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| Home | Modify info | Search | Administrative Add URL (sw) | What's Cool | Howard Dean's popularity spirals down Vermont General Assembly passes Civil Unions Bill The Vermont House gave final passage of the Civil Unions Bills and sent it onto Governor Dean, who signed it behind closed doors. Here is how our local state representatives voted: Question: Concur with Senate including Amendments? Ayes: 79 Nays: 68 Pass/Fail: Passed Click here to read more. (Link number 94 was added on 20-Apr-2000 and has had 29 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://burlingtonvt.org/government-and-politics/local-issues-and-opinions/civil-unions/h-847-roll-call-local.html . ) Governor Dean Signs H.847 A moment infamy at Vermont's State House today as Gov. Howard Dean signed H.847 into law behind closed doors and without a signing ceremony at 1:30 PM. On April 25, 2000. Questioned hard by the press of the unusual signing, the governor indicated it was to begin the process of healing by minimizing the appearance of "triumphalism". Click here to read more. (Link number 56 was added on 25-Apr-2000 and has had 70 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://burlingtonvt.org/government-and-politics/local-issues-and-opinions/civil-unions/governor-signs-h-847.html . ) Barbara Snelling resigns Senate seat State Sen. Barbara Snelling, a former lieutenant governor, said Wednesday she will resign her Senate seat due to health reasons. Snelling, 73, said she has been planning to return to the Senate since suffering a stroke in July, but decided Wednesday morning she was not yet strong enough to do so. "I am getting better," she said. "I can do a full and busy day. I am not sure I can do four of them in a row. "I certainly would not want to shortchange the people of Chittenden County by being an inadequate representative," she said. Snelling, a Republican, notified Gov. Howard Dean Wednesday afternoon of her resignation, which will take effect Jan. 15. Snelling served as lieutenant governor for four years and as a senator for three years. (Link number 131 was added on 3-Jan-2002 and has had 63 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/thursday/3000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) Speeches led to nominees for seat -- Democrat is unimpressed with the list. Chittenden County Republicans on Monday nominated Brian Dubie, Rep. Doran Metzger, R-Milton, and Rep. Linda Kirker, R-Essex Junction, and sent the list to Gov. Howard Dean. Dean could pick one of the three or someone of his own choosing. Snelling earlier this month said she would resign for health reasons. She has said she would have liked her daughter, Diane, to replace her because Diane's political philosophy is similar to her own. But the Republicans decided not to nominate Snelling. "I think the three candidates gave excellent speeches about what they believe in and why they think they should be senators. The crowd reached their decision based on the power of the speeches those candidates gave," said Rep. Michael Quaid, R-Williston, who is chairman of the Chittenden County Republican Committee. (Link number 134 was added on 16-Jan-2002 and has had 11 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/wednesday/3000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) As president, Dean would recognize same sex unions By Ross Sneyd The Associated Press PHILADELPHIA -- Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Saturday that if elected president he would recognize the marriage rights of same-sex couples. Dean said he would not propose a federal law to give gay and lesbian couples the right to get married, but he would advocate that the federal government recognize state laws that granted gays and lesbians the rights and benefits of marriage. "As president of the United States, I will recognize civil unions, which will then allow full equality under the law as far as the federal government is concerned," Dean said in a speech to the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention in Philadelphia. Vermont is the only state in the country that formally recognizes relationships of gay and lesbian couples. Through a pact known as civil unions, passed by the Legislature in 2000, the state grants same-sex couples all the rights and benefits of marriage that are conferred by state government. Dean made a point of saying that Vermont has not passed what is commonly referred to as gay marriage, emphasizing that civil unions are a parallel, but separate, institution. Nonetheless, the law does confer state benefits to same-sex couples, such as state tax advantages and health care and inheritance rights. "We have full civil marriage rights (for gays and lesbians), we just don't call it marriage," Dean said. Dean, who is retiring as governor in January after 11 years and is running for president, said it was not the federal government's role to become involved in marriage statutes. But if individual states follow Vermont's lead and create what amounts to marriage contracts for same-sex couples, the federal government should recognize them. "What I am not going to do is tell every state they have to pass civil unions," he said. Dean's position essentially would undo a law known as the