http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2003/08/jones-m-08-25.htmlBased on the reaction presidential hopeful Howard Dean drew from the approximately 4,000 people at his Saturday speech in Falls Church, Va., there's a lot of anger here -- as elsewhere -- about the way the Bush administration is running the country. After Dean counted off the reasons Bush cited for going to war in Iraq, the crowd shouted, "Liar!" (with reference to Bush, of course, not Dean). Dean repeatedly referred to "Ken Lay and the boys." He told those assembled that "this time the person with the most votes" will win the White House. And he brought up GOP names sure to rile Democrats: Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.), Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Dean also hit all the right notes in reaching out to the Democratic base. He talked about the importance of the minimum wage, education spending, health care, the environment and a foreign policy based on something other than "petulance." He said he wants to restore America's sense of community. He praised the Democrats' core constituencies of women, African Americans, Latinos and labor. "I want an America based on hope, not an America based on fear," he declared.
Dean didn't criticize any of the other eight Democratic candidates, which is a good thing. (Of course, now that he's the presumed front-runner instead of the insurgent spoiler, he doesn't really need to.) The California recall election is providing an excellent example of why party unity is so important. Republicans are divided over whether to support Arnold Schwarzenegger or one of the other dozens of candidates. Democrats are rallying around Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. And guess what? Though the election is still several weeks away, Bustamante is leading with 35 percent of the vote, according to a Los Angeles Times poll. Schwarzenegger has 22 percent of the vote, while three other Republicans together have 25 percent. No wonder Bill Simon bowed to party pressure by dropping out over the weekend.
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