Thursday, June 19, 2003

My biggest complaint about Howard Dean - He's a Loud Mouth.

I'm sorry, I hate to go there, but I have been saying for sometime now that the biggest problem I have with Howard Dean is that he is so hot-tempered and such a loud mouth. He started his campaign spewing and has barely slowed down to take a breath. This disturbs me. If elected how will he handle sitting down at the table to discuss nuclear weapons with other foriegn powers? Here's my point:

From Q & A with Howard Dean, June 1, 2003 L.A. Times
"How would you try to stop the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran?"
"I would first sit down at the table with them, as this president has refused to do. I think with Iran and North Korea, we must be smart as well as tough; there are diplomatic pressures that we can apply, and we must never take the option of force off the table. But a step-by-step engagement process - the goal of which would be normalized relations - is clearly the best option." I don't feel that Dean is capable of sitting down at the table and not picking a fight.

Further I don't feel that he fully answers the questions he is asked:

From Q & A with Howard Dean, June 1, 2003 L.A. Times
"Should income taxes be cut? If so, how? If not, why not?"
We don't need more tax cuts. What we need is more jobs. This president has done unspeakable things to the economy. Unbalanced budgets that go on forever undermine the economy". Did I miss the answer?

Finally, I know politicians are famous for making complaints and accusations against their competition, however I feel that Dean started a little too early in his campaign:

"His rivals, though, have not appreciated what they view as false characterizations of their positions and outright lies.

Dean, for example, apologized to Edwards after his March comments at the California convention, but he refused to apologize after making the same accusation about Kerry.

"It's a real political problem for the self-described 'straight-talk candidate,' "said Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan."

It appears I am not alone in my feelings about Howard Dean. Read more... "Mistakes, regrets -- Dean's had a few" By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff, 6/18/2003.

"Howard Dean's fire-breathing campaign rhetoric has inspired some party activists, but the inaccuracy of some remarks, as well as his characterizations of some rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, has prompted him to issue several apologies this year."....

'Garrison Nelson, a University of Vermont political science professor who has watched Dean over two decades, said the shoot-first, apologize-later pattern has been prevalent throughout the former governor's political career.

"Howard's a pop-off. I've been the target of his pop-offs, too," Nelson said. "He is a loner who keeps his own counsel. He also has a very short fuse."

The professor linked the behavior to Dean's history as a doctor.

"'That may seem like a non sequitur, but doctors do not get challenged. They live in the rarefied profession where they are not challenged. Lawyers get challenged. Professors get challenged. But Howard pops off when he gets challenged," Nelson said. "At some point you run out of apologies."'

Aloof is far more appealing to me. Though John Kerry does not actually strike me as aloof. Often people who are considered cold and aloof, are silent observers. Watching, listening, absorbing, assimilating before they speak....

I consider that to be a worthy trait in a President. That's why John Kerry has my vote.

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