Dean's Achilles Heel?

[THUNDER HANDS]

I don't see this mentioned much, but I think this could be a bigger and bigger issue, especially as the primary season rolls around.

The private life of Howard Dean.

Specifically, the little knowledge anyone has of it.

It seems as if all the other candidates tell stories of their personal life, their upbringing, their family, ect to try to connect with voters.

Dean, though, seems to shy away from talking about himself. And in the few scant moments when I have seen him talk about his upbringing, he seems very uncomfortable.

Combine that with his wife's focus on her medical practice, and Dean could have a tiny issue to resolve - the "what makes Howard Dean, Howard Dean" question.

If he's the nominee, people are going to want to know his backstory. They're going to want to hear personal 'Bill Clinton'-like stories.

Basically, they're gonna want to know who Howard Dean is behind the podium.

Anyone else think this could be a problem for him? His seemingly caustic nature when opening up about himself?

[mandyky]

1. There is info out about Dean's life

but his wife is apolitical. His son doesn't want to be involved, his daughter works for the campaign (or was over the summer).
The Unlikely Rise of Howard Dean is the name of an article about him.
Just goggle the title.

Actually, I do not see it as an achilles heel at all. Makes him more intriguing and mysterious, and interesting.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. that could be true

but one could also say that his uncomfortability is going to do nothing but magnify as the campaign wears on.

Sooner or later people are gonna want to see him and his wife on Oprah or something. He's going to have to play the "family man/ family doctor" role.

I think he needs to prepare for this.

[Demobrat]

17. I got a very nice letter from Judith Steinberg Dean

during the last big fundraising push. I don't think Dean's personal life is going to be any problem at all.

[Cha]

22. Here's Dean's and Judy's Bio!

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

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

And here's an interview with Dean that I found somewhat revealing..
http://www.thestranger.com/2003-05-15/feature.html

<snip>"But what attracts purists to a maverick moderate like Dean is not his record, but his willingness to throw a punch and forcefully stand up against the rightward drift of the national political Zeitgeist. Dean is pragmatic and tough--a gets-things-done sort of guy. He is "not a warm and fuzzy figure," University of Vermont political scientist John Burke says. Ralph Wright, the legendary former Democratic house speaker in Vermont--an old-school, two-fisted, Boston-Irish kind of politician--wrote in his memoir, "Winning starts with the idea that you're not going to lose. Governor Dean has never spent any significant amount of time mulling that possibility... if Howard Dean is anything, he's a warrior."<snip>

[NewYorkerfromMass]

45. How the fuck can his wife be apolitical?!?

That is scary! How can anyone with half a brain be apolitical after selection 2000? Here's a disqualifier if ever there was one. I'll take Teresa Heinz and her very opinonated self over "apolitical" anyday.

[Evanstondem]

49. I'm voting for a candidate, not his or her spouse

Judith Steinberg Dean has a career of her own, as others have noted, she does have a role in her husband's campaign, just not every day.

What can you tell us about the spouses of ANY of the Dem candidates other than Kerry's?

[KaraokeKarlton]

51. She's a doctor

not a campaigner. I'm sure she votes, but she's not into campaigning. She has patients to tend to, and that's her priority. There is nothing wrong with that at all. I happen to think it's great. She would move her practice to DC if Dean wins.

[wtmusic]

2. Thought you were going to bring along some facts Rat

Disappointed again

[THUNDER HANDS]

6. facts?

I'm just stating an observation of mine. How often do you hear Dean talk about himself personally, or his family, at all?

[wtmusic]

12. You titled your post Dean's Achilles Heel

then offered nothing to support it.

Flamebait.

[clar]

3. No

I think there are legitimate concerns about Dean, but this isn't one of them. Although Dean is a private person, he definitely can open up. The Howard Fineman piece about his brother, demonstrates that.

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. I remember that piece

And I also remember that Dean didn't want to talk much about it. ANd doesn't bring up any personal info voluntarily.

Any time an article mentions something on Dean's personal life, it's usually dragged out of him by the interviewer.

[Rose Siding]

5. I don't see any skeletons

There are a couple of articles with anecdotes at this link:

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

[even]

11. Tts all sealed until 2010

Dean should run then.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

21. Hmmmm....A Doctorate from the College of Straw?

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ScotTissue]

7. It'll be interesting to see a candidate w/out a wife

It'll be interesting to see a candidate w/out a wife who follows him around on the campaign trail. It's been done before, of course, but all modern campaigns in our lifetimes have been a race between two couple. Dean's wife, who is a professional and not comfortable in the limelight, will not be such an asset to his campaign.

And at this point, I do believe Dean will be our nominee.

Something to consider, at any rate.

[THUNDER HANDS]

10. true

It should be odd, at least, especially if Kerry or Dean is the nominee.

