The Case For Howard Dean: Moral Center

Larkspur

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Thu Jan-08-04 12:56 PM
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The Case For Howard Dean: Moral Center

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040119&s=cohn011904

When I first interviewed Howard Dean in early 2002, the Iraq war was still a glint in Dick Cheney's eye, nobody had heard of Meetup.com, and Dean's campaign organization numbered all of one. Beyond Vermont, he was virtually unknown: As we walked through downtown Boston, not a soul recognized him. He was also a more simple character then--just another earnest public servant embarking on a long-shot bid for the White House. Dean had been charming: blunt, as always, but in a disarming, comical way. Eventually I wrote a piece touting his strong record and provocative critique of President Bush. Then I predicted his lack of money and notoriety would doom him to obscurity.

OK, so I got that last part wrong. Did I also exaggerate his virtues? Every week seems to expose new political liabilities and gaps in Dean's resumé. At times, he has been more angry than funny, more messianic than inspiring--basically, as unrecognizable to me as he was to those Bostonians we passed on the streets. But Dean has also proved more resourceful than I ever imagined. And the fundamental rationales for his candidacy--his accomplishments in Vermont and proposals for the United States--are as compelling today as they were two years ago. They're just a lot harder to see.

When Dean became governor in 1991, Vermont had a $65 million deficit and New England's lowest bond rating. Arguing that such conditions would starve the state of its ability to help citizens in need and scare away employers, Dean made responsible fiscal management his first order of business, reducing spending and taxes. This allowed him to eliminate the deficit within three years and then build up a rainy-day fund. Today, Vermont has New England's highest bond rating. And, virtually alone among states, it has avoided draconian cuts in its social programs--by tapping Dean's surpluses.

Those results haven't always mollified Dean's critics on the left, who wanted him to be less accommodating to big business and less thrifty with the state's money. But Dean was just as headstrong when it came to pursuing the goals he did share with liberals--expanding health insurance and social services for low-income children. Under Dean, Vermont plowed money into its Medicaid program, broadening eligibility to include working families--families too poor to afford insurance but too well-off to qualify for assistance under the old Medicaid guidelines. As a result, nearly every child in Vermont now has health insurance. A less well-known--but in many ways more innovative--policy triumph of the Dean years was the enactment of "Success by Six." That program offers the parents of newborns home visits from local social workers, who can advise on everything from what you should feed your baby to whom you call if you think you qualify for government assistance. Nine in ten Vermont parents opt for the visits, and state officials say the program helps identify problem cases--like cases of physical abuse--in their early stages.

These successes are why no less an authority than Bill Clinton has said, "Nobody did a better job on health care than did as governor of Vermont."
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Dean's resourcefullness is what will win him the nomination and the general election.