Howard on "Situation Room"

Howard was on CNN's "Situation Room" this evening, talking with Wolf Blitzer about Tom DeLay's resignation from Congress.

BLITZER: Well, is this good or bad for the Democrats, the fact that Howard -- that Tom DeLay has now decided to step aside?

DEAN: Well, I don't know if it is good or bad for the Democrats, but it's very good for the country.

There's an awful lot of corruption, not just, of course, Tom DeLay, but Bill Frist, the leader of the Senate is under investigation for insider trading. Karl Rove still has his security counsel -- security clearance, despite the fact that he has leaked information to the CIA -- for the CIA identifications in a time of war.

The vice president's chief of staff is under indictment. So, this is a very deep problem, this Republican culture of corruption. But, certainly, for the country, it's a good thing that Tom DeLay has left.

Naturally, Wolf wants to know if DeLay's resignation represents "a net political gain for the Democrats, or a loss, given the fact that so many Democrats were trying to make Tom DeLay sort of a whipping boy for the Republican Party?"

Howard sets him straight:

The big problem with the Republicans is, they put their party in front of their country. And that -- Tom DeLay did it. Others have done it. And that is what we are trying to get away from. We are going to offer a real change, Wolf, in this election.

Do you want more of the same or do you want real change? Do you want ethics legislation that really means something? Do you want American jobs that will stay in America? Do you want real security, instead of just talk about security?

So, the theme of the election is not just going to be about Tom DeLay and the corruption the Republicans have brought to Washington. It's going to be about a real change for America, putting America back in the right direction again.

Later in the interview, Wolf runs some video of DeLay telling an audience: "A Democrat Congress in 2007 would, without doubt or remorse, raise hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes, summarily cut and run from the war on terror, and immediately initiate an unconstitutional impeachment of President Bush." (Please note the use of "Democrat" instead of "Democratic." It's a Republican insult.)

Wolf wants to know "Would you, as the leader of the Democratic Party, take those three steps?" (Oh come on, Wolf.)

DEAN: No, we're not going to do any of that. That's why the Republicans are going to lose in 2006. They're -- I think the American people have finally figured out that what the president and the Republicans do is divide people and name-call.

What we are going to do is balance the budget. Nobody has done that in a long time, other than Bill Clinton. Not one Republican has balanced the budget in 40 years. Balancing the budget is a moral value, not simply a good-government piece.

What we are going to do is restore a real defense policy to America. And we're going to restore the moral imperative that the United States had before President Bush came into office.

Wolf tries to corner Howard into admitting that rescinding tax cuts is in effect raising taxes.

BLITZER: But, if you would eliminate the tax cuts that were approved by the Bush administration and the Congress in the first term, in effect, you would be raising taxes.

DEAN: Wolf, you know, I never used to like to say what I'm about to say when I was governor. But, in this administration, there is so much waste, fraud and abuse.

Just before Christmas, the Republicans passed a bill to put $20 billion into the pockets of HMOs, $10 billion into the pockets of oil companies. There is so much bad stuff the Republicans have spent out money on. All we have got to do is get rid of a lot of that, and we can go well on the way to balancing the budget.

Wolf wants to know "Why are you, the Democrats, having such a hard -- tough time convincing Americans that you do have a set of policies for the country?"

DEAN: Well, we do have a set of policies. And I just laid out some of them, in terms of health care, jobs -- American jobs that will stay in America, security, and honesty in government, retirement security. But, when you're in the minority party, you don't have a bully pulpit.

What I have told the House and the Senate -- and I believe this in all -- with all my heart -- that, if we have 435 members running for Congress with the same message, our values message and our agenda, from now until the election, we're going to win. But that's what it's going to take to get our message out, Wolf.

Wolf finally tries to get an opinion out of Howard regarding the incident involving Cynthia McKinney and Howard is smart enough not to comment on something he doesn't know about:

BLITZER: What -- what do you -- what do you think of this uproar over Cynthia McKinney?

DEAN: I think there's two separate issues.

First of all, racial profiling is a real issue. But, secondly, I have absolutely no knowledge of what happened to Congresswoman McKinney at that checkpoint. I wasn't there. I don't know any of the people involved, and I haven't talked to them. So, I have no comment on what went on when Congresswoman McKinney was going into the Capitol, since I have no knowledge of what went on.

If there's a separate question, do we still have a problem with racial profiling, yes. It's getting better, but we still have a problem.

BLITZER: Howard Dean is the chairman of the Democratic Party.

Governor, thanks very much for joining us.

DEAN: Wolf, thanks for having me on.

Thank you, Howard!

Complete transcript here.

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