Dean's wife runs from the campaign trail and Kerry's is likely to say something controversial or wacky (ie, Botox stuff).

[JNelson6563]

9. auditioning for Drudge?

Newsmax? Weekly Standard? :eyes: Thought maybe something of substance had come up.....

If this is Dean's "achilles heel" we're in! Jr. needs to start packin'!

Julie

[THUNDER HANDS]

13. well, a question mark did follow the title

thus, posed as a question, not a statement of fact.

I agree it doesn't appear to be a big deal, but the GOP has been known to take molehills and turn them into mountains before.

[JNelson6563]

23. If this is so

then the GOP will fail in their seek and destroy mission. The people are sick of their bullshit which is one of the reasons Dean is so popular.

Besides, what are they going to try to prove after backing Ah-nold? Not to mention the Simian....

The way I see it any approach they take will likely shine a brighter light on their own shortcomings which become more evident to the voters every day.

Julie

[CMT]

14. I don't think Howard Dean has anything to hide

and as a governor for over a decade and a presidential candidate for well over a year I'm sure if there was some kind of smoking gun the press would be on it. His wife leads a private life as a physican. I don't see any problem. I actually like the fact that Dean doesn't feel the need to speak obsessively about himself on the stump but sticks to Bush and the issues he cares about.

[La_Serpiente]

15. Howar d Dean has shared his life

He's talked extensively about his brother who was killed in Vietnam and his parents and his decision to become a doctor.

[ozone_man]

16. Dean's wife wrote me (and probably 50,000 others) a very nice letter

explaining her support of her husband and professional career. She will present a more modern role model for women. I think they enjoy their privacy and have brought up two kids through the public school system. Probably something that most other candidates have not done. He has shown his support of public schools first hand.

I think he has a very good way of expressing his emotions and many are moved by his speeches.

[Capn Sunshine]

18. The intentional emphasis is on Dean's views

knowing full well a detailed combing of his private life will occur as the presumptive nominee.

This campaign isn't about Howard Dean as much as it is about YOU. Yes Rat , even YOU! YOU have the ability to take the country back.

[Taxi Driver]

19. Oh of course

because we just have to have the candidates tell us BS stories about their childhood to get elected.



Geez. So many idiot potential voters. What kind of dumbass votes on a candidate because he likes the same type of ice cream or wipes with a certain hand.

Who cares about that shit. All I care about is their position on the issues.

[THUNDER HANDS]

40. and if you were like the rest of America

More than 50% of the public would have voted for Al Gore in 2000.

[KaraokeKarlton]

53. But they did

n/t

[AWD]

20. He's put stories out about himself

...when it's in the right context or environment.

For example, on the Tonight Show, he told a story about his first suit, and he mentioned his mother's reaction to his campaign.

He opens up when it's appropriate, and he's very relaxed when he does.

13 more months to get these stories about himself out there, too...it'll happen more and more.

[Orangepeel]

24. No. Dean has run for office many times.

and some of the campaigns were quite nasty.

Dean is not perfect and has some issues, but this isn't one of them.

[blm]

26. I don't agree. But, his push to deregulate electricity in Vt. will be.

Also, his coziness with the energy industry there.

http://timesargus.nybor.com/Legislature/Story/43125.html


Dean raises money from energy sources

February 27, 2002

By David Gram

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTPELIER — When Gov. Howard Dean wanted to raise money for a possible presidential bid, he followed the example of a former governor of Texas and called on his friends in the energy industry.

>>>>>>>
“Administration actions going back some years betray an inappropriate coziness with the utilities,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Service Research Group. “I am not prepared to say it’s a result of contributions given. But these contributions present the appearance of impropriety or appearance of influence that it probably would have been better to avoid.”

Dean’s close relationship with utility representatives dates back to the day he became governor in 1991. A lobbyist for Green Mountain Power and a GMP employee were among the first people Dean called in to help his transition.

A list of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers includes Green Mountain Power Corp.’s chairman, two company board members and a vice president, all of whom made donations to the Fund For A Healthy America. It also includes two longtime utility lobbyists.

Over the years, the governor has sided with the utilities on many of the most pressing issues, including the push for deregulation of the electric industry, and later backing away from that as a goal. Among other major decisions:

— After years of pushing for the companies to absorb the excess costs of their expensive contract with Hydro-Quebec, Dean’s Department of Public Service agreed to let ratepayers be billed for more than 90 percent of what those excess costs are expected to be in the coming years. The extra costs will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
>>>>>>>

[AWD]

27. Sigh

Another thread about Dean, another bashing from blm.

Nothing new to see here, move along.

[blm]

29. If you think Dean's actions and record bash him, take it up with him.

Isn't that what an intellectually honest person would do?

