. (Nov 2002)
The economy
# I'm much more conservative with money than Bush is. (Jan 2004)
# Kept GOP predecessor's agenda of fiscal frugality. (Oct 2003)
# Politicians promising everything causes budget deficit. (Sep 2003)
# Balance budget, even if unpopular. (Sep 2003)
# Republicans haven't balanced a federal budget in 34 years. (May 2003)
# Stand up to Bush for a balanced budget. (May 2003)
# Social justice with fiscal responsibility. (Nov 2002)
# Fiscally to the right of "borrow-and-spend" Bush. (Nov 2002)
# Regional transportation network to foster trade & economy. (Jul 2000)
# Bankruptcy reform: limit Chapter 7; protect states' role. (Feb 2001)
# Uphold commitments to states before other spending. (Sep 2001)
On crime
# Death penalty for extreme crimes, but applied fairly. (Jan 2004)
# Even terrorists deserve a fair trial. (Dec 2003)
# Death penalty for extreme and heinous crimes. (Nov 2003)
On drugs
# Treat drug abuse as a medical problem, not a judicial one. (Nov 2003)
# Smoked marijuana in the past, as did other Dems. (Nov 2003)
# Evaluate marijuana & legalize for valid medical purposes. (Aug 2003)
# Hammer the dealers; treat the casual users. (Jan 2003)
Education
# No diversion of taxpayer funds to private schools. (Sep 2003)
# Bush's "No Child Left Behind" is an unfunded mandate. (May 2003)
# Don't let Congress dictate definitions of school prayer. (Nov 2002)
On energy
# Global warming is most important enviro problem we face. (Nov 2003)
# No new nuclear plants until waste disposal is safe. (Nov 2003)
# Help developing countries reduce greenhouse gases. (Jan 2003)
# Our energy policy is one of our biggest security threats. (Nov 2003)
On foreign policy
# Bush has squandered foreign goodwill. (Dec 2003)
# Repair relations with world by ending Bush arrogance. (Nov 2003)
# Let the UN handle the Iraq situation. (Nov 2003)
On free trade
# Enforceable & enforced labor and environmental standards. (Jan 2004)
# We've globalized corporations; now globalize worker rights. (Jan 2004)
# Globalization is here to stay, but the rules can be changed. (Nov 2003)
# I support NAFTA & WTO-but they need revision. (Sep 2003)
# Support NAFTA & WTO with level labor standards. (Sep 2003)
# Free trade based on labor and environmental standards. (Sep 2003)
On health care
# Medicare was put in place without a single Republican vote. (Jul 2004)
# Improved economy is best fix for Medicare. (Jan 2004)
# Join every other industrialized country on health care. (Sep 2003)
# Cover 42 million uninsured then reform healthcare system. (Jun 2003)
On immigration
# Earned legalization for undocumented immigrants. (Jan 2004)
# Be careful about granting citizenship for military services. (Jan 2004)
# Don't divide immigrants-we all are. (Dec 2003)
# If immigrants work & pay taxes, give them citizenship. (Nov 2003)
On social security
# Reverse Bush tax cuts to shore up trust fund-don't privatize. (Nov 2003)
# Considered raising retirement age to 70-now keep it at 67. (Sep 2003)
# Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. (Aug 2001)
On welfare
# Children and schools suffer under Bush policies. (Jul 2004)
# Promote the next generation of welfare reform. (Aug 2001)
http://archive.ontheissues.org/Howard_Dean.htm
To be honest, when I heard he was running for the chairmanship I had to go online and look up his political stances. I had no idea what he stood for because during the presidential race he was not a favorite and the media didn't cover him except to mock him once and a while. He comes across as a hothead and not focused or disciplined at all.
I agree with some of his viewpoints, but he's probably too far left for alot of moderates. He has a big problem with Blacks and Hispanics, because he's from Vermont, which is about 95 percent White college educated Volvo drivers. He has no credibility with those two (big and important) ethnicities.
George W. Bush would get as many Hispanic votes as Howard Dean would, and Hispanics have always voted Democrat. Pretty pathetic what's happened to Democrats with that ethnic group.