Dean: We are the party of moral values

Howard Dean spoke in Lewiston last night and sounds like he hasn't lost any of his fire. He called to end the GOP's "culture of corruption." He said he was tired of the "ayatollahs of the right wing." And he said that Democrats would make sure all Americans have access to health insurance:

If 40 industrial nations can do it and balance the budget at the same time, it's time to have somebody in the White House who can chew gum and think at the same time.

Meanwhile, over at ABC's This Week, Dean spent Sunday morning elaborating what sounds like a pretty good Democratic agenda:

• Strong national defense (which includes never sending troops abroad without telling them the truth about why they're going and adequately arming them)
• Honesty in government
• Balancing the budget after the most fiscally imprudent administration in our lifetime
  
• Restoring jobs
• Repairing the shredded social safety net for middle class Americans
• A health care system that benefits everybody
• An education system that gives opportunity to all Americans again
  
• Freedom from government interference in private lives
• Ethics legislation, electoral reform, campaign financing reform
• An honest plan for getting out of Iraq

Best of all, he pointed out that the majority of Americans agree with our values:

The truth is the Democrats are the party of moral values….. The President's attack on Social Security wasn't just about money and neoconservative nonsense. It was about a fundamental attack on the notion that America is one community and we have responsibility for each other.

[Emphasis added.] He was by all accounts direct, tough, and candid. Dean is getting pretty good at staying on message, avoiding minefields, and still managing to sound genuine. One viewer said watching him made her wistful thinking of what might have been: "a smart, competent, compassionate leader in for the common good and not for himself." Anne from Vermont agreed, adding she'd often thought the big difference between the two parties could be stated very simply:

• Conservatives: Me
• Democrats: Us
  

Thank you, Dr. Dean.