Defense of Marriage Act. That law, passed during the Clinton administration, prohibits the federal government from recognizing marriages between any couples except one man and one woman. Dean said that as president he would not be able to undo that law without the approval of Congress. But he said he would encourage Congress to repeal it and recognize gay and lesbian relationships. Dean also said that as president, he would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military. Federal recognition of same-sex relationships could be significant. Roughly 1,000 benefits flow to married couples from the federal government, including immigration rights, tax advantages and insurance. CNN is calling Governor Howard Dean the caffeinated candidate, because of the pace of his campaigning for the presidency. By the time this swing is over, Dean will log visits to eight states in eight days. He was in Iowa and Colorado over the weekend. He is in Idaho today and then heads to Missouri and Nebraska tomorrow. On Wednesday and Thursday Dean returns to Iowa and then Friday he'll be in Georgia. This coming weekend Dean will spend in Connecticut attending parents' weekend at Yale - where his daughter is a first year student. Monday, 10/7/02 (Link number 235 was added on 8-Oct-2002 and has had 40 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://abc22.com/home.php?story=1713 . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, whose celebrity status has made him one U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, whose celebrity status has made him one of the Democratic Party's biggest fund-raisers, is lending his support to Gov. Howard Dean's presidential bid. Jeffords, I-Vt., said Wednesday he would help the governor raise money and meet potential supporters. ... Dean is the only Democrat actively and openly campaigning for the 2004 nomination. His bid has gained credibility through Dean's nonstop frenetic travels, including a dozen visits to the early caucus state of Iowa. Jeffords can assist Dean in the one area he is clearly trailing other hopefuls: fund raising. "This will be a big help for me because Jim has the ability to help me raise money," Dean said. Jeffords has arranged a series of appearances and fund-raisers with Dean next week in California, although they might be postponed if the Senate remains in session. (Link number 239 was added on 11-Oct-2002 and has had 22 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/thursday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) If Gov. Howard Dean turns up on the presidential ballot in 2004, a majority of Vermonters say they won't vote for him, according to a new statewide poll. ... Dean, who says he intends to seek the Democratic nomination for president in two years, has the support of just 32 percent of voters in his home state, the poll found. Of the 635 Vermonters surveyed for The Burlington Free Press/WPTZ NewsChannel 5 poll, 56 percent said they would not support Dean's presidential bid and 12 percent were unsure. The poll has a four percentage-point error margin. Dean's inability to draw more home-state enthusiasm might be the result of resentment about his out-of-state campaigning for president at a time Vermont's economic picture was worsening. "A lot of businesses have moved out of the state, and he could have helped try to keep some of them here," said Ron Gonyea, 58, of Grand Isle. "If he can't run a little state like Vermont, how is he going to run 50 states?" Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. (Link number 262 was added on 30-Oct-2002 and has had 17 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/wednesday/3000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) Above the Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington is the headquarters for a presidential hopeful. Vermont Governor Howard Dean, just back from his 19th visit to neighboring New Hampshire, is carrying a television. It's something new in the Dean For America office that's otherwise stuffed with old furniture. ... Binders contain the names of contacts and connections across the country that are helping the doctor Governor. ... The candidate's office is the smallest. ... Dean started this run for the White House nearly a year ago. One day he is in Iowa. The next New Hampshire. ... The midterm elections were staggering to Democrats. With the Republicans controlling the White House, Senate and House. Dean says it's time for democrats to start acting like democrats. ... Dean says it was a mistake for Democrats to vote for the President's tax cuts. Dean says the money was needed for social programs. ... It's a policy Dean says should be based on balanced budgets, investments in children, health care for all and renewable energy. popular Click here to read more. (Link number 282 was added on 15-Nov-2002 and has had 146 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1013017 . ) Dean's challenges to party and Bush help his image as serious player. By Mike Madden Gannett News Service HANOVER, N.H. -- Few anticipated the buzz former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is getting in the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Least of all Dean. "It's been a real whirlwind," he said as he rushed from one recent