Howard Dean

Howard Dean (born November 17, 1948) is a controversial member of the Democratic party and the current chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dean received a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978. He was elected lieutenant governor of Vermont in 1986 and became governor in 1991 upon the death of Richard A. Snelling. During his governorship he balanced the budget, cut taxes two times and fought to keep socialized Health Care. In 2004 he ran for President of the United States on a very liberal platform. While he was the front runner for a period of time, he lost to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. After his third place finish in the Iowa caucus, Dean quickly gained notoriety as an internet fad of sorts, due to his "unconventional" concession speech. Especially notable was the "Dean Scream" which has parodied countless times on the internet. Many say this scream lead to his drop as national frontrunner. On February 12, 2005 Howard Dean was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), despite opposition by prominent Democrats such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

During the run up to the 2008 Presidential Primaries, Dean was scheming to violate the equal and proportionate representation of Florida's delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Quotes

• "I think with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, you can't play, you know, hide the salami, or whatever it's called." --urging President Bush to make public Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's White House records.

• "You know, the Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. They're a pretty monolithic party. Pretty much, they all behave the same, and they all look the same. ... It's pretty much a white Christian party. --speaking about the lack of outreach to minority communities by political parties.

• "I still want to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks."

• "We've gotten rid of (Saddam Hussein), and I suppose that's a good thing."

• "The idea that the United States is going to win the war in Iraq is just plain wrong."

• "Now that we're on dog pee, we can have an interesting conversation about that. I do not recommend drinking urine…but if you drink water straight from the river, you have a greater chance of getting an infection than you do if you drink urine."

• "Not only are we going to New Hampshire ... we're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to California and Texas and New York! And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C. to take back the White House, Yeeeeeaaaaaargh!" --The notorious 'Dean Scream' from Howard's concession at the Iowa caucus.