Dean on George Allen: "I don't think he belongs in public service." [View All]

[madfloridian]

And he should know. He worked with him as governor for several years. In fact Dean worked with Bush as governor, and he was far more complimentary to Bush than to George Allen.

Here is what he said about Allen tonight on Hardball.

"I served with George Allen when he was Governor. I don't think he belongs in public service. There are Republicans who are capable and smart, thoughtful people, and he's not one of them."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/23/184753/670

So they were governors together from 1994 to 1998. Dean was governor from 1991, I believe, to 2002. Maybe a year off on the dates.

In November 1993, Allen was elected the 67th Governor of Virginia, serving from 1994 to 1998. As governor, he was recognized for educational reforms such as the implementation of rigorous academic standards and accountability. His tenure also included the overhaul of the juvenile justice system, moves toward the elimination of state welfare programs, and the abolition of parole. Virginia, especially Northern Virginia, boomed during this time period, particularly in the technology area.

Here is what he said about George W. Bush in his book, You Have the Power. Not nearly as dismissive as he was of Allen today. That must tell us something.

I was horrified by the way George W. Bush was governing our country.
Mortgaging our future with irresponsible tax cuts for his friends.
Despoiling our environment with huge giveaways to industry. Dividing us in
the worst possible ways. Endangering our children with air pollution and
draconian cuts in health-care services. Turning America into a monster in
the eyes of the rest of the world.

I hadn't started out a Bush-basher. In fact, I'd been predisposed to like
George Bush. I knew him personally and had dealt with him professionally
when we were both governors. He'd always been charming and hospitable to me
and my family, both in the Governor's Mansion in Texas and at the White
House. He'd always been more than upright in the business dealings between
our states, keeping his word when he had no legal obligation to do so. What
I knew of his record in Texas bespoke a moderate man who was willing to put
pragmatism before ideology, to raise taxes when necessary to equalize state
education spending, and to take some heat from the right wing of his party
for doing so. ("I hate those people," he'd once snarled at me when I ribbed
him at a White House governors' gathering about some trouble he was having
in Texas with the Christian Coalition.)

I'd approached his presidency with an open mind. 'I hadn't voted for Bush,
but I didn't expect the worst of him, either. After all, I'd always been in
the moderate middle of my own party — a staunch advocate of fiscal
discipline, a devotee of balanced budgets, pro-choice but also pro-gun
owners' rights, and in favor of the death penalty in some instances.'