What are some common myths about Dean

[UnapologeticLiberal]

My friend and I are making a "Myths and Facts" sheet debunking common myths and misconceptions about Howard Dean. So I was wondering, what are some of the myths you have heard? The most worrisome one I heard was that he wanted to cut off aid to Israel, which was completely untrue but somehow seemed to stick with a lot of the Jewish students on campus. So I put together a sheet with his positions on Israel, and now we are working on a sheet like that that we hope will clear up a lot of common misperceptions. So if you have heard anything untrue about Dean or something you are not sure whether it is true that you think needs to be cleared up, please post it here. If you feel like writing a rebuttal, that would be nice, but you don't have to...we can take care of that.

Mousepads, Shoe Leather, and Hope

[judge_smales]

1. That he's a

liberal.

[CMT]

2. most common myth: He is McGovern

Second most common myth: He is Gingrich.

[AP]

4. Being a McGovern is a prediction, not a myth. To debunk it you'd have to

wait until the first Wed in Nov 2004 to see what happened.

Of course, it could become apparent sooner than that.

[w4rma]

20. I'll debunk that McGovern myth right here and right now.

Dean has taken McGovern's populism, Truman's firey straight-talking, Carter's ethics, Clinton's ability to connect and Gore's intellect and wisdom. Dean is the combination of some of the best qualities of many past Democratic candidates.

Dean Is the New McCain …
And the new Carter, and Goldwater, and McGovern, and Reagan …
By Julia Turner
Posted Thursday, August 7, 2003, at 3:48 PM PT
http://slate.msn.com/id/2086718/

Also, unlike McGovern's low budget campaign of an army of volunteers, Dean is well funded. In fact Dean is the best funded of any of the Democratic candidates.

Unlike McGovern, Dean neither served in the armed forces nor was a U.S. Senator.

Unlike McGovern, Dean is a centrist. McGovern was a liberal Goldwater, IMHO. Dean is a passionate centrist.

[AP]

22. You can't debunk a prediction.

It either comes to pass or it doesn't. You can have a competing prediction.

The McGovern claim isn't about what they're like now. It's about how the election will play out if you run someone who so defines themselves as being against a war about which the Republicans have total control.

A myth is something that isn't true.

[w4rma]

23. A prediction is whether Dean will win or lose. I predict he will win.

What you are stating is no prediction. You say Dean is like McGovern. I just showed you why Dean is absolutely *not* like McGovern.

I understand that you despise Dean, AP. But, you really need to keep away from these leaps of logic.

[Meshuga]

3. That he is

anti-war.

[w4rma]

17. Gov. Dean is anti-Iraq war

…
KING: So if you were president tomorrow, that's what you would be doing?

DEAN: Yes, I would begin the process of going to the United Nations, getting a resolution to bring foreign troops in, preferably including some troops from Arabic-speaking nations and some Muslim troops so that we can make this truly an international occupation. I do believe it's a worthwhile goal to rebuild Iraq into a democracy. I think that's unlikely to happen with this president, given his track record in Afghanistan.

I support the president's invasion of Afghanistan because I thought that was an issue for national security of the United States. But I think what s happened since then has been a very bad harbinger of what the president may do in Iraq.

We're under -- we have probably a fifth of the number of troops that we need to have in Iraq -- excuse me, in Afghanistan. The president is making deals with the warlords, who are certainly not Democratic forces. i think things look bad in Afghanistan. We need the U.N. and NATO to come in and help us there. And the problem is the president has managed to alienate and humiliate all the very countries that we now need to help us maintain the peace both in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
…
CALLER: Yes, hello. Many Democrats voted to go to war, why are they now seeming to back track and withdraw their support to President Bush. And do you agree -- do you not agree with the war any more and trying to win the 2004 elections because no weapons of mass destruction were found? I think...

KING: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut her, but I think we get the gist of the question -- governor. DEAN: I'm not sure the caller understood that I did not support the war and only one of the four or five candidates that you have spoken for tonight. All though, Bob Graham didn't support war and Dennis Kucinich didn't support the war either. But the candidates you have spoken about Lieberman, Senator Kerry, Representative Gephardt and Senator Edwards did all support the war. I didn't support the war because I don't think the president made the case. I supported the president, as I said before, in Afghanistan because I thought that was a matter of national security. I supported the first Gulf War. But you don't send troops to war without explaining clearly and frankly to the American people why they have to go. And what this president said was, mainly, gave -- made a number of assertions that were not factual.

The argument that I make and some people say as Senator Lieberman did if you didn't support the Gulf War you can't be elected president. I actually believe, that if you're a Democrat and did support the Gulf War, it calls into question your judgment in one of the most serious question or actions any president will have to take, which is sending American citizens to die on a foreign land. When you make that decision you ought know the facts. You ought to ask a lot of questions. If I can figure out that the facts weren't accurate, why couldn't they figure that out in Washington? So, I think not supporting the war is an advantage principally because it shows that I am willing to use very, very tough judgment and it stands against the grain of the president of the United States and many Americans and standing up for what I believe in. Just as John F. Kennedy did in during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
…
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4789004/22014318.html

[AP]

5. That he has a plan to make the economy work again.

...

[gully]

28. That he doesn't have a plan to make the economy work again ...

http://www.deanforamerica.com/site/PageServer?pagename=policy_statement_economy

Let me guess, Clark supporter? Where's his plan again?

[AP]

32. I know you are but what am I?

How old are you, gully? Seven?

