Times UK -- Dean -- An outsider worth backing

With Al Gore's decision not to challenge George Bush in 2004, the smart money is on little-known Vermont governor Howard Dean. But political obscurity may not be as big a problem as his liberal beliefs

Despite being the longest-serving Democrat governor — he is coming to the end of his fifth two-year term, and served a year before that when the previous governor died in office — Dr Dean barely registers in the polls. On Monday a survey of caucus voters in Iowa put him at one per cent, with Richard Gephardt at 26 per cent and Kerry on 16 per cent. Last month a poll in The Washington Post produced similar figures.

“I am not in the least bit worried by the polls,” Dr Dean says. “I have 13 months to fix that. I have made 16 visits to Iowa and 20 to New Hampshire, and gradually the word will spread. I suspect I have more name recognition than Bill Clinton did at the same point in his presidential campaign.”

What sets Dr Dean apart from the other hopefuls is that his agenda is clear, unequivocal and backed by an enviable economic record during his 11 years in charge of Vermont’s budget, achieved with policies so fiscally prudent as to make [LP MP Chancellor of the exchequer] Gordon Brown liverish with envy.