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First of all, the stuff being repeated about Dean being in any way opposed to Medicare is complete and utter nonsense. Gephardt sent a gal named Monica to dig through info in Vermont trying to find dirt on Dean. She essentially came up with no real dirt. What she did find was comments Dean made that sounded somewhat ominous if half of what he said was left out. Basically, the actual quotes was taken entirely out of context. Dean's comments about Medicare were NOT about the actual program or the services it is supposed to provide. He has been a true champion of those services throughout his political career...it's been his personal agenda, in fact...health care. He was actually complaining about the way the program is run because he was frustrated with the road blocks that keep so many seniors from getting the help they need and deserve. Do a google search on Howard Dean Congressional Testimony on the Aging and Disabled. You'll find the text of his various testimonies on this very frustration over the need to reform eligibility rules so people get help. Maybe you haven't been open to looking into this stuff because some Dean supporters have annoyed you. If that's the case, I encourage you to take the time to check these things out. It will make you feel much better should Dean be the nominee...I promise.
Is he the same person now as he was in Vermont? Yes and no. He still has the same basic beliefs he did as governor, and he honestly did a damn good job here. Vermonters don't re-elect bad governors. He did the job we demanded of him, and he did it well. Serving the interests of Vermont obviously is not going to be entirely the same as serving the interests of the country. He is a politician who deals in facts, realities and common sense and he will always act in the best interest of the country as a whole. When he entered the race, he did so because he was entirely disgusted with what Bush was doing to the economy and the fact that so many Americans are uninsured. He was reading the paper, complaining about what Bush was doing out of frustration. He stopped and asked himself if he was just going to complain and do nothing or if he was going to stand up and actually do something about it. He decided he would run for president. As his campaign began to grow and he went around the country talking to people, things changed for him. He saw that he had the ability to get people involved and active again. That's when the campaign changed and when his agenda changed. It wasn't just about the economy and health care anymore. Those are still important, but they were secondary to the bigger issue...which is giving the government back to the people it belongs to...you and me.
Yes, I trust him. If there's one thing you can count on with Howard Dean it's that you can trust what he tells you. If he says he's going to do something, he'll move heaven and earth to do it. He won't lie to you about where he stands or just tell you what he thinks you want to hear. Should he become our next president you can be certain that there will be choices he makes that don't make sense to you or that you don't like, perhaps even hate. But you will NEVER wonder why he does something or what he's thinking and what his goal is. At the same time, he'll do even more things that just make you beam with pride. You will always respect him, even if you don't agree with him on something. The one thing I discovered from living under Dean's leadership is that he's incredibly smart, resourceful, effective, can accomplish a lot...and he has impeccable long term vision. There were times he genuinely pissed me off with something he did. People would think he had no idea what he was doing. Then, lo and behold...what he did worked and did just what he said it would.
If anyone can get the folks in DC to get things done...it's Howard Dean. That's what the "cockroach" comment was about. He'll set a firecracker under their behinds and ride them incessantly until they get things done. They'll be more productive than we've ever seen. I don't know how he manages to do this, but he does. The results are actual progress...what a concept that is! He wasn't saying they are all insects...just that under him, at first they would be running around, shocked by the changes they'll face. It will be a good thing, too.
If anyone can get the kind of foreign policy we need...he can do that too. No, he doesn't have anywhere near the most experience, but he has the kind of skills, common sense, sense of fairness and genuine willingness to learn and understand the whole picture. Some people have decades and decades of the experience but no skills. It's the skills and right attitude that matter most in foreign policy...and Dean has both.
Okay, I hope that answers your questions. I'll also add that there has been A LOT of false information posted on here about Dean. It's entirely possible that some of the things you may dislike about him might not even be true. That would be really unfortunate. If you're genuinely interested in figuring out what is true about him (from Vermont especially), I'd be more than happy to answer those questions. There are actually a couple other Vermonters who post here besides me. Maybe they will chime in on this if they're reading.
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