UCLA: Dean brings fresh appeal

[cal04]

Democratic leader presents rejuvenated political strategies during a visit to UCLA
As elected chairman of the Democratic Nominating Committee and a frontrunner for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, Howard Dean has faced larger, more critical audiences – but Wednesday evening he spoke to a UCLA lecture hall filled with student supporters to its 227-person capacity. "I could teach chemistry here," he joked at the beginning of his speech, which would go on to emphasize the importance of young people in the political process and of appealing to a new generation of voters and politicians.

"I think Dean appeals to the younger generation (more) than other politicians do. I think he comes across as more captivating and passionate, which identifies more in that respect with the college-aged individuals he was speaking with today," said Loran Hayes, a first-year biology student. The event, put on by the Bruin Democrats, consisted of a 20-minute speech and a 20-minute Q-and-A session, and is one of the many college stops Dean has made. After six years without a Democratic president and with the current Republican majority in legislature, Dean said the Democratic Party needs a change – it must adjust to a new generation of people "who want to do politics
differently."

He described the idea of identity politics: Although a party is made up of different groups with different identities, what brings them together is a common agenda. But what Dean's generation considers "common," he said, has changed with time. So the party's tactics must as well. As part of the change, Dean said the Democratic Party is trying to appeal to typically non-Democratic communities, such as Southern states – which the party "gave up" on in the past two elections, he said. According to Dean, the new agenda includes a stronger health care plan that will "benefit everybody in the country, just like 36 other countries have." Dean also mentioned more affordable higher education and more jobs that will stay within the country.


In his speech, Dean criticized President Bush's relations with nuclear nations like Iran and North Korea. In a statistical manner, he went on to criticize Bush's policies on abortion and the war in Iraq. "Sixty percent of Americans believe it is immoral for the government to tell a women what to do about her reproductive health care. Fifty-six percent of Americans thought ... it was immoral to send our kids to die in Iraq," Dean said, followed by a series of cheers from the largely Democratic crowd. He went on to call the Bush administration the "sorriest excuse for an administration ... ever."

more
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=36052

[calimary]

1. Yay, Howard! And at UCLA no less! Damn - sorry I missed that.

He's The Greatest! Standing Room Only crowds everywhere he goes. And he's not neglecting any corners of the country, either, OR writing them off to republi-CONS the way the party did with the South for the last two presidential elections.