[AP]

6. Also: that he talks bluntly about race to white audiences

[gully]

30. That he doesn't appeal to POC... NT

[AP]

That one's going to be hard to debunk with anything other

than allegory.

However, I did like Al Sharpton's comment about Edwards Dean and Kerry at about 21 minutes of the last debate.

[AP]

31. That one's going to be hard to debunk with anything other

than allegory.

However, I did like Al Sharpton's comment about Edwards Dean and Kerry at about 21 minutes of the last debate.

[DuctapeFatwa]

7. That he is not either stiff and boring and that he can TOO dance

nt

[RobertSeattle]

8. That he has good penmanship

I was checking out his Financial Form - Ugh!

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2001/N00025663_2001.pdf

[Drifter]

11. He's a doctor for christ sakes ...

Isn't nearly half of a doctors education learning how to write illegibly.

Cheers
Drifter

[democratreformed]

9. That he

cares about and represents the views of "averag" Americans....

[w4rma]

10. This article lists a good number of Dean myths

The New Stop-Dean Candidate

All year, Howard Dean has been gaining ground in the Democratic presidential race. And all year, Democratic centrists have been scrambling for a candidate to stop him. He's too liberal, they said. He's soft on defense, a Vermont lefty, an evangelist for expansive programs. To stop him, they turned to Joe Lieberman, then John Kerry, then Wes Clark. But the more Dean's rivals expose his record, the more I suspect that the centrist who's going to spare Democrats this left-wing nightmare isn't any of these guys. It's Howard Dean.

Months ago, when the candidates squared off at a Children's Defense Fund forum, moderator Judy Woodruff tried to embarrass Dean by pointing out …

For a while, I worried that Dean was a protectionist. Then Gephardt relieved me of that impression, pointing out …

Now the big scandal is Dean's fiscal responsibility. Gephardt's opposition researchers …

Worse, according to Gephardt, Dean actually proposed to reform federal programs he thought weren't working. In 1992, Dean accused …

But Dean's most despicable heresy in the 1990s, it turns out, was his defiance of …

You can imagine how angry I am, as a swing voter, to find out these horrible things about Dean. My hands are trembling so violently, I can barely write his name on the check.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089813
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=60981

[Meshuga]

12. That he is good tempered!

Boy, I've seen some crancky footage! :-)

[w4rma]

13. HOWARD DEAN: A Good-Tempered Man

Several times I've heard television journalists complain that Howard Dean has to learn to control his temper. Actually, it is his temper that I find attractive.

An honest man with sincere convictions will get angry when he hears lies. Some of our greatest presidents had ferocious tempers. George Washington, Andy Jackson and Harry Truman are three examples.

You don't see other candidates getting angry because they are all phonies. Their so-called convictions are just campaign positions manufactured by their staffs. They don't really believe in anything except getting elected, so they really don't care what is said. They are like trial lawyers. They are interested only in scoring points and winning. There's nothing personal, and the truth simply doesn't matter.

Whether you agree with him or not, Howard Dean actually believes in his convictions. He is a genuine man. An honest, genuine man will not suffer fools lightly, nor will he stand around like a dummy with a phony smile on his face while he hears himself lied about.

I probably would not agree with Dr. Dean on all of his positions, but I certainly trust him, if he is elected, to do what he honestly believes is in the best interest of the country. That's more than I can say for any of the other candidates. It's this quality of being real and genuine that I think has attracted hundreds of thousands of people to his campaign.
…
http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20031008/index.php
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=108&topic_id=54583

[UnapologeticLiberal]

14. This was mainly intended to debunk negative rumors

Not for people who do not like Dean to start chiming in with everything they don't like about him.

[mbali]

16. Be careful what you ask for

you asked people to list "common myths and misconceptions about Howard Dean." They have done that. Why are you complaining?

[gully]

29. Oh puleeze! They've flamed this thread.... NT

[sandnsea]

15. That he's going to repeal all the tax cuts

[RobertSeattle]

21. Why should he?

The GOP made it's repeal automatic in 2011.

(Observation: By then, this will be the largest tax increase ever!)

[Skwmom]

18. That he's a straight shooter. e/o/m.

[gully]

26. That he's not a 'straight shooter' NT

[Demobrat]

19. The one I hear is that he's a hot head.

I prefer to think of it as passionate.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. That he's honest

[gully]

27. That he's dishonest NT

[Feanorcurufinwe]

34. How could he honestly make both these statements:

"We have to stop terrorism before peace negotiations"
http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.11.22/news3.html

said he didn't "believe stopping the terror has to be a prerequisite for talking."
http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/09/10/elec04.prez.dean.mideast/

Or was he merely pandering to the Jewish audience of Forward in the first quote? Is pandering different from lying? Please explain.

[gully]

25. That he's unelectable/can't win the south??

???

That he supports Israel
That he doesn't support Israel

That he's too liberal
That he's too conservative

That he's the next McGovern
That he's the next Gingrich

www.deandefense.org has some good information also...

And remember IGNORE THE TROLLS. And use the opposite of what they said to make your point.

For example some said that it's a myth HD is 'honest'. I think it's a myth that he's dishonest KWIM?

Best wishes!!

[Cha]

33. I posted this in your other thread, too!

http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20031008/index.php

And this..http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=40&screen=news&news_id=26244

ect..http://www.thestranger.com/2003-05-15/feature.html

http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:29162

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=43435

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=442080

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=275606

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030901&s=pollitt
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=443445

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=396545


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=529542

There's more ..but I hope this Helps..Should keep you busy for a while :)