Hannity voiceover: He battled it out with John Kerry for the Democratic presidential nomination, but now he stands in his corner as an ally against President George W. Bush. Are onetime bitter rivals more like new (friends?)

(segue to live in studio, camera on Dean)

(throughout the interview the demeanors of all, esp. Howard Dean and Sean Hannity, are very amicable and smiling.)

Hannity: Former Vermont governor, and former presidential hopeful, Howard Dean-- how're ya doing?

Dean: I'm doing great, Sean.

Hannity: It's good to see you. I can't believe you're even here.

( they talk over each other for a couple syllables)

Hannity: I can't-- here you are next to me--

Dean: (amused) Here I am (ph: 'with incredible denizens of the'?) Far Right--

Hannity: I just gave you a copy of my book--

Dean: I have to say that, ah, that Sean treated me very well in New Hampshire.

Hannity: I did.

Dean: We may not agree but he treated me well.

Hannity: You know, I'm gonna serve you a compliment before I go at ya, 'cause I'm gonna go at ya.

     Um, I think there's one big distinction between you and John Kerry.

     I think you believe some-- believe in something.

     I think you-- you have-- George McGovern--

Dean: (laughs)

Hannity: No-- no-- I think you are the real deal. You are passionate about your beliefs, and you stated them forcefully. John Kerry I don't think has--

Dean: (amused) He doesn't say anything bad about me but he nails John Kerry--

Hannity: Absolutely.

(they laugh briefly)

(they talk over each other for a few syllables)

Dean: (???) ...John Kerry because he's going to be by far better President than George Bush. Would you rather have the security of the United States of America entrusted to a guy with 2 (ph, could be '3') Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star-- Silver Star, or a guy who (served his?) in the Alabama National Guard-- sort of?

Hannity: Ah, I like National Guard service, I don't deny--

Dean: I think it's great, but--

(they talk over each other for a few syllables)

Hannity: John Kerry-- When Reagan was winnin' the Cold War, John Kerry wanted a nuclear freeze... on the wrong side of history. John Kerry didn't support the death penalty for terrorists who kill Americans--

Dean: Actually he does.

Hannity: Well, he didn't in 1989 when he had a chance to vote on it.

(they talk over each other for a few syllables)

Dean: (??) ...an expert on his record; I'm not.

Hannity: Ah, let me-- let me put up on the screen...

Dean: (laughs out loud) Here we go.

Hannity: The words of Howard Dean about John Kerry. Here's what you said about him. You said...

(switch scene to a screen with lettering of Dean quotes about John Kerry.)

Hannity's voice reading the Dean quote:
     "He's going to have a hard time if he's the nominee...
     I think electability's a real issue for him.
     He appears to change his mind so often."
     -The New York Times, 2/3/2004

Hannity's voice: Then you said:

Hannity's voice reading the Dean quote:
     "He has this pattern... you saw it with No Child Left Behind,
     you saw it with the war, you see it with special interests,
     which I think is terribly damaging.
     It appears that his word is no good." - The New York Times, 2/3/2004

Hannity's voice: And one more:

Hannity voice reading the Dean quote:
     "I think (John) Kerry is clearly not the best person to carry the banner
     of the Democrats in this race... he's behaved so much like Republicans,
     both in his voting record and now in his political practices for fundraising."
     - The Los Angeles Times, 2/12/2004

Hannity's voice: Those are harsh words.

(video back to studio)

Dean: So Sean, you must think I come from the far left, if I think John's too much like a Republican. Look-- the problem with this media stuff is it's very selective. I don't see you putting anything up at the time that I said about George Bush.

(they talk over each other a few syllables)

Hannity: You're not supporting the man that you said--

Dean: I'm supporting John Kerry 'cause I know he's going to be a much better President than George Bush.

(they talk over each other a few syllables)

Dean: And we're going to find that out as of January 20th of 2005.

