In Tuesday's Cardinal, Nitin Julka argued that Dick Gephardt is a better candidate for president than Howard Dean, but Mr. Julka must be a bit confused about both Gephardt and Dean. In the spirit of the holiday season, I want to give him the greatest gift of all-that of truth, honesty and the facts.
Surely Mr. Julka must be confused about Iraq. Arguing that Dean's policy mirrors that of President Bush, he must simply have forgotten that it was Howard Dean who from the beginning came out against this unjust war in Iraq, a war that has left 400 American families without a loved one this holiday season. And where was Mr. Gephardt while Dean was rallying in support of a fair, common sense foreign policy? He was in the Rose Garden, shoulder to shoulder with President Bush in support of a Congressional blank-check authorization of the war.
And Mr. Julka goes on to say that Gephardt is \legitimately interested in providing health insurance for every person in America."" But what's his record? While Governor Dean was busy providing health care to more than 90 percent of the people in Vermont, and 99 percent of children, how many health care initiatives did Gephardt shepherd through Congress as Democratic leader? Not one. None. Zero.
And then there's the economy. The Bushies are quick to point out 250,000 new jobs have been created in recent months. You hear much less about the nearly three million Americans still struggling without a job because of this administration's failed fiscal policies. Governor Dean's position is simple: would you rather have universal health care, or tax cuts for the wealthy? Would you rather have an expansion of the Pell grant program and increased aid to college students or tax cuts for the wealthy? Would you rather have increased funding for homeland security, special education and a balanced budget or tax cuts for the wealthy? I think the choice is clear.
Gephardt has flipped from being pro-life to pro-choice; his health care plan is outlandishly expensive; and his foreign policy choices helped lead us to an unjust war in Iraq.
Governor Dean's record, his policy proposals and his strong belief in the ability of young people to help take this country back from special interests make him not only the best Democrat to win the nomination, but the best person to take on and defeat President Bush next November.
A recent opinion column [12/2/03,""Hey students, Dean stands to the right""] claimed that Howard Dean was more to the right that Dick Gephardt.
Personally, I think most candidates have their fingers in the wind on hot-button issues.?? On the ""gay"" issue, I'm not so sure, though.
While Dean and Gephardt do not support equal access to marriage for same-sex couples, Dean at least signed a bill providing most of the state-level rights of marriage in Vermont.
Gephardt, meanwhile, has a lesbian daughter, but I guess he doesn't want to be walking his little girl down the aisle, at least not in a way that would mean anything in the real world.
I'm not thrilled with either of their stances.??But we already have Vice President Cheney with his lesbian daughter.??I guess I'd hold my nose and vote for someone who had actually done something for gays and lesbians over someone with a close family member who still did not seem to get it.
