Howard Dean Discusses Democratic Race, Primaries and John McCain on Sunday Shows
Washington, DC -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean this morning discussed the Democratic race, his hope that Florida and Michigan delegates will be seated at the convention according to party rules, the Democratic win in this weekend's special election in Illinois, and the third Bush term promised by Senator John McCain. The following are excerpts from Dean's appearances on CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer and ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos:
ON SENATOR MCCAIN:
"We're going to beat John McCain. He's totally unsuited at this particular time to be president. He's wrong on the war in Iraq, wrong on the economy, wrong on health care." [ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 3/9/08]
ON KEEPING THE PARTY UNITED:
"We will beat John McCain if we're united and, in order to be united, the loser of the race has to feel like they've been treated fairly within the rules. That's how you keep the party united. So that's the number one thing. We will follow the rules. Both parties, both Michigan and Florida, have an opportunity to either have some sort of process that is within the rules or simply appeal to the credentials committee. But we are going to follow the rules that were voted on by all 50 state a year and a half ago." [CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 3/9/08]
ON THE ILLINOIS 14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT:
"There was a huge election yesterday in Illinois where we took Denny Hastert's seat back...This is going to be a Democratic year. If we can take Denny Hastert's seat back in Congress, you know people really want a change." [ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 3/9/08]
ON THE STRENGTH OF OUR PARTY:
"I'm very optimistic. I know the cable TV set wrings their hands, and the inside the beltway set talks about all the problems we have. What about the several tens of millions of people who have voted in this primary? People are so excited in Texas and Ohio. I had somebody from Texas yesterday tell me they thought this was the beginning of the rekindling of the Democratic Party in Texas because of what happened down there in terms of the turnout. So I look at this as a very good primary system so far for Democrats." [ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 3/9/08]
ON FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN:
"Everyone, including me and I think both candidates, wants to find a way to seat Florida and Michigan, but is has to be done in such a way that you don't change the rules in the middle of the game." [CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 3/9/08]
"I had a good series of conversations with Senator Nelson this week. Spoke with Senator Levin yesterday. These two senators are working very, very hard to try to solve their problems for their states. But, look, this is a big -- bigger issue than Florida and Michigan. We have a very close contest between two people who are likely to be elected President of the United States, whichever one wins the nomination. I have to run these rules so that the losing side feels they've been treated fairly." [ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 3/9/08]
"When these states come before us with proposals, we're going to go to both campaigns and work with them. They're going to have to accept these, because we're going to need all their followers. We can't have half the Democratic Party walk out thinking there was some deal cooked, and that's why their person didn't win. So we're going to go to both campaigns and try to get them to agree to whatever Florida and Michigan propose as long as it's within the rules of the Democratic National Committee. But first we've got to have a proposal, and both these senators are working very hard on this with task forces and talking with the governors and so forth and so on." [CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 3/9/08]
"Senator Nelson and I have had some discussions which could lead to something fruitful, which is that the Florida party would be able to raise money. They can take unlimited amount of money in Florida. I don't know if that's possible in Michigan or not, and there's some discussion of that too. But the two things I think are established is that the state is not going to pay for it because their governor, who is a McCain supporter, has said they won't pay for it. And the Democratic National Committee is not going to pay for it because right now our job is to tell the American people about Senator McCain's record on Iraq, and the deficits and so forth and convince the American people that our nominee is better than Senator McCain and that's what we're going to be using our resources for." [CBS's Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 3/9/08]
ON THE REMAINING PRIMARIES:
"Let's let the voters have their say, George. We've still got 611 delegates left to go. We've got about 350 uncommitted superdelegates. Let's let these folks have their say. When they have their say, I think this thing's going to be resolved without having to sit the candidates down and have them work it all out." [ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 3/9/08]
