Interesting UK Observer article on Howard Dean

[T_i_B]

The following article is from today's Observer. It's an interesting article and I would like to know what you lot think of it. How much of this is accurate and what are the rest of the candidates like? Personally I think the article seems to be portraying Dean as more radical than his platform comes across on his website. Make of this what you will.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1015695,00.html

Last week Dean's triumphant face gazed from the covers of Newsweek, Time and US News and World Report. He has tapped into a rich vein of support based on his long-standing opposition to invading Iraq.

Success has put a spotlight on his personal style and political record. He is a natural orator, becoming red-faced and emotional during speeches, which he gives without notes. He has a reputation for being gruff with journalists, but, privately he has perfected a 'bedside manner' with ordinary people.

He also has courage. During a governorship election in 2000, when an ugly row over gay rights raged, he had to wear a bullet-proof vest, but did not back down from making Vermont the only state to give gay couples the same legal status as married people.

But it is Dean's record as Governor that is the hot debate in Democrat circles. Though fiscally conservative, he has liberal policies on healthcare and the environment. With his anti-war rhetoric, he is also committed to revoking Bush's massive tax cuts programme. For many centrist Democrats, Dean invokes memories of George McGovern and Mike Dukakis and is seen as certain to lose if he ends up facing Bush.