The Gaffe King of the DNC

Jim Geraghty of TKS on National Review Online reminds us that Howard Dean, the soon-to-be chairman of the DNC, is a walking gaffe machine:

So this weekend is the coronation of new DNC Chair Howard Dean.

He brings some strengths and some weaknesses to the position. He clearly brings to the table an energized grassroots movement, and he's convinced most of the DNC members that he has a plan to make the party more competitive again.

Weaknesses? Well, besides the "YEEEEEAAARRRGHH" it's easy to forget just how much of a human gaffe machine Dean can be at times.

Just a few of his greatest hits:

"We've gotten rid of him [Saddam Hussein], and I suppose that's a good thing."

- Dean, Children's Defense Fund forum, April 9, 2003.


Questioned about the deaths of Saddam's sons, Odai and Qusai, in Iraq, Dean dismissed suggestions that it was a victory for the Bush administration.

"It's a victory for the Iraqi people ... but it doesn't have any effect on whether we should or shouldn't have had a war," Dean said. "I think in general the ends do not justify the means."

Associated Press, July 23, 2003


"By and large, this president, I don’t believe, has any idea how to fight terror. And I don’t think he is being particularly successful at it either."

Dean, on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Dec. 1, 2003


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Dean, John Kerry’s wife has said that suspected terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay should be given prisoner of war status. Is this a campaign position (ph) you can support? Do you think that these suspected terrorists being detained should be given POW status?

DEAN: I do. I think they need to be treated according to the Geneva Convention. I think the Bush administration has tried not to do that, and they’re not meeting with much appreciation for that position around the world. Just because other countries don’t treat prisoners of war properly doesn’t mean that we have to set-we have to agree with that kind of example. They should be given POW status and treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.

Dean, on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Dec. 1, 2003


MATTHEWS: But who would you like to, if you were president of the United States, would you insist on us trying [Osama bin Laden], since he was involved in blowing up the World Trade Center, or would you let The Hague do it [where there is no death penalty]?

DEAN: You know, the truth is it doesn’t make a lot of difference to me as long as he is brought to justice. I think that’s the critical part of that.

Dean, on Hardball with Chris Matthews, Dec. 1, 2003


Dean: There is a report which the president is suppressing evidence for which is a thorough investigation of 9/11.

Diane Rehm, WAMU (public) radio: Why do you think he's suppressing that report?

Dean: I don't know. There are many theories about it. The most interesting theory that I've heard so far, which is nothing more than a theory, I can't—think it can't be proved, is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis. Now, who knows what the real situation is, but the trouble is that by suppressing that kind of information, you lead to those kinds of theories, whether they have any truth to them or not, and then eventually they get repeated as fact. So I think the president is taking a great risk by suppressing the clear, the key information that needs to go to the Kean commission.

— Howard Dean, on The Diane Rehm Show, , Dec. 1, 2003.


"I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found. I will have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials."

Howard Dean, Concord Monitor, December 26, 2003


"[Bush’s] whole campaign is based on the notion that 'I can keep you safe, therefore at times of difficulty for America stick with me,' and then out comes Tom Ridge. It's just impossible to know how much of this is real and how much of this is politics, and I suspect there's some of both in it."

Howard Dean, in the New York Times, August 2, 2004