Publishers Message

JUDY AND HOWARD – PAYING A HIGH PRICE FOR FRESH AIR

Diane Sawyer on ABC’s 20/20, New York Times op/ed columnist Maureen Dowd, and just about every other media pundit, with their eyes a rollin’ and heads a shakin’ just didn’t know what to make of Judy Steinberg Dean.

They seem to think she is from another planet… not in the 21st century, certainly not part of their world.

What? no cable… doesn’t watch tv… no interest in their minute by minute, all day all night prophecies? How can that be? And worse… how can she not care to know what is happening second by second? ...and Yikes! She chooses to care for her patients and high school son instead of schlepping around Iowa... and Horrors! When she did jet to Iowa, at Howard’s request, she did not appear adoring enough… But the greatest affront was that Judy was not lipsticked, or stiffly coiffed and dressed up like Libby Dole.

Judy was Judy. And that’s a good thing.

And there was more. One political commentator said, "You know, I just don’t believe Judy Dean is really… quite as she appears. But then again Vermont is not like the rest of the country. And so maybe that’s the way women are up there in Verrrrrrmont."
One visit to Vermont and you get its authenticity. One cannot survive here and not be genuine. Well, not for long, anyway. We love our lakes, especially the big one. We love our mountains, especially Camels Hump. We love our open meadows. We even love the earthy smell of the outdoors, the musty smell of spring and autumn; and in winter we talk right out loud about the brilliance of the stars against the blackness of a moonless night.

Our senses are almost always on full alert.

Vermonters care a lot about education and health issues. We care about our children, their choices, their futures. We care about the balance between business and our environment. We care a hellavalot about the negative, numbing impact of corporate, government, and other once-trusted institutions lying to us to advance their own agendas.

Vermonters believe in a live-and-let-live philosophy… yet we go when and where we are needed. We are a people who are very proud of our small, beautiful and diverse state.

And we deliberate and choose our candidates carefully. We Vermonters know the Deans pretty well. After all, we elected Howard Dean governor 6 times.

So that’s why most of us were momentarily taken aback by the unrelenting barrage of negative press last week — even during the Diane Sawyer interview with the Deans.

It was no surprise to us here in Vermont that Howard chose the Iowa speech to pump up 3,500 dejected, unpaid volunteers who had come to work for him from all over the country.

He led with his heart and sheer passion.

Why?

Because he believes participation is the lifeblood of a healthy democracy.

And his Iowa speech was for them.

Honest emotion is like Vermont’s fresh air. That’s what you get from the Deans.

Maybe that’s just what the nation and the White House need — an ample dose of fresh air from Howard and Dr. Judy Steinberg Dean.