Things I learned about Howard Dean from reading Howard Dean: A Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would Be President

In a somewhat random fashion:

1. He spent a year at school in England, and then travelled around, between high school and Yale.


2. He made a point of asking for black roommates on his roommate preferences questionaire.


3. He did volunteer work in New Haven ghettos, and sometimes brought his "mentees" back to hang out with him at his dorm.


4. He wasn't a great student in college, but he read the New York Times every day.


5. He liked (likes) playing bridge and he's a big hiker and skiier.


6. It's possible that his brother's death halted his political evolution towards the far left.


7. He and his wife met in medical school, supposedly because they caught each other doing crossword puzzles in class.


8. In Vermont, Dean initially backed single-payer health care, but then he decided to try other ways to cover the uninsured that he thought would have a better chance.


9. He really is a fiscal conservative. He hates raising taxes.


10. He'd sometimes spend a lot of money on a project he liked.


11. He's moved to the right on the death penalty; he used to be totally opposed, now he thinks there's some times when it's appropriate.


12. He's very pro-business, sometimes too much so for Vermonters. He weakened Act 250, the anti-development law, during his tenure.


13. He is a big supporter of wilderness areas, and is responsible for the purchase of large areas of land that will be preserved from development.


14. He's "not a process person" but he does believe in collaboration to resolve issues.


15. Several of the people interviewed for the book who were critical of him... still support his run for the presidency.


16. He can be impulsive and say stuff he shouldn't.

He was a "small g" governor — not into power for the sake of power.

17. After he signed the civil unions bill, he went around the state to meet with people in various town halls so they could yell at him. Then he'd calmly explain why he did what he did. It worked, because he got reelected.


18. One elderly woman walked up to him at one of these gatherings and started swearing at him. He replied, "You should clean up your mouth, lady. You certainly didn't learn to talk like that in Franklin County!"


19. He is a devoted family man. No, he really is. It's not just for appearances. He'd go to PTA meetings and make other parents feel like he was just another parent, not a big-G Governor.


20. He's NOT too liberal! He really, really, really isn't. He got along really well with the Vermont Republicans, perhaps a little too well. He became famous for his opposition to the Iraq war, but his platform is a mix of moderate ideas that I suspect a lot of people would agree with if they became more familiar with them.


21. He's not perfect, but he'd make a good president, and if he doesn't have a chance against Bush, nobody does.

--> "Vt. Papers Pen Definitive Book on Howard Dean", Joe Strupp, Editor & Publisher, November 7, 2003, www.mediainfo.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/ article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2020984