"Give 'em hell, Howard" may be our best chance to throw Bush overboard.

On Board the Dean Machine



"No man should be allowed to be president who does not understand hogs, or hasn't been around a manure pile," Harry Truman said.

His campaign buttons say, "GIVE 'EM HELL, HOWARD." And that's just what he plans to do. Howard Dean knows about hogs, and he's been around a manure pile. You learn about these things when you've been governor of a rural state like Vermont for 11 years. So when Dean comes to Iowa--a place where the men wear mesh-back John Deere caps without irony and the women make pies as good and pure as their hearts, where the stench of cow manure in the morning smells like victory--he can speak the language.

Every stump speech Dean delivered last week during a breathless two-day barnstorm of 10 towns and cities spread over 10 counties ended with the same rousing exit line: "The biggest lie told to people like you by people like me at election time is that I can solve every problem in America. That's not true. But the truth is the power to change this country is in your hands, not mine."

That line invariably sets off Fourth of July fireworks in the hearts of those who hear it. Last week it earned Dr. Dean repeated standing ovations.

What do you make of the theory that the real motivation behind the Bush tax cuts and the deficits they're racking up is to bankrupt the government so it can't afford human services and social welfare programs?

"I think that's true. I think the purpose of these tax cuts is to de-fund the federal government."

You've backed up your opposition to the Iraq war by talking about the way the Bush administration has been undercutting veterans while talking about supporting the troops.

"The president is a complete hypocrite when it comes to the veterans. He goes to a veterans' hospital and announces that they are going to have the best healthcare in the world. But in fact the day before he cut the healthcare benefits of 164,000 veterans."

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