fund-raiser to another in this state, which will host the first primary next year. "We've got a long way to go from here." The family doctor-turned-politician has spurred his insurgent drive for the presidency into high gear, turning what had been considered a quixotic, long-shot bid into a more credible campaign with bombastic rhetoric against a war in Iraq and fiery challenges to fellow Democrats to stand up for liberal principles. "He was coming on strong well before the news was dominated by Iraq," said Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway, who is not working for any of the candidates but has watched them speak at several recent gatherings in New Hampshire and Washington. "His appeal is very real, and it's not just based on issues, but on his perceived independence." With his straight-talk style, medical background and experience as a governor, Dean could pose a formidable challenger to his better-known rivals, such as Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt, for the chance to take on President Bush next year. He also runs the risk of being seen as a one-issue candidate for his anti-war views. While some strategists for other Democrats predict Dean will fade after the war ends, Dean and his supporters dismiss that possibility, saying his message reaches far beyond Iraq. "I started out this campaign wanting a balanced budget," he said. "I didn't start out as the anti-war candidate." On the stump and in small meetings with supporters, Dean ties his views on the war to a broader theme -- that Democrats shouldn't try to appeal to voters by blurring the lines between themselves and Republicans. Though he won't cite them by name, he criticizes rivals from Capitol Hill who voted for a resolution granting Bush the authority to attack and now say they're against the way the administration is preparing for war. They include Kerry and Gephardt. "This country is desperate for somebody who says what he believes is true," Dean said. Aides in rival camps take him seriously but question his organization and his ability to raise money over a long campaign. They wonder how the Dean campaign will handle the inevitable scrutiny from the national media. Early in the Democrats' jockeying for 2004, his anti-war rhetoric and challenges to his own party seem to be working. Dean surprised delegates to the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting last month with broadsides at the party's own leadership for not fighting Republican proposals vigorously enough. The campaign also packed volunteers into the room, waving signs and shaking pill bottles filled with change -- labeled "Howard Dean: The Rx for Change" -- as noisemakers. That effort persuaded many in the party's establishment to take a serious look at him, delegates said afterward. Being out of office frees him to travel, often to build up grassroots support. He has been to New Hampshire 29 times as a candidate, he said. He touts his chief executive credentials. In 10 years as Vermont's governor, Dean pulled the state budget out of deficits and twice cut income taxes, building a reputation as a fiscal moderate even while he pursued a more liberal social agenda. Even Dean aides admit that without the easy access to a national fund-raising base that many of his rivals have, the Vermonter will have to work hard to raise enough money to run a long, national campaign for the Democratic nomination. The recent buzz has helped somewhat. More donors have started showing up at fund-raising events, and Dean's Web site brought in more than $10,000 a day immediately after the speech to the Democratic National Committee, campaign aides said. Iraq is clearly the issue where Dean connects with voters at the most visceral level. Buttons advertising peace slogans are almost as numerous as Dean campaign stickers at his fund-raisers and speeches, and some of his loudest applause comes when he denounces Bush's foreign policy. "What are we doing supporting unilateral action in Iraq?" he asked in a recent speech, arguing that North Korea and al-Qaida terrorists pose more immediate threats to the United States. "Who lost North Korea, Mr. President? It's time to start the talking." Dean's supporters say they like his ideas on domestic policy as much as his stand against war. He calls for universal health insurance and a repeal of the Bush administration's tax cuts, and he rails against the "No Child Left Behind" education act passed in 2001, saying it threatens to wreck school systems across the country with federal mandates without adequate funding to pay for them. Howard Dean is running for president. Dean supports access to quality health care for everyone. During my term as Governor, we provided access to health insurance for virtually all Vermont children - and over 90% of all Vermonters. Because I believe that the development and protection of our children is critical to the future strength of our country, during my term as Governor we took action that reduced child abuse in Vermont by nearly half. Dean considers himself A common-sense moderate who firmly believes that social justice can only be accomplished through strong financial management, Governor Dean has cut the income tax twice, removed the sales tax on most clothing, and reduced the state's long-term debt. Not