MR. RUSSERT: In your home state of Vermont, there's a vacancy for the United States Senate about to occur. Bernie Sanders, the congressman from Vermont, wants to run for that seat. He is a self- described avowed socialist.
DR. DEAN: Well, that's what he says. He's really a populist. [So you’re calling him a liar?]
MR. RUSSERT: But is there room in the Democratic Party for a socialist?
DR. DEAN: Well, first of all, he's not a socialist, really. [Again, so he’s a liar? One of you is lying!]
MR. RUSSERT: He...
DR. DEAN: He hasn't said that for a while. [Which means he’s no longer a socialist? You said yourself that just because you don’t preach about something, like faith, or about Terry Shiavo – that doesn’t mean you’ve changed your ideology.]
MR. RUSSERT: Oh, he has a--he wrote in his book: "Outside or in the House, I am a Democratic socialist."
DR. DEAN: Well, a Democratic socialist – all right, we're talking about words here. [When you talk and write, it’s usually with words. As for semantics, that isn’t the issue. A politician doesn’t claim to be, let alone in writing, a socialist unless he’s a socialist.] And Bernie can call himself anything he wants. He is basicallya liberal Democrat [so liberal Democrats are basically socialists?], and he is a Democrat that – he runs as an Independent because he doesn't like the structure and the money that gets involved. [Socialists hate money.] And he actually has, I think, some good points about campaign finance reform. The bottom line is that Bernie Sanders votes with the Democrats 98 percent of the time. [The party for communists!] And that is a candidate that we think...
MR. RUSSERT: So you'd support him?
DR. DEAN: We may very well end up supporting him. We need to work some things out because it's very important for us not to split the votes in some of the other offices as well. [AKA, “We need the socialist vote! It’s too large a section of the Democratic base today.”]
MR. RUSSERT: In 1996 you said you would never have voted for Bernie Sanders. Instead, you opted in recent years to leave the ballot blank.
DR. DEAN: Bernie and I have had our difficulties over the years. We've had our strong disagreements. He's a strong personality. We're fighting for the future of America, and a Bernie Sanders in the United States Senate is going to be a whole lot better than somebody who will vote to confirm right-wing judges [because they’re not left-wing or socialist judges?], somebody who will vote to undo minority rights [though Republicans have historically championed civil rights better than Democrats], somebody who will vote to kill Social Security [or to alter it so that it doesn’t die from negligence]. This is a battle where personalities and differences have to be put aside, and we have to do what's right for America. [And not pride ourselves on starving children and stealing medical care from poor people, like Republicans do.]
MR. RUSSERT: You describe...
DR. DEAN: And Bernie Sanders will be a strong [socialist] candidate.
MR. RUSSERT: You describe yourself as being blunt, that what differentiates you from others is that you will be blunt. "I have to be blunt. It's what will differentiate me from the others. Blunt is what I do. I think there's an enormous market for somebody who says what he thinks."
DR. DEAN: Maybe not as big a one as I thought, judging by the presidential returns. [Perhaps the most sincere you’ve been all interview.]
MR. RUSSERT: You also say, "I can be overbearing to people whose ideas I don't agree with or respect." You sound like you're describing John Bolton, the president's nominee to be ambassador to the U.N.
DR. DEAN: Well, the difference between me and John Bolton is that I've never called up a subordinate and tried to influence their testimony or behavior. I've never had--tried to move somebody out of their job because they disagreed with me. I have an enormous amount of respect for people who have different opinions [except “evil” Republicans], but they have to defend their opinions. You can't just say, "I want to privatize Social Security because I want to privatize Social Security." [As opposed to, “The President’s Social Security plan is a bad idea because I think it’s a bad idea.”] You have to really show me why you want to do what you want to do. [Like ignore Terry Shiavo until another election rolls around.] And if you can defend your ideas, I'll respect those ideas. [H.D., 5/22/05: “[T]here's nothing I admire about what the Republicans are doing to this country politically….”] I think the difference between me and John Bolton – I don't know John Bolton personally, but from what I've read in the newspapers [AKA, the liberal elite media], he doesn't seem to respect anybody who disagrees with him. That's probably not a good attribute to have if you want to be an ambassador to the United Nations. [Yes, he’s not enough of a rapist or bribe-taker for UN standards.]
MR. RUSSERT: Let me show you three photographs: Fred Harris, Henry "Scoop" Jackson and James Farley. Those three men, all chairmen of the Democratic National Committee. And after they served, they all ran for president.
DR. DEAN: And not one of them won.
MR. RUSSERT: Will Howard Dean run for president?
DR. DEAN: I don't have any idea, but I certainly won't do it in 2008. I gave my word not to and I intend to keep that word.
MR. RUSSERT: But down the road?
DR. DEAN: I don't have any idea. You know, if I could push a button, I would make sure there was a Democratic president in 2008, which would preclude my running--from ever even thinking about it.
MR. RUSSERT: Is there a front-runner in your party?
DR. DEAN: If – you know, that's the one thing I don't comment on. You know, I'm proudly willing to say anything [especially if it’s not true or unsubstantiated], but I'm not willing to comment on that because I will have to be the referee. So I've really just sworn off any speculation on either side about presidential politics in 2008.
MR. RUSSERT: Governor Howard Dean, as always, we thank you for joining us and sharing your views.
DR. DEAN: Tim, thanks for having me on.
[Too bad Mr. Russert didn’t ask Mr. Dean why he’s an apparent racist. After all, no members of his Governor’s cabinet were African-American. And he did say this at a meeting with the Democratic black caucus in February: "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people of color in a single room? Only if they had the hotel staff in here."]
[Where is the accountability? These words alone are far worse than what Trent Lott said that forced his resignation as Senate majority leader.]
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