Interview on ABC Good Morning AmericaConcord, NH, December 10, 2003All right. Thanks very much, Mike. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Well, as we've been discussing this week, the former vice president, Al Gore, shocked the political world by endorsing former Vermont governor Howard Dean for the presidency of the United States this week. So, the question, obviously, is, is Howard Dean now the overwhelming front-runner in the Democratic race? That's the question to ask him. And so we turn to Governor Dean who is joining us this morning from Concord, New Hampshire. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Governor, since last we talked there have been some very encouraging polls for you. The vice president's endorsement. Are you now willing to accept the mantle of front-runner? HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRAT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE No. There hasn't been one single vote cast in the primary, and the people from Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina and Arizona and so forth, will, they'll, they'll be the one who decide who the front- runner is. So, I'm, I'm very happy for the vice president's endorsement, but the voters are going to choose the nominee of the Democratic party. graphics: howard dean CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Governor Dean, you have run, let me ask you about the vice president's endorsement. You've run a campaign as an outsider, as an insurgent, as a, an anti-Democratic establishment candidate. Why were you so aggressive in courting sort of the ultimate Mr. Insider, Mr. Democratic Establishment, Vice President Gore? HOWARD DEAN Well -we're -1st of all, I'm -I'm pleased to have his endorsement for two reasons. First of, all, he's a really outstanding person. He is a very deep thinker about important issues, particularly environmental issues and about national defense and foreign policy. He has been incredibly helpful to me in those particular areas. Secondly, it is true that I'm an outsider. And I am running to kind of clean up Washington and get the special interests out. But we cannot beat George Bush without the whole party being unified and that means both the regular Democrats and the insurgent outside Democrats and the, and the new people who don't even consider themselves Democrats who are supporting me. What I'm trying to do here is energize the American people and give them a chance to take back their own government which is not working for them. The president's Medicare bill is a perfect example. The drug companies wrote it. They get a 38 percent increase in their profits because of it. Insurance companies get $85 billion out our taxpayer moneys and seniors hardly get any benefit at all. That is not the kind of government that these, that we deserve in this country. And we need to unify the entire -party in order to beat a president who's going to get $200 million to run his campaign from special interests. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) But some do see a strange fit in the vice president endorsing you. A number of candidates have commented on it. Joe Lieberman seemed to express it last night in the debate when he said Al is supporting a candidate who is so fundamentally opposed to the basic transformation that Bill Clinton brought to this party, bringing it into the middle of the road, saying it's a strange fit, you and the vice president. HOWARD DEAN I think that's mostly silly. I governed as a centrist, I balanced budgets, I have positions on most issues that -characterizes a centrist. What I was willing to do that others were not willing to do is to stand up against this president when he tried to run over us. The Democratic party essentially collapsed after the 2000 elections. George Bush lost, essentially, by 500,000 votes and he was installed by the Supreme Court. And our guys acted as if he had a mandate. That's, and, and the result is the most radical president we've had. These guys do not balance budgets. Imagine running a half a trillion deficit every single year. We can't afford that in this country and the Democrats let them do that. So, I believe in standing up for what you believe in. And I think this president needs to be stood up against for sending us into Iraq without telling us the truth about why we were going, for running half a trillion dollar deficits repeatedly. I think Al Gore is doing the right thing. He wants this country back. We all want our country back. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) It reflects, though, an interesting moment in last night's debate. Ted Koppel raised an interesting question. He asked all the nine candidates can Howard Dean beat George Bush? I want to play that moment during the debate. TED KOPPEL, ABC NEWS (Off Camera) I would like all of you up here, including you, Governor Dean, to raise your hand if you believe that Governor Dean can beat George W. Bush. HOWARD DEAN Well, I did expect to get Al Gore's endorsement yesterday. I did not expect immediately the endorsement of all the other eight people in the race. You know, they're, they're trying to become the Democratic nominee. They're going to fight as hard as they can. They're good people. I like them. But clearly, they want to win the presidency and you don't expect them to give up 50 days before the New Hampshire primary. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Governor Dean, always good to talk to you. All the best. Thanks for being with us. HOWARD DEAN Thanks very much. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) You take care. HOWARD DEAN Thanks, Charlie. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) All right. It was an interesting moment in the debate. Governor Dean the only one of the nine to hold up his hand. Diane? Copyright 2003 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. ABC News Transcripts http://www.lexis.com/
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