Dean Says Bush is Setting the Stage for the 'Failure of America'
The New York Times
October 9, 2003
By JODI WILGOREN
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - Howard Dean, a candidate for the
Democratic presidential nomination, on Wednesday offered perhaps his most
overarching critique yet of the Republican incumbent,
saying, "I think what the president is doing is setting
the stage for the failure of America."
"If you look at what's happened to other great countries," Dr. Dean said
over lunch with reporters and editors of The New York Times, "they get in
trouble when they can't manage their money - and this president's
certainly proven himself adept at that - and they get in trouble when they
overstretch their military capabilities."
"This country's a great country, and the reason it's an
important country is not just because I'm an American and
proud to be an American," he continued. "America is the
beacon of hope for the rest of the world. We are the last country
on earth where cynicism doesn't pervade government.
Americans really hope that things are going to get better
in the world and they can make things better, and Americans
believe more than any other people that we can make things
better by sheer will and money and hard work."
Dr. Dean said he expects jobs to be the primary issue in
next year's general election, and he expects Ohio to be the
critical swing state. But he spent most of the interview answering
questions about foreign policy, attacking President Bush on
Iraq and North Korea and promising to send
former President Bill Clinton to the Middle East as a peace broker.
President Bush, Dr. Dean said, is "particularly poorly suited"
for foreign policy "because he has a black and white view
of the world, and foreign policy depends on enormous
understandings of nuances and trade-offs."
As the former governor of Vermont who got a medical deferment
to avoid service in Vietnam, Dr. Dean said he would combat criticism of his
national security bona fides by surrounding himself with people
who could inspire confidence in such issues.
Though he declined to speculate on cabinet appointments or
potential running mates, Dr. Dean, who has lately spent much time attacking his
Democratic rivals as Washington insiders who have, collectively,
spent more than a century on Capitol Hill, said he would also
pick people who could navigate the Beltway.
"The most important criteria for whether you're going to be
any good at foreign policy or not is judgment and patience,
both of which are in short supply in this presidency." Dr. Dean said.
"The major mistake that governors make when they come into
Washington is they think subconsciously
that the relationship between the Congress and the
president is somehow like the relationship between
the legislature and the governor," he
added, predicting that "getting someone who
understands the levers of power in Washington
is going to be important as well."
Regarding Iraq, Dr. Dean, who opposed the American
invasion this spring, promised to bring National Guard
and Army reserve troops home, leaving
70,000 American troops, and to add about 110,000
international troops, mostly from Muslim and Arab nations.
Some experts say that is probably
unrealistic, considering the military capabilities
of American allies in the Middle East.
Other than urging repeal of recent tax cuts to pay
for reconstruction, Dr. Dean refused to say how
he would vote, were he in Congress, on the $87
billion financing proposal.
"I'm not running for Congress, I'm running for president," he said.
On North Korea, Dr. Dean said Mr. Bush had bungled
the situation by announcing at a news conference with
Kim Dae Jung, the former president of South Korea, that
he planned to pursue a policy of isolation toward North Korea.
While the news conference was not as explicit as Dr. Dean
described, Mr. Bush and the South Korean leader split sharply
on Korea policy at that meeting early in Mr. Bush's presidency, and their
relationship never recovered.
Dr. Dean said he would conduct bilateral negotiations on the
principle of constructive engagement - "that in return for
a verifiable ending of their nuclear program," he explained,
"they would be back in the community of nations."
"You will improve the behavior of rogue nations and have
more leverage to do so if they're inside the tent than if they're
outside the tent," he said. "The president and his neocon
advisers decided they were going to teach the North Koreans
a lesson, and unfortunately, North Korea has the
power to inflict a fairly painful lesson on us."
Dr. Dean declined to discuss the other Democratic rivals
except to say "they all come from Washington, which I
think, this year, is going to be a problem for them." Though
he said it was too early to draw broad lessons from the
California recall, he said the message is change which he
painted as positive for his campaign.
"My strategy is, we're better than this, we can do better
than this," he added. "America's always been the country
of hope and of high moral
principles and ideals. Let's hope again."
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
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