Well, to be electable as president and get Bush out, one cannot be a die-hard lefty candidate. Leaving gun control up to the states, I believe, is a wise decision. Each local community has different needs when it comes to crime and guns. Dean has said a state like Vermont (as in my state, Montana, as well) are very different than localities like Chicago, LA, Miami, and NYC. I agree with him that gun policy needs to be designed to fit the needs of each state. It really isn't Dean, at all, who is saying that Dean is a far left liberal - it is the DLC and other Dem candidates, as well as the Republicans, who have labeled him lefty liberal. So, he isn't putting out a "born again" at all... it is media from other sources that have come up with that label. I like the fact that he is more fiscally conservative than Bush. Reagan and Bush both used the destructive concept of 'trickle down', which is not a fiscally conservative idea. It is a borrow and spend and give away idea. One can be socially progressive and fiscally conservative at the same time.

I have read and heard Dean's statments on medicinal marijuana. He has not said he is against it. What he did say is that he wants it to be studied by the FDA and the scientific evidence of its efficacy established for its use.

Thanks for responding, Nicole. I like being able to read your point of view.


Alice