Howard Dean Quotes

Howard Brush Dean III is an American physician, author, and retired politician who served as Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009 and works as a political consultant and commentator. Dean was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election. His implementation of the fifty-state strategy as head of the DNC is credited with the Democratic victories in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Afterward, he became a political commentator and consultant to McKenna Long & Aldridge, a law and lobbying firm.

He was the Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1987 to 1991, and a member of the Vermont House of Representatives from 1983 to 1986. In the 2004 election, Dean was the top fundraiser and front runner, prior to the Iowa caucus, for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Although his presidential campaign was unsuccessful, Dean pioneered Internet-based fundraising and grassroots organizing, which is centered on mass appeal to small donors which is more cost efficient than the more expensive contacting of fewer potential larger donors, and promotes active participatory democracy among the general public. He used these methods when founding Democracy for America, a progressive political action committee, in 2004.

Before entering politics, Dean earned his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. Dean was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1982 and was elected lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions that enabled him to continue practicing medicine. In 1991, Dean became governor of Vermont when Richard A. Snelling died in office. Dean was subsequently elected to five two-year terms, serving from 1991 to 2003, making him the second longest-serving governor in Vermont history, after Thomas Chittenden . Dean served as chairman of the National Governors Association from 1994 to 1995; during his term, Vermont paid off much of its public debt and had a balanced budget 11 times, lowering income taxes twice. Dean also oversaw the expansion of the "Dr. Dynasaur" program, which ensures universal health care for children and pregnant women in the state. He is a noted staunch supporter of universal health care.Dean denounced the 2003 invasion of Iraq and called on Democrats to oppose the Bush administration. Dean showed fundraising ability, and was a pioneer of political fundraising via the Internet; however, he lost the nomination to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. Dean formed the organization Democracy for America and later was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in February 2005. As chairman of the party, Dean created and employed the 50 State Strategy that attempted to make Democrats competitive in normally conservative states often dismissed in the past as "solid red". The success of the strategy became apparent after the 2006 midterm elections, where Democrats took back the House and picked up seats in the Senate from normally Republican states such as Missouri and Montana. In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama used the 50 state strategy as the backbone of his candidacy.

Dean was named chairman emeritus of the DNC upon his retirement. He was mentioned as a possible candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Surgeon General under the Obama administration. Since retiring from the DNC chairman position, Dean has held neither elected office nor an official position in the Democratic Party and, as of 2015, was working for global law firm Dentons as part of the firm's public policy and regulation practice. In 2013, Dean expressed interest in running for the presidency in 2016, but published an op-ed in December 2014 in which he outlined why he would support former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should she decide to run for president, which she eventually did in April 2015. Dean endorsed Clinton over her competitor Senator Bernie Sanders in spite of the fact that Sanders represented the state of Vermont, where Dean had been governor. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. November 1948
Howard Dean photo
Howard Dean: 39   quotes 0   likes

Famous Howard Dean Quotes

“I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for, but I admire their discipline and their organization.”

Maggie Haberman, "Dean's Howling For Shot To Lead DNC Into Future Battle To Head Democrats", New York Daily News, January 30, 2005. Retrieved from Proquest May 12, 2016.

“the Republicans are all about suppressing votes.”

Source: "Take Back America" Conference, Washington, DC http://www.ac4vr.com/reports/072005/intimidation.html, June 2, 2005

“We are the great grassroots campaign of the modern era, built from mousepads, shoe leather and hope.”

From his official declaration of candidacy, June 23, 2003

“I may be controversial, but my allegiance is to people outside the Beltway.”

National Public Radio, June 13, 2005

“Not only are we going to New Hampshire, Tom Harkin, we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma And Arizona.. And North Dakota And New Mexico! We're going to California and Texas and New York! And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan! And then we're going to Washington D. C. to take back the White House! Yeah!!!”

From his concession speech on the eve of the January 2004 Iowa Caucuses, the "Dean Scream" incident
Variant: Not only are we going to New Hampshire, Tom Harkin, we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma And Arizona.. And North Dakota And New Mexico! We're going to California and Texas and New York! And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan! And then we're going to Washington D. C. to take back the White House! Yeah!!!