only did the governor pay off an inherited $70 million deficit, he worked with lawmakers to build "rainy day" reserves to help the state through any future economic downturn. (Link number 332 was added on 2-Apr-2003 and has had 6 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://deanforamerica.com/ . ) Just moments before he was set to deliver a big speech to the South Carolina Democratic Convention, presidential candidate Howard Dean had to make a choice: He could be blunt or he could be careful. He chose blunt. Ignoring his advisers' last-minute pleas to tone down his anti-war stance, the former Vermont governor insisted on bringing up his opposition to the Iraq war in a state known for its support of President Bush, its abundance of veterans and its fierce patriotism. As Dean stepped onto the stage May 3 before hundreds of delegates at the South Carolina fairgrounds, the first words out of his mouth were, "Most of you know I did not support the war in Iraq." His aides winced. But the moment passed quickly -- without a single boo -- and by the time Dean finished his stump speech calling for economic development, universal health care and racial unity, the crowd was on its feet clapping. (Link number 342 was added on 11-May-2003 and has had 9 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/sunday/3000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. ) Dean to float Vt. model for national health care By Christopher Graff The Associated Press MONTPELIER -- Democrat Howard Dean expanded health coverage in Vermont during his 11 years as governor, with dozens of small victories and one major defeat. The presidential hopeful and physician is using that record as the blueprint for the $88 billion national plan he will announce today. In a speech in New York, Dean will propose a program that would provide health insurance to about 30.9 million of the nation's uninsured, primarily by expanding eligibility for existing Medicaid programs. Much of what Dean is proposing is in effect in Vermont, which is considered one of the leaders among states in providing health insurance coverage. About 96 percent of the state's children and 91 percent of its adults have coverage. "Vermont has been a real model," said Jack Meyer, president of the Washington-based Economic and Social Research Institute, which studies state health care initiatives. "They have put together a package that really tries to -- whether it is pregnant women, or kids, or parents or even childless adults -- look at the entire population and provide something for everybody in poverty, and most of the near-poor as well," Meyer said. Dean set access to health care as a top priority when he became governor in 1991. One of his first initiatives, a major reform package akin to a single payer system, failed miserably in the 1994 legislative session. Dean then focused his efforts on small expansions of health care instead. "He discovered there were lots of small steps he could take that actually made a difference," said Kathy Hoyt, who served as Dean's chief of staff. "So he kept pushing at it, year after year." Hoyt said the fact Dean was a doctor gave him an insight into the health issue. "He knew which things to invest in -- all of the preventive care for kids and the preventive care for women," she said. "He was the one who insisted that the state health plan pay for mammograms. "He was able to use what he knew were the best investments in health care and take those baby steps to get there," said Hoyt. In the first years, Dean concentrated on expansion of the state's so-called Dr. Dynasaur program, which now covers children living in households with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line. In later years, Dean focused on expansion of health care for adults, providing coverage to custodial parents and caregiver relatives with incomes up to 185 percent. The state has a prescription drug benefit for people with incomes up to 400 percent of the poverty level. "The state built this piece by piece," said Meyer. "They started with children and were one of the first states to go to 300 percent. Other states have done that now, but what makes Vermont different is that they have made a real effort to cover adults." Meyer said the success of Vermont's programs was not merely in providing generous eligibility standards. He said the state's high participation also was due to effective outreach programs to identify those who might be eligible. Dean's national health care plan will expand eligibility of the State Children's Health Care Insurance Program to children and young adults up to age 25 in households with incomes of 300 percent of poverty. Parents and non-custodial adults would qualify up to 185 percent of poverty. Those two provisions would provide access to health insurance to roughly two-thirds of the 30 million uninsured that would get insurance -- at a cost of $66.9 billion -- under Dean's proposal. In addition, individuals and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be able to purchase health insurance coverage in line with that available to federal employees. Dean, 54, completed medical school in 1978, graduating from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York, and moved to Vermont for his residency. In 1981, he