Dean Talks Straight on PBS Newshour

I said on the day he was elected chair of the Democratic National Committee, that Howard Dean was going to be just the shot in the arm – and a stiffening of the spine – that our party needs. Dean continues to stay the course, consistently delivering the hard truths about our conservative opponents and not backing down.

Here's Dean in an interview with Gwen Ifill on PBS's Newshour when asked about Republican whining over his recent comments about their party:

All I'm going to say about this stuff is the Republicans want to focus on personal attacks. What we want to focus on is making sure Social Security works and isn't wrecked by people who can't balance the budget.

What we want to focus on is a defense policy, which includes watching out for things like Iran and North Korea and not letting them -- putting them on the back burner when they're more of a danger to us than Iraq. These are fundamental national security issues and economic issues, which are not being addressed by the Republicans and it's why they attack people like me and Dick Durbin.

When asked if he's enabling Republicans by constantly saying things that offend them, Dean responded:

They're going to pounce on every word anyway. They're going to make stuff up and the press is going to write it because it's good columns. That's essentially what they do. I don't say they make up quotes and put them in the paper. What they do is they put stuff together, take it out of context and then make personal attacks.

Well, this is a new day at the DNC. Every time they hit us with a personal attack not only are we going to run right over them; we're going to stick to issues.

Finally, when asked about the fake hold Republicans try to assert on the moral high ground:

I don't think that the Republicans have any right to lecture Democrats about morals because our morals really are pretty biblical when you look at them. They really are about being good stewards of the earth that God gave us, they really are about helping children, helping the disenfranchised, making sure that everybody gets included. Those are pretty good values.

No prisoners... No compromise... I said it in February and I'll say it now: Howard Dean understands the caliber of people he's dealing with on the other side of the aisle and he conducts himself accordingly.

As should we.