Interview on ABC Good Morning AmericaSeptember 24, 2003BODY: CHARLES GIBSON, ABC NEWS All right, Diane. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) A lot of reaction this morning to President Bush's speech at the UN yesterday morning. The polls are still softening for the President. And now we're going turn to one of the top 10 challengers hoping to take advantage of that, Democratic Presidential Candidate Governor Howard Dean. And it's good to have you with us. HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Thanks for having me on. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Do you think we're any closer today to getting assistance from other nations in Iraq then we were before the President's speech? HOWARD DEAN I don't think so. I think the President really poisoned the well of the allies on the way into Iraq and now, of course, he's going to have a hard time getting any help from them to get out. His father had over 100,000 foreign troops in Iraq during the first Iraq war, and that's the right way to go about it. Unfortunately, the President chose not to do it, now all Americans, including our soldiers, are paying the price. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) If you were President, would you cede control to the UN for the rebuilding effort inside Iraq? HOWARD DEAN I think I would. I would not cede control of American troops, 'cause no American President has ever done that, but I would bring in the UN. I think ultimately both Afghanistan and Iraq have to be international reconstruction efforts. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) You'd say take it, UN, you do it. A, that's not a very popular political move in this country. HOWARD DEAN I know. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) And, B, you're giving control in Iraq to countries that opposed the war in the first place? HOWARD DEAN Well, it is a popular political move in this country, because people want out and we can't get out. We can't lose the peace in Iraq, but we also can't afford to get out without somebody taking up the slack. If we do, Al Qaeda, which is now in Iraq, it wasn't before, but it is now, or a fundamentalist regime will take over. And that, particularly since they're likely to be friendly with the Iranians, there's a huge problem to the United States. I think having a United Nations force in Iraq makes a lot of sense. Clearly the Americans are going to continue to play a significant role in Iraq for the foreseeable future. But this business of $87 billion out of, out of the deficit to continue to finance this is going to be really - problematic. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Would you vote for the $87 billion if you were in Congress? HOWARD DEAN If the President will balance the budget, will begin to balance the budget. In other words, take that $87 billion from somewhere, mainly from all the tax cuts that people like Ken Lay got, then I think you have to support the troops. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Absent tax cuts, would you vote against it? HOWARD DEAN It's unlikely. It's unlikely that I'd vote for it without the President making some gesture to balance the budget. You cannot continue to tell the American people that you can go to war, have health care, do something about education and continue to finance these enormous deficits. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Do you agree with Senator Kennedy that the, that the reasons for going to war were a fraud made up in Texas? HOWARD DEAN I think, well, I'm not sure where it was made up. Obviously, nobody has any way of knowing that, but I do think that the President was not truthful with the American people. He told us that Iraq was buying uranium from Africa, then later admitted that wasn't true. Recently he admitted that it wasn't, there was no obvious connection between 9/11 and Saddam Hussein. Those are the reasons he gave us for going to Iraq, turns out now he admits they weren't true. I think that's a serious problem. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Interesting, you said in a, in a rally in, in Copley Square in Boston this week, you said, democracy itself is at stake in this election, and then you said the extreme right wing has shown nothing but contempt for democracy. Do you think the extreme right wing is in control of this administration? And do you think it shows contempt for democracy? HOWARD DEAN I think the right wing is in control of this administration, and I do think they show contempt for democracy. They wouldn't, the Supreme Court wouldn't count the votes again in Florida. I think that was a mistake. I think the impeachment of the President, which had nothing to do with his administration, but that was clearly political. Now we have rapprochement in Texas and -and Colorado, out of cycle with the delivered intent of simply to taking votes away and undoing elections and finally, of course, the California recall election, which is about taking or undoing a, an election that took place in 2002. These folks believe, literally, they have the God-given right to run a country the way they want. And I think that's wrong. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) And you think, you think this administration, I'm using your words, shows contempt for democracy? HOWARD DEAN I do. I do. I think they truly do not believe that the rest of us have a voice and this is our country, 'cause it doesn't belong to the extreme right wing. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Let me turn to the Wesley Clark phenomena. New man in the race. HOWARD DEAN Mm hmm. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Some people thought you were the frontrunner, all of a sudden he's the frontrunner. How do you explain that phenomenon? HOWARD DEAN I, I, I never get into saying who the frontrunner is. And I didn't do it when I, people were accusing me of being the frontrunner. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Accusing. HOWARD DEAN Well, you guys all like to do the horse race thing. I, I think he's (inaudible) got a good resume. He's got good credentials. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Is he a true Democrat? HOWARD DEAN I think we have to find out about that. We don't know what all his positions are. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) He says he may have voted for Nixon, voted for Reagan. Does that disqualify him, as far as you're concerned? HOWARD DEAN That certainly doesn't disqualify him. Only the voters get to decide that. But I am, I am surprised. You know, I, I spent a fair amount of time with him before he got in, because I thought that he has very good credentials on foreign policy and, and issues like that and something I wanted to learn about. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Do you think the Clintons are behind his candidacy? HOWARD DEAN I don't think there's much evidence of that. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) You don't? HOWARD DEAN No. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) You don't. Just a couple of quick things. We've been asking candidates some sort of frivolous questions, but interesting in showing perhaps their character. Your favorite movie? HOWARD DEAN My favorite movie. Oh, gosh, there's a zillion of them. I would say it goes back, say, “Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid.” CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Favorite book? HOWARD DEAN ”Sometimes A Great Notion” is one of them. “All The Kings Men,” is another. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Hmm. The Robert Penn Moran(PH) book about ... HOWARD DEAN Yeah. Huey Long. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Huey Long. And favorite car? HOWARD DEAN Favorite car? CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Yeah. HOWARD DEAN Oh, my goodness. Well, the politically correct answer is a Toyota Prius, but since that's made out, elsewhere the, elsewhere, probably I'd have to say a Chevy Blazer. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) All right. Governor, good to have you with us. HOWARD DEAN Thanks. CHARLES GIBSON (Off Camera) Thanks very much. Covering the, all the bases. Diane? Copyright 2003 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. ABC News Transcripts http://www.lexis.com/
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