In God He Trusts
Howard Dean searches for the Almighty--and we search for both of them.
BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
Sunday, January 11, 2004 Wall Street Journal
"In a shift, Howard Dean says he will mention God more often in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination."
--New York Times, Jan. 4
Your Google Search for "Howard Dean" and "God" resulted in 49,201 matches.
"God, it's great to be here with you in Iowa."
"I think I have some pretty goddamned good ideas on how to fix the economy."
"God, I love Florida."
"I swear to God, if I didn't live in Vermont, I'd live here in New Hampshire. What a fantastic state you have here."
"God, I wish I got to spend more time in South Carolina."
"There are times, as a physician, when there's a temptation to think of yourself as God, like when you have to tell a patient, 'That toe's gotta go.' You have to watch yourself."
"No, I'm not gonna unseal my record as governor. It's none of your goddamn business, anyway."
"In college, I saw this play, 'Waiting for Godot," about two homeless people waiting for Republican trickle-down economics to reach them. It made a profound impression on me."
"You got more corn than God here in Iowa."
"Another pancake? God no, I couldn't, thank you, I'm stuffed, I can't breathe. But I've always said that the best pancakes in the country are the ones in New Hampshire. Though I think we make pretty good maple syrup in Vermont."
"God knows I'm no theologian, but I preferred the original New Testament version, where Noah strikes a match inside the whale and builds a fire and it coughs him out onto the island. It's a powerful message about man being able to control his own destiny."
"Some days on the campaign trail, you wake up and you say to yourself, 'God, where am I?' You look out the motel window and you see all this corn, so you think, 'Must be Iowa.' Then some staffer comes in and tells you it's South Carolina, where they also grow corn, indeed, very good corn, only not in the same quantities."
"God it's cold in Maine this time of year. But that's what makes this such a great state--your ability to be cold and go on functioning."
"Rhode Island may not be the biggest state in the country, but every time I'm here I think, 'This is just God's little acre."
"It's great to be in Boston, where as the saying goes, the Cabots speak only to the Kerrys, and the Kerrys speak only to God."
"As a physician, there were, God knows, many times I had to stick my fingers into someone's mouth the way they did with Saddam. It's never enjoyable, in fact, it's often downright unpleasant. But you do it because it's your job."
"Not likeable? I think I'm extremely likeable. Hey, goddamnit--look at me when I talk to you."
Mr. Buckley, editor of Forbes FYI, is the author of "No Way to Treat a First Lady" (Random House, 2003).
Copyright © 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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