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He claims a high rating with the NRA. I believe he also supports the death penalty. He's pro-choice, but so are virtually all Democrats (with the exception of Dennis Kucinich before his campaign conversion). I don't see that Dean's terribly liberal or leftist. The media certainly pegged him that way, but that doesn't make it so. Dean's greatest strength is that he is not afraid to challenge the Republicans. He was anti-war (but so was Pat Buchanan). Furthermore, Dean calls himself a fiscal conservative. Kerry is far more a typical liberal than Dean. What distinguished Dean was his demeanor and fearlessness--excellent traits, but not liberal ones. I supported Dean, but this left-center typology that many people attribute to certain Democrats doesn't really hold up. I've said this before on DU and am probably sounding like a broken record, but I think we need to get beyond this left-center discourse. It's a remnant of the Cold War and not terribly descriptive of American politics today.
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