Blog For Arizona

The Dean You Don't Know

Book Review: "Howard Dean: A Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would Be President "

One of the books listed on the right-hand column is reviewed by TomPaine.com. In brief, the authors find that Dean's fiscal policies are "conservative", meaning "responsible" and even "cheap", not "wildly irresponsible" as conservatism has come to mean in the past 35 years. In many ways Dean carried out the philosophy and plan of the previous governor, Republican Richard Snelling, whose heart attack launched Dean's national political career. The once exception to Dean exceptional skin-flintiness is health care on which Dean lavished every available dollar, starting with the state's children and expanding from there.

Should Dean capture the nomination and become President, the legacy he runs on, and the legacy he will likely leave the nation, will be a melding of frugal New England fiscal conservatism and high-minded New York social liberalism. There is a fundamental difference with Clintonian Democratic triangulation; special interest money. Dean mixes his already unlikely political economy medley with a populist strain which eschews big money, and smacks of nothing else in recent political history. Should Dean pull down the nomination and sieze control of the party with electorial victory next November he will found a new direction, a fourth way if you will, for the Democratic Party which will blend the best elements of both parties, rather than the worst.

posted by Michael Bryan @ 11/25/2003 12:06:00 AM