January 08, 2004
THE DEER HUNTER CHRONICLES--THE UZI YEARS:
Tape Shows Dean Maligning Iowa Caucuses (JODI WILGOREN and RACHEL L. SWARNS, January 9, 2004, NY Times)
Four years ago, Howard Dean denounced the Iowa caucuses as "dominated by special interests," saying on a Canadian television show that they "don't represent the centrist tendencies of the American people, they represent the extremes."Videotapes of the show were broadcast on the NBC Nightly News on Thursday, less than two weeks before the Jan. 19 caucuses, the first contest of the Democratic nominating race. The tapes show Dr. Dean arguing that the lengthy caucus process in which neighbors gather to debate their preferences is inconvenient for ordinary people.
"Say I'm a guy who's got to work for a living, and I've got kids," he said on the show on Jan. 15, 2000. "On a Saturday, is it easy for me to go cast a ballot and spend 15 minutes doing it, or do I have to sit in a caucus for eight hours?"
A moment later, he added, "I can't stand there and listen to everyone else's opinion for eight hours about how to fix the world."
No wonder his campaign is busing in ringers from out of state.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2004 11:30 PM
Most everything he's quoted as saying is pretty reasonable, aside from his apparently long-standing affection for Hamas. In particular, the caucus system is nuts.
Posted by: David Cohen at January 9, 2004 07:38 AMThe Hamas bit is right too--they would change if they had to govern.
Posted by: oj at January 9, 2004 08:04 AMNo wonder he's sealed his records in office.
Posted by: Genecis at January 9, 2004 11:44 AMBush should appoint Dean to be amb. to the UN (in Jan. 2005).
Posted by: jim hamlen at January 9, 2004 01:10 PM