Dean reflects rural New England's conservative liberal traditions

[Armstead]

Howard Dean's true political stripes are a source of much conjecture. Is he a centrist in liberal's clothing? Is he pandering to the left while actually being a pro-corporate conservative? Is he an opportunistic hypocrite?

As a neighbor of Vermont, I have always perceived Dean as a solid governor. Neither a liberal firebrand, nor a corporate lackey. That is why I think the stereotypes about him seem to lose sight of what he really is. Which is why I, as someone who wants to see the Democratic Party be more liberal, can be comfortable with a moderate like Dean.


To get a better picture of Dean you have to look at the traditions of rural western New England. That is what Dean reflects, with the added "edge" of his New York upbringing.

This neck of the woods personifies a sense that has been lost in today's mass corporate culture. Life is on a human scale, and politics is still rooted in the traditional sense of community. We also have to deal with each other more directly, because we tend to live in narrow valleys between mountains.

There is less of the ideological divisions that exist elsewhere on the national stage. Conservatives tend to be more liberal and liberals and progressives tend to be more conservative. We do have ideological camps, and some of the same polarization. But overall, people are less distracted by that. People here are pragmatic, but in a progressive way. We're more inetrested in results than ideology. The question is not whether something is "right" or "left" but "does it make sense?" This is why a guy like Bernie Sanders can be a political force in a state of traditional values. And why a rock-solid Republican like Jim Jeffords can bolt the GOP.

And politics is still rooted in people and real life. And because of that, political alliances and frictions are more personal and practical. The tradition of the Town meeting is still alive and well. In many communities, people do double duty as citizens and politicians. That is how Dean could go from being a Doctor and part-time Lt. Governor to Governor in one fell swoop.

There also is less class divisions here. Sure, we do have our gaps between rich and poor. (That's also something of particular concern in the last couple of decades, as affluent urbanites have moved in.) But, in a larger sense, there is moe intermingling than seperation among different classes. The bank president stands in the same grocery lines as the janitor. The PTA is a mix of yuppies and rednecks. And, despite the tensions that sometimes arise between old Yankees and the affluent outsiders, the newcomers tend to either lose their elitism or leave.

Also Dean's personal qualities are not that unusual around here. We tend to be blunt and direct, rather then smooth and measured. Dean's "anger" and "temper" is simply the directness of a Yankee.

Dean is a shrewd politician, and he will milk whatever leverage he can get out of the liberal outsider label. But he is also a pragmatic Yankee liberal, who is more inetrested in results than labels. And the way he has run his campaign -- based on "people power" -- perfectly reflects the tone of the region he comes from.

IMO that tradition is what democracy should be about. And Dean represents it well.