Hannity: But you-- you accurately declare something about him, is, he's had multiple positions on Iraq, No Child Left Behind, the death penalty for terrorists...

(video cuts to clip of John Kerry mingling with some people in a room whose walls are hung with framed pictures etc)

Hannity's voice: ... weapons systems. Um, 'I voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it.' He brags about owning SUVs and then on Earth Day he denies owning them, and then has to explain, 'my family owns it.'

Dean's voice: Sean, wait a minute, wait a minute. What about the President of the United States sending all of his Cabinet people out to ...

(video back to studio)

Dean: ...tout all of the programs he supported, right, and he tried to cut them out of the budget.

Colmes: (cuts in) You know, the amazing thing is, that, I mean, you can look at anybody's record, and say 'look what President Bush said before September 11. Look what he was saying about nation-building.' Look at what you're saying about the 9-eleven commission, that now he's supposedly halfway participating in.

Dean: Right.

Colmes: You can look at anybody's record, they misrepresented you (indicating Dean)--

Dean: How about the 30 million dollars the President is bragging about handing out when he tried to cut it out of the budget, I mean this is ridiculous.

Colmes: Let me ask you, do you view John Kerry differently now, than you did when you--

Dean: I actually--

Colmes: --were running against him--

Dean: -- view John-- I've gotten to know him as a person. You know, when you're fighting, ah, with somebody for the nomination for the President of the United States, I'm a tough competitor, so is John Kerry.

Colmes: We found that out.

Dean: It's gonna be a knockdown dragout. But my assessment is, one of two people is gonna be President of the United States, John Kerry or George Bush. I go with the guy who's gonna balance the budget, cause I hate half-trillion dollar deficits. I go with the guy who has a real environmental record instead of the--

Colmes: But I wanna know how you view him differently now than you did when you were his competitor in the primary.

Dean: I think he's a tough competitor. I think he's got a great shot at beating George Bush. He is a tough closer. You know, people say, 'Well, Howard Dean was the front runner and he lost,' the truth is, John Kerry won. And I think, we want to keep--

Colmes: Do you look at this and say, you know, 'that could be me.' And 'boy, I really wish that (garbled)'.

Dean: (half smiling) Sure. Of course I do. You don't run for President without hoping to--

Colmes: Or is it 'Pshew. I'm glad I not doing that now.'

Dean: No--

(they talk over each other a few syllables)

Hannity: (approximately:) Wouldn't you rather be-- still fighting-- than being here--

Colmes: Are you suggesting that if he were the nominee, he would not be on Hannity and Colmes?

Hannity: I didn't suggest that --

(they talk over each other a few syllables)

(pause while all laugh)

Colmes: Do you say 'there but for the grace of God go I,' or is it 'boy, I really wanna be that person'?

Dean: No, ah-- ah-- of course I would have liked to have been the nominee, but I'm not the nominee. And, so now the question is, what's best for the country, and my assessment, I'm sure Sean would not agree, but in my assessment John Kerry'll be a great President. We're in deep trouble. We cannot run half trillion dollar deficits every single year for the next four years. We cannot continue to be bogged down in this quagmire of Iraq when the President in fact was not truthful about why we went to Iraq. And we can't do those kinds of things and I don't think John Kerry will do those kinds of things.

Colmes: Are you convincing your people, the people who-- legions of people who supported you-- are you now then trying to sway them over to John Kerry? And what kind of an argument-- what-- is that a difficult argument to--

Dean: The argument-- I never say, 'oh, I disagree with John Kerry now, and now he's perfect.' I don't ever say that. I said, 'Look, John Kerry and I had our disagreements. But the truth is, there are one of two people who are going to be President of the United States. And, in terms of all the people who supported me, their positions on most issues-- including all the moderate Republicans who supported me-- are much closer to John Kerry's positions than they are to George Bush's positions.

Colmes: We'll take a break.

(end interview)

RealAudio File