Howard Dean on Hannity and Colmes, March 2

Colmes: We just had this tape of this teleconference where President Bush is being briefed on Katrina. You have Michael Brown there and you have Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center. And he's clearly being told "We don't know how bad this could get, but there's a possibility of a problem with the levies, and four days after Katrina hit, the president is saying "We had no idea that there could be a breach of the levies. How do you respond to that--how should Democrats react to this?

Dean: Well, I don't think it's a matter of how Democrats react to it, I think it's a matter of how the American public reacts to it. Anybody who wants to see this for themselves should go to our website, Democrats.org. You can see this tape--it's linked to the Democratic party's web site. And I advise Americans to do that, because I think they need to make up their own mind about about this. This president has a pattern of not being truthful to the American people about Iraq, about Katrina, about the Medicare prescription benefit--a long history of saying things that just aren't so.

Colmes: Let's talk about port security. You know, those who believe we should not have this deal go through are being of anti-Arab bias, as if we somehow don't want an Arab company or country to be involved in our ports. Is there anything to that?

Dean: I think there *is* something to that, I oppose the deal, but what I did, I told the Democratic National Committee we do not put out anything that has anything to do with the origins of the people who have this contract. I believe in general that it's a bad idear to outsource our port security, which is what the president's done. But it is not simply the United Arab Emirates that's part of this. This is a British company, Chinese companies own a couple of the ports on the west coast, Los Angeles and Long Beach. So, in general I think we need a national review about about whether we want to have foreign companies--(Colmes talks over him)

Colmes: But no American company bid on the ports, so maybe that's one of the problems. There was not a bidder--there was not an opportunity for an American company to be involved in this.

Dean: Well, I'm sure that an American company *would* bid on the ports if this was restricted to American companies, and I really do think that we can't outsource port security. You know, the president's outsourced most everything. But this is something you can't outsource. And one of the reason's we've gotten in trouble in Iraq, is we've outsourced our security to private firms. Abu Ghraib I think--the abuses in the prison in Iraq, was a product of contractors also in the chain of command, in terms of telling soldiers what to do and how to treat prisoners. The president seems to want to outsource our security and our military, and I think that's a very bad idear. Federal employees ought to be controlling the security of the United States, and I think that's why this is a bad idear. I think it's important for us to be sure that we don't allow anti-Arab bias. And I think that some of the statements on the right, particularly Senator Santorum, which I thought was appalling, are not necessary. We don't need to go down that road. But we do need to question who runs America's ports.

Colmes: You know the Republicans like to often go after you because of things you say, and they underscore some of the rhetoric that Howard Dean says. That seems to be a diversion from real issues, but do you feel you have to watch what you say sometimes so that that doesn't become the issue, and so that the focus can be on what the vision is for going forward.

Dean: No, I think I have to say more of what I say, and the reason is that the American people understand what I'm about. They understand that I want the truth, and honesty and openness in government, and that in fact is now a Democratic party position. In order for Democrats to win, we have to differentiate ourselves from Republicans. We have to stand up for what we believe in and show a clearly different path on issues like defending America, on issues like honesty in government, on issues like jobs, healthcare, and public education, and retirement security. That's exactly what we're now doing. In the 2006 congressional elections, Americans are going to see a very clear difference between Republicans and Democrats. And my job is to try to make sure we have that clear difference in the minds of the American people, so that they have a real choice in this next election.

Colmes: What would you predict in terms of House, Senate, how many seats will Democrats take--

Dean: Well, I'm not going to make specific predictions, but I'm going to tell you if we can clearly differentiate ourselves from Republicans, I believe we'll take back the House and Senate and the governorships. I think we're going to pick up 5 to 7 governorships. People are sick of this, they don't like being misled, they don't like the budget deficits, they think that Iraq is a mess, which it is, and I think that people want a real change in this country. And I think if the Democrats make it clear to the American people that we *will* bring change to America, that we'll win overwhelmingly.

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