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blm]

34. Those who don't address such an important issue of our time

and instead attack the person who pointed it out. What does that mean to you?

AWD, if you think Dean being for the deregulation of eletricity is a nonissue then just say so, or support him on it and tell us all why it's a good issue for Dean. Be substantive.

[w4rma]

28. Talk about an archeological dig. An 11 year old article.

:eyes:

[blm]

30. February, 2002 is 11 years old?

Does Dean's push for deregulation of electricity in Vt. bother you all so much that you attack me instead?

[KaraokeKarlton]

55. It doesn't bother me at all

Because I actually listened when Dean talked about this issue. He admitted that he had supported deregulation back then but that it turned out to be a mistake. He no longer supports it because of what he learned from that experience, and that it didn't turn out to be a good thing. At the time he supported it, he DID think it would have a positive impact. When it didn't work out as well, he learned from it and changed his position. I suspect that you know that as well. If not, now you do. This issue is not one that warrants criticism. If Dean still supported the deregulation of Vermont utilities, you'd have a point. But since he went on record and said he doesn't, the issue is moot.

[KaraokeKarlton]

54. He did favor deregulation in the past

But he also said it was a mistake. That was one mistake that he did make, but his intentions were good, not bad. He learned a valuable lesson on that and you won't ever see him supporting it again. It's also why he came out in opposition of the deregulation of the media, allowing monopolies on media ownership. This would normally be a justified criticism IF Dean had not already publicly stated that he did initially support deregulation, but have since learned he made a mistake in that support. He's moved on from that mistake after owning it, and you should allow him to do so.

[bitchkitty]

32. Is that the best you can do?

Thanks for the post, makes me happy to realize that Governor Dean is going to win! If that's the best you can come up with, we're a shoe-in!

[Upfront]

33. Don't Worry

He is squeaky clean. Another sly attack on Dean, Yawn.

[Octafish]

35. His background is Wall Street.

Great-grandfather was a stockbroker.

Grandfather was a stockbroker.

Father was a stockbroker.

Candidate Dean was stockbroker.

From a recent profile on Bush, Dean and Kerry by the UPI White House correspondent that ran in the Washington Times (yuck):

EXCERPT…

Howard Dean made somewhat the same decision. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him were investment bankers and for a time after Yale, he did go to Wall Street, but couldn't take it. He went from Wall Street to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx where he met his wife, Judith Steinberg, of Roslyn, N.Y., the daughter of two physicians. They both became doctors. Dean went to Vermont for his residency and later he and his wife practiced medicine in Shelburne just south of Burlington, Vt.

But despite the fact that Dean now wears old suits and has a messy house, he had all the trimmings of the Brahmins. He was born on Nov. 17, 1948, to a banker father and a mother who was an artist. Though his brothers were tall, young Howard, like his father, was of modest height, 5 feet 8 inches tall. To many he was like his father, now deceased, in his manner: feisty and go getting. His high school football coach and teacher, Chris Corkery, remembers him playing the football line at "maybe 155 to 160 pounds."

"He was giving away size and girth in every game, he played. But he was a comer," Corkery recalls.

Dean summered on Long Island's Sag Harbor, where his family went back to whaling days, went to St. George's Episcopal School in Middletown, R.I., and Yale University.

CONTINUED … (stuff on Bush and Kerry, too):

http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20030729-025829-7031r.htm

[jburton]

36. Doesn't seem to hurt his numbers n/t

[AP]

37. I think this is important not because of potential skeletons, but because

voters probably rely on biography as the most important fact for predicting how a candidate will behave.

The fact that Clinton came from humble roots (compounded by the fact that his favorite policy goals were to help people from humble roots have a better life) solidified in people's minds what they thought Clinton stood for.

Dean's biography has been a relatively big black hole, because his life of privilege, if explored, might turn off a lot of middle and working class voters. That's why you hear more about his messy house and being cheap today. It's meant to offset the privileges he acquired from growing up the son of his father, and attending St. George's prep school (not "high school", but "prep school") and Yale.

In the same way that Americans had images of Clinton growing up the son of a nurse married to drunkard, and with the half-brother who thought it would be funny to run out on the front lawn naked while Clinton was trying to flirt with some little girl in the neighborhood, people are going to be looking for images like that of Dean. If they don't tap into a sense among Americans that this guy knows how many of us experienced life growing up in America, it's going to be a problem. Not a big, insurmountable problem, but a problem that isn't easily ignored.

Think of the way Bush dealt with Gore's biography. They made Gore seem totally out of touch with the average American. Well, Gore had a background LESS privileged that Dean's in many respects.

[blm]

38. That was quite a spin on Gore, wasn't it?

Incredibly obtuse view of his upbringing by the media as spun by the RNC.

[Eloriel]

39. I'd like to see some stats on the "biography" thing

'Cause I think you're all wet, frankly. If it were true, Edwards would be leading the pack right now, wouldn't he??