and another doctor opened a Shelburne medical practice that his wife, Judy Steinberg Dean, joined in 1985. In 1986, Dean won election as lieutenant governor, a part-time post that allowed him to continue his medical practice. In 1991, Dean was giving a physical exam to a patient when he learned that Gov. Richard Snelling had died. He finished the exam and went to Montpelier to be sworn in as governor. Details of plan Highlights of Howard Dean's $88 billion national health plan: -- Expansion of subsidized health care for children of the working poor. -- Ensure eligibility for parents up to a certain poverty level. -- Individuals and small businesses -- with fewer than 50 employees -- would be able to purchase health insurance coverage in line with that available to federal employees. -- Expansion of eligibility of the state Children's Health Care Insurance Program to children and young adults up to age 25 -- in households with incomes of 300 percent of poverty. Parents and noncustodial adults would qualify up to 185 percent of poverty. Just three days before formally launching his Presidential campaign, Howard Dean has suffered an embarrassing set-back. Dean's 17-year-old son has been implicated in a burglary. Police say Paul Dean has been cited into court for attempting to steal alcoholic beverages from the Burlington Country Club. It's a stunning development for the Dean campaign partly because Dean's son is a top student and athlete at Burlington High School. "When you're 17 years old, you get to make bad decisions and this was one." That was the first statement from Howard Dean about his son Paul. The picture Channel 3 News obtained of Paul Dean is from last year's Burlington High School year book. There are not many pictures of him because the media has respected the governor's request for privacy. Click here to read more. (Link number 348 was added on 21-Jun-2003 and has had 46 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1330623&nav=4QcRGVKC . ) Dean for American campaign estimates 5000 supporters showed up for their leader's big announcement. Although, Burlington police put that number closer to three thousand. Nevertheless, that's a lot of people to jam into a half-block area at the corner of Church and Bank streets. For an event of this magnitude with national coverage, security was light. Tickets were easy to get and available at no charge. "Anyone who asks for a ticket gets a ticket," said Susan Elliot of Dean for America. "We're asking for name and address and email information." Aside from preventing signs and backpacks from being brought into the cordoned-off area, that's the only security measure put into place by the Dean camp. Click here to read more. (Link number 350 was added on 24-Jun-2003 and has had 18 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.abc22.com/home.php?story=3359 . ) Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean officially kicked off his bid for the presidency in downtown Burlington today. Dean was joined by friends and political allies, his wife and daughter, without his son, and up to 5,000 supporters. Church Street was packed with blue "Dean for America" signs and banners. Dean was introduced by Sen. Jim Jeffords, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle and a young supporter who moved to Burlington to work on the Dean campaign. Sen. Jeffords told the group, "Howard Dean has followed in the Vermont tradition of free and independent thinking. We praise him for that. He does what his guts tell him is right, not what the polls tell him is popular." Click here to read more. (Link number 349 was added on 24-Jun-2003 and has had 34 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.abc22.com/home.php?story=3357 . ) Governor Howard Dean is hoping the good times keep rolling. "You are unbelievable!" he told the crowd shortly after taking the podium at the intersection of Bank and Church Streets in Burlington. With hundreds cheering him on, the former Vermont governor made it official. "Today I announce that I am running for the presidency of the United States of America." This was a good old-fashioned presidential political rally. Vermont's two United States Senators warmed up the crowd by criticizing the incumbent: George W. Bush. ... "Right now we have a President who thinks war will elect him President," said Senator James Jeffords, I-Vermont. The war in Iraq helped Dean rally his troops. It gave the anti-war candidate a national stage when other Democratic candidates were supporting the President. Click here to read more. (Link number 351 was added on 24-Jun-2003 and has had 23 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1332897&nav=4QcRGX8N . ) Polls show former Vermont Governor Howard Dean trailing his closest rival Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in their quest to become the democratic party's nominee for president. But Dean is not discouraged by his second place status. He just raised $7.5 million in the last three months. Dartmouth College Political Science professor Linda Fowler considers Dean a contender now that he's able to raise money. ... With money and momentum, Dean's now getting more scrunity in the press. After Dean's most recent hour-long appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, many