As a long-time Vermonter who has met Dean a handful of times, I'd like to offer the following impressions.
a) He's nowhere near as liberal as he's made out to be. We have a socialist congressman who left a huge wake of socialists when he took office who call themselves progressives. (Interestingly, on a personal level, this congressman is the elitist of our tiny delegation.) In any event, Dr. Dean gave them the what for when he took office, which was upon the death of our Governor, Dick Snelling. Dean's style was rather didactic - he set up a framework/rulebook and suffered no b.s. even if it meant going public with his complaints to lever whomever as is done nowadays.
b) I would not have voted for Dean at the outset of his campaign, which as you can imagine has been relentlessly covered here. I was initially flabbergasted by his rhetoric's ferocity. What changed my mind, wasn't so much the dough he's raised or the 'momentum' of his campaign - but the realization of the long-term thought behind the rhetoric. We rarely, if ever, heard him yell around here. Given how many times he'd been re-elected against well-sponsored opponents and some of the crap that crossed his desk for him to sign, that's sort of remarkable in itself.
c) We currently have a republican Governor. So far, no one has any complaints - no transgressions, no scandals. The governor doesn't get a mansion here, although he does get a State Police driven limo. Which is good since otherwise he drives a Dodge Neon. Blind adherence to a party (voting the ticket) seems impractical among my contemporaries - which may not be the best sample, in all fairness. The pickin's might be so slim that the ability to do the job is what counts, and it's certainly what politicians are judged on, just like everyone anywhere else is. I think it was Reg who might've said it best when he said something to the effect of 'choosing a candidate can be like choosing which foot to shoot yourself in'. [apologies if I screwed that up]
d) One of the things that many might consider 'crap' that crossed his desk was his signing the Civil Union act. Which he did behind closed doors, no cameras allowed. (there's some more of that long-term thought, perhaps). We've all but been bludgeoned with it here, but in case you didn't know - in a nutshell it offers insurance rights through recognition to people not only of the same sex, but people (like elderly sisters and brothers, as well as people who may not be related) who've lived together for a substantial amount of time. It's not about homosexuality (which Vermont doesn't have a huge population of (heck that would mean diversity) despite the local's unfounded fears of 'migration') - it's about human rights.
e) You can call that last part spin if you wish. We're big on human rights and education and among most people I talk to (you can rightfully make that a caveat as well) these things are inherently non-partisan. We don't mind the taxation, as long as we get our representation. I believe the lack thereof, explains our meager politics. In a way, I think we may find these qualities represented by Dean, who happens to be from Massachusetts and New York and NOT from 'round here.
f) Dean doesn't know diddly about foreign policy. Neither, for that matter, does 43. This is a sore point for me that transcends politics. How is it that we have a supreme court where judges get nominated politically and approved through a political process and they're in there for life to determine aspects of domestic policy - but our international policy whimsically (the cynic in me would say financially) changes every 4 to 8 years? Isn't it just as important?
g) I may or may not vote for my former governor. For what it's worth, I would've like to have seen McCain get the republican nomination - and I would've voted for him last time. I hope Dean doesn't pick Clark. I hope he picks Capybara or someone more qualified as long as it doesn't include Hillary or Algore. I'm working on a bumpersticker that's Capybara for Pres with Winston Boogie for VP. Anyway, I sure the hell won't vote for 43 - fer chrissake - 41 and 42 were bad enough. I loved how 41 - Nixon style - pardoned everyone...and 42 almost impossibly made me miss 41, by nearly needing a pardon himself somehow.
All out of strings and NOT a member of the dean campaign -
Lee