Howard Dean Quotes about people

“The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. I mean, they're a pretty monolithic party. They pretty much, they all behave the same, they all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party. Again, the Democrats abduct everybody you can think of. So, as this gentleman was talking about, it's a coalition, a lot of it independent. The problem is, we gotta make sure that turns into a party, which means this: I've gotta spend time in the communities, and our folks gotta spend time in the communities. I think, we're more welcoming to different folks, because that's the type of people we are. But that's not enough. We do have to deliver on things, particularly on jobs, and housing, and business opportunities and college opportunities, and so fourth. I think, there has been a lot of progress in the last 20-40 years, but the stakes keep changing. I think there's a lot of folks who vote, maybe right now, in the Asian-American communities, who don't wanna vote Democrats, but they're angry with the President on his immigration policy, the Patriot Act. But, what we need to do while this is going on, is develop a really close relationship with the Asian-American community, so later on there's gonna be a benefit, you know, more equal division. There'll be some party loyalty, as people would rememeber that we were there when it really made a difference. That's really what I'm trying to do. If I come in here 8 weeks before the elections, we're not getting anywhere. Asking if you would vote, you're still mad at the lesser of two evils. So that's why I'm here 3.5 years before the elections. We want different kind of people to run for office, too. We want a very diverse group of people running for office, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos. I think Villaraigosa's election in Los Angeles is incredibly important for the Democratic Party. Bush can go out and talk all he wants about "this is the party of opportunity", you know, he can make his appointments, Condi Rice, or, what's this guy's name, Commerce Secretary, Gutierrez. But you can't succeed electorally if you're a person of color in then Republican Party, there're very few people who have succeeded. You can pick some out, JC Watts, I'm trying to think of an Asian-American who's been a success who's a Republican, I can't think of one off the top of my head. You know, there's always a few, but not many. Because this is the party of opportunity for people of color, and for communities of color. And we're hoping to cement that relationship so that'll always be that way. [Q: You've been very tough on the Republicans, some Democrats criticized you over the weeked for doing that, Joe Biden…] I just got off the phone with John Edwards. What happened was, John Edwards was, in a sense, set up by the reporter, "well you know, Governor Dean said this". Well what I said was, the Republican leadership didn't seem to care much about working people. That's essentially the gist of the quote, and, you know, the RNC put out a press release. I don't think there's a lot of difference between me and John Edwards right now, I haven't spoken to Senator Biden, but I'm sure that I will. Today, it's all over the wires that Durbin and Sheila Jackson Lee and all of these folks are coming to my defense. Look, we have to be tough on the Republicans; the Republicans don't represent ordinary Americans, and they don't have any understanding of what it is to have to go out and try to make ends meet. You know, the context of what I was talking about was these long lines that you have to wait in to vote. How could you design a system that sometimes causes people to vote, to stand in line for 6 or 8 hours, if you had any understanding what their lives are like: they gotta pick up the kids, they gotta work, sometimes they have two jobs. So that was the context of the remarks. [crosstalk/laughter] This is one of those flaps that comes up once in awhile when I get tough, but I think we all wanna be tougher on the Republicans.”

Source: Discussion with reporters Portia Li and Carla Marinucci, in San Francisco http://web.archive.org/web/20060427191647/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/07/MNdean07.TMP&o=1, June 6, 2005

“The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite. We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah.”

Gathering of business leaders in Florida http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ_DEAN?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-07-26-19-19-42, July 26, 2006
Variant: Referring to Nouri al-Maliki, he told a group of business leaders "The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite. We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion dollars bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah." [31]

Howard Dean Quotes about thinking

“I don't mind being called a liberal. I just don't really think it's true.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11710-2003Jul5?language=printer

“The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is 'okay' to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is.”

Speech to College Democrats http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200507/POL20050725a.shtml&e=10401, July 29, 2005

“I think Tom DeLay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail sentence down there courtesy of the Texas taxpayers.”

Transcript for May 22; Guest: Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic Party http://www.msnbc.com/id/7924139/, NBC News. Last updated 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2008-03-05.

Howard Dean Quotes

“The truth is, the power to change this country is in your hands, not mine.”

January 27, 2004 http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/27/elec04.prez.dean.transcript/

“This is a struggle of good and evil. And we're the good.”

His opinion of the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Remarks at a Democratic fundraiser at the home of John and Nancy Hiebert, February 25, 2005, in Lawrence, Kansas. Quoted in "Dean Roars Into Town" http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/feb/26/dean_roars_into/ by Joel Mathis, Lawrence Journal-World, February 26, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2016.

“I was hoping to get a reception like this, I'd just hoped that it would be on Thursday night instead of Tuesday night.”

2004 Democratic National Convention speech, after the audience cheered enthusiastically while he politely asked them to let him speak.

“Well, Republicans […] a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.”

"Dean hits GOP on 'honest living'" https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/jun/3/20050603-123932-6657r/, Washington Times, Friday, June 3, 2005. Retrieved June 4, 2018.

“I'm a Metrosexual.”

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/stupidquotes/a/deanquotes.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-01-21-metrosexual-backlash_x.htm

“"My view is FOX News is a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party and I don't comment on FOX News." --June 12, 2005”

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/061205_ns_howard_dean.html

“You have the power to take our country back.”

From his formal announcement speech on July 23, 2003 http://www.4president.org/speeches/howarddean2004announcement.htm

“Regarding Iraq: "I hope the President is incredibly successful with his policy now that we're there."”

Source: Fundraiser for the ACLU, in Minnesota http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/programs/midday/listings/md20050418.shtml, April 20, 2005

“I'm tired of the ayatollahs of the right wing. We're fighting for freedom in Iraq. We're going to fight for freedom in America.”

Fundraiser for the Maine Democratic Party at the Lewiston Armory http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/051023dean.shtml, October 22, 2005

“Dean is a raving nut bag…a raving, sinister, demagogic nutbag…I and a few other people saw that he should be destroyed.”

--Christopher Hitchens, quoted in The New Yorker, October 2006.

“George Bush is not my neighbor.”

http://news.myway.com/politics/article/id/38007%7Cpolitics%7C01-12-2004::07:12%7Creuters.html

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