columints took aim at his performance. A New York Daily news columinist calling it "perhaps the worst performance by a presidential candidate in the history of television". The Washington Post called Dean's answers "waffling and evasive." And the Dallas Morning News reported that "many top democrats" are worried a Dean nomination would produce an electoral wipeout of George McGovern and Walter Mondale dimensions. popular Click here to read more. (Link number 357 was added on 6-Jul-2003 and has had 374 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1348159&nav=4QcRGjjV . ) Deaniacs' are getting behind Kerry team. Dean's presidential bid began to disintegrate in Iowa, and Maloney's dream that he would be the party's presidential nominee didn't come true. Next week, though, Maloney will be in Boston at the Democratic National Convention as a John Kerry delegate. While Dean has some delegates committed to him -- estimates are that the number has dropped to fewer than 40 -- some of the Kerry-Edwards convention attendees are people who, like Maloney, toiled as Dean grass-roots volunteers. They might be Kerry-Edwards supporters on the outside, but inside they remain ardent fans of the former Vermont governor. Many continue to devote time to his post-campaign grass-roots advocacy group, Democracy for America. Watching Dean's presidential campaign implode after defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire was painful for these four former Dean volunteers, but not so much so that they gave up on being politically active. Walker pointed to Dean's now infamous "scream" speech the night he finished third in the Iowa caucuses as an example of the media's going overboard to denigrate Dean for being himself. JULY 19, 2004 Dean walks the line on firearms By Sam Hemingway Free Press Staff Writer Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean has a ready answer for voters who think his opposition to the Iraq war and support for homosexual rights make him an ultra-liberal. "I've been endorsed by the National Rifle Association," Dean tells audiences at almost every stop, referring to NRA's support of him when he was Vermont's governor for 11 years. That statement is true, but an examination of Dean's record on gun issues in Vermont suggests his relationship with the NRA in his home state has been more platonic than passionate. When issues of concern to the NRA came up in Vermont -- how to perform background checks on gun purchases and whether to ban guns on school grounds -- Dean took positions amenable to the NRA but did so without fanfare. "He was not really someone who came out strong for gun owners," said state Rep. Robert Helm, R-Castleton, chairman the House Fish and Wildlife Committee during part of Dean's gubernatorial tenure. "He just let the gun people take care of their own issues." As for the NRA, state campaign finance records show that the NRA never followed up its endorsement of Dean with a donation to any of his five re-election campaigns. From the NRA's perspective, gun control isn't a hot-button issue in Vermont, a state where hunters are numerous but violent crime is scarce, at least by national standards. Plus, Vermont's relaxed gun laws -- a person can carry a loaded, concealed weapon through downtown Burlington without a permit -- were already in place in Vermont before Dean became governor. Rural vs. urban Dean's laid-back approach won't work if he becomes president. Federal gun legislation is perennially contentious. There is ongoing debate in Congress over how to close the so-called gun-show loophole on background checks and whether the gun industry should be declared immune from lawsuits filed by gun violence victims. On the stump, Dean has voiced his support for the Brady bill requiring background checks for gun purchases and the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban. He adds that no more federal gun-control laws are needed. "I'm from a rural state and I understand that the gun issue in rural states is different than the gun issue in urban states," Dean said in Iowa in July. "My attitude is let California and New York have as much gun control as they want, but just don't make a law that applies equally to Vermont and Wyoming and Montana." Dean does oppose the legislation that would make the gun industry immune from victims' lawsuits, according to Ron Weich, a senior policy analyst for the Dean campaign. NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said it's mixed messages like that that make him uneasy about Dean. He acknowledged Dean seems more in line with NRA policy than, say U.S. Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and John Kerry, D-Mass. "It looks to me like he's trying to walk it right down the middle," he said of Dean. "He's trying to give everybody something. It's why I say he's sort of schizophrenic on gun issues." Vermont record Dean's unwillingness to push gun-control measures as governor was based on two factors -- the state's low crime rate and a respect for the state's gun lobby. In the last five years of Dean's tenure, Vermont had just 53 homicides and guns were involved in less than half of them. Nationally, guns are involved in two-thirds of all homicides. Dean got a lesson in the power of the NRA the year before he became governor. Then-U.S. Rep. Peter Smith, R-Vt., a one-term House member, lost his seat in 1990 after the NRA waged a vigorous campaign to defeat him. Smith had switched positions on a gun-control bill before Congress. When he became governor, Dean signaled to gun owners that his policy on guns would aim at punishing the person who committed a crime rather than the weapon used to commit it. "It was an excellent approach," said Evan Hughes of Barre, an officer with the Vermont Federation of Sportsman's Clubs and an NRA member. "We were very pleased with that position." After Columbine While Dean backed various get-tough-on-crime bills in the Legislature, he took a hands-off position on most gun bills. During his 11 years in office, only three of 29 gun-related bills became law. The one time Dean did get involved with gun legislation came in 2000. In the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, the Legislature was considering a bill to make it a crime to have a gun on school grounds, no matter what the reason. The wording was eventually changed so that gun possession in such instances was only a crime if the gun was discovered inside the school or on a school bus, or the person was carrying it on school grounds with the intent of harming another person. "Howard helped make that happen," said former state Sen. Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, the Senate majority leader at the time. Shumlin said Dean and he worked out the language change together, at the urging of NRA lobbyists. Helm said his recollection of the revision was slightly different. "Howard was forced to take a position on that," Helm said. "He just does that stuff to get votes," said David Pidgeon of Pidgeon's Gun Shop in New Haven. "He's not really trustworthy." Former state Rep. Henry Holmes, R-Bethel, gave Dean credit for actively supporting his plan to establish a youth hunting day, and later a youth hunting weekend in Vermont. Holmes is president of the Vermont Federation of Sportsman's Clubs, the NRA's state affiliate. Dean's support for that measure earned him a visit from the NRA gun-education mascot, Eddie Eagle. Dean's NRA support paid him other dividends. When he was under fire from some sportsmen for supporting plans for an ecological reserve on newly acquired state lands in the Northeast Kingdom, the so-called Champion land deal, the NRA made it known it supported the measure. "If it was just on gun issues only, I'd probably vote for Howard Dean for president," said Holmes, a conservative Republican. The national stage The Dean campaign's strategy of promoting his NRA credentials has its risks. Democrats are traditionally gun-control advocates, and his NRA support may cause some party-line voters to abandon him and support another candidate. "The liberal elite in the Democratic Party almost demands that Democratic candidates recite the gun-control mantra," LaPierre said. The upside of having had NRA support in the past is that it demonstrates Dean isn't a slave to a single ideology. The NRA has 4.2 million members and is not shy about advising gun owners on how to vote when it counts. It has made no endorsement in the 2004 presidential race. "If Al Gore had my position on guns, I wouldn't be here and he'd be in the White House," Dean said in an interview earlier this year. LaPierre agreed, saying Gore's gun-control stance in the 2000 cost him presidency by causing him to lose Arkansas, West Virginia and his home state of Tennessee. Many of those deciding votes belonged to people who were also union members, a constituency Dean is trying desperately to reach. LaPierre said Dean was smart to understand the connection. "It's been proven again and again and again that union members will vote against a candidate who is anti-Second Amendment," LaPierre said. Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or shemingway@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com Dean ends roller coaster campaign for nomination Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean awakens this morning as a private citizen, vowing to shape a national political movement out of the failed presidential campaign he ended Wednesday. Dean flew home from defeat in the Wisconsin primary to tell 300 old friends and new Deaniacs that he was leaving the race for the Democratic nomination. "I am no longer actively pursuing the presidency," a muted Dean told the crowd in a South Burlington ballroom. "We will continue to build a new organization using our enormous grassroots network to continue the effort to transform the Democratic Party and to change our country," he promised. Dean departed a contest in which he started as a footnote, zoomed to front-runner, then crashed like a falling star after finishing third in Iowa and a distant second in New Hampshire. He leaves behind his $40 million fund-raising record and the indelible memory of his over-the-top Iowa concession speech endlessly replayed and parodied as 'the Scream." Dean went winless in 17 primaries, but did much to shape the Democratic race. He galvanized many Democrats with his early opposition to the Iraq war, then demonstrated the Internet's power in raising millions of dollars and recruiting a devoted core of followers. His farewell, too, took an unorthodox direction. FEBRUARY 19, 2004