And RichM -- what a sorry little charade. Your feigned innocence in asking your question, your feigned concern for his electability.

Howard Dean is a straight arrow without any skeletons in his closet. He probably thinks his personal background isn't nearly as important as what's going wrong in this country. And I'm frankly glad to see Dr. Steinberg doing her own thing. What a refreshing change of pace instead of hauling out these poor, ill-at-ease women for pointeless photo ops and such. Maria Shriver's appearances (what I've seen of them on TV) has reminded me what a spectacle -- and a gauche one at that -- the whole campaign is for spouses. STAY HOME. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. YOU'RE NOT THE ONE BEING ELECTED.

Anyway, give it a rest. It's not like you're not just about the most transparent poster here in your Dean flame-baiting.

Eloriel

[AP]

Stats on biography?

I just finished reading about about American foreign policy and the motivations of nearly every major politician were discussed in terms of their biographical experiences.

I admist this is allegorical, but just look at your own experiences. I can't think of a politician for whom biography isn't important.

Also, I think Edwards will be leading, and will beat Bush largely because of biography (and becuase his meshes so well with his policies). The problem for Edwards right now is that media treats him like the plague and most people don't know his biography and his policies. When they learn them, I'm pretty sure he'll surpass politicians whose biography isn't known and whose policies don't clearly mesh with the perception of their character (or mesh in a bad way, like, their biography is Wall St, and their policies help big businesses' profits).

[drfemoe]

41. Study Finds People More Likely to Vote Against Than for a Candidate

Sept. 6 — If you really want to make more people go to the polls on election day, put someone on the ballot a lot of people hate.

That’s because we are far more likely to turn out because we can’t stand someone than because we think one candidate is a really swell person.

That’s one of the conclusions of an ambitious study of voter attitudes spanning a 24-year period led by Jon A. Krosnick, professor of psychology and political science at Ohio State University.
<snipped>
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DyeHard/dyehard000906.html

[ozone_man]

42. I think Dean did have a privileged upbringing,

which he had no control over. However, he did make choices throughout the rest of his life that speak alot about his values. Here are a few of those choices that I know of:

I learned last night (60 minutes) that while Bush and Kerry joined the Skull and Bones Society at Yale, Dean chose not to be part of the Fraternity system and had an African American room mate.

In Vermont, he and his wife, both family physicians, settled down, had kids, and sent their two kids through the public school system.

While still governor of Vermont, he coached hockey (at least some of the time) for the high school where his son attended. Rumor has it that he likes to play ice hockey out on Lake Champlain.

I haven't agreed on some issues, like Hydro Quebec (I have a major Green streak), but overall, he is a centrist and has played the balance between environmentalists, utilities, consumers, farmers, and business quite well over the years.

So, he hasn't come from humble beginnings like Clinton, but he has made good choices IMO along the way. On the flip side, he doesn't have a womanizing problem like Clinton (or the Kennedys).

[MODemocrat]

43. Dean was very "down to earth" on Leno's show

He's not an egotist like many people are, and he seems to be a very decent. I can't see this being a problem for him. :shrug:

[Closer]

44. Wow

So THIS is what desperation looks like!


Thanks Magic Rat. You're the best.

[LightTheMatch]

46. Nope.

Dean's achille's heel is the civil unions issue.

[ScreamingMeemie]

47. I cannot remember where I read the article, but Dean was interviewed

once while he was fixing his son's bike, in the living room of his home. He had to take a phone call, told the interviewer to make himself at home, and when the interviewer asked if he could look in his medicine cabinet Dean replied,"Go ahead, I've nothing to hide." Can anyone recall where this article is located? It's one of the first things I ever read on Howard Dean.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

50. I can't recall

but I remember reading the same article, about 5 months ago. It was one of the first articles I read on Dean, too. I remember the interviewer being shocked that Dean would let him poke around his house.

[KaraokeKarlton]

48. He's lived his life in Vermont as a normal guy

Who also happened to be the governor. He drove his kids to school every day. He coached his kids' in hockey. He was a doctor up until he became governor. He sat on the bleachers with other parents of the public school to watch his kids play sports. He drove around town in a beat up old rust bucket. His phone was always listed in the book. He lives in a normal house and his family has always been his life since he came here. He's just your typical transplant Vermonter who ended up in politics but kept his personal life the same as it was before.

He has no skeletons or deep dark secrets. He's a parent, husband and a politician who respects his wife's choice to be a doctor instead of a campaigning political wife. She did send out a fund raising letter for Dean, though. It was really sweet.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

52. This is devestating infomation and I am now going to

change my vote from Dean back to Graham.

[KaraokeKarlton]

56. Graham dropped out

Better stick with Dean. :D