Dean talks with News-Letter about college aid, healthcare
N-L: Another thing we got from that rally was that - as the Baltimore Sun and other media outlets put it - this may have been the only chance Maryland voters, or people who are undecided about the candidates, will get to see the senator or any of the other candidates before the primary season starts, especially because it's so chaotic now and because a lot of states are moving their primaries. What would you say to either loyal Democratic voters in Maryland who have been voting for Democratic candidates for years, or people who are undecided, who feel that they may be left out of the process because of that?
HD: We need a system where we rotate the primaries. We put four states early, which are geographically and ethnically diverse. It's the first time we've ever done that, and that's a good thing and they're small states. But for states like Maryland, you need to be in a rotation where you're not always the first state and you're not always the last state.
N-L: Another issue important to young adults is health care, and obviously it's important to everybody. The president of Johns Hopkins, William Brody, is a physician, and he comments a lot on this issue nationally. And he went to the National Press Club last month and basically said that neither the media nor the presidential candidates are asking the right questions or saying the right things about health care - they're talking mostly about tax deductions or cost and coverage but not patient care, for example. What do you think about that? Do you think the candidates are asking the right questions and, if so, what are the Democratic candidates talking about that the Republican candidates aren't?
HD: This is one of the problems, with due respect to Dr. Brody, about politics and campaigns. Campaigns are not for education. Those candidates who educate the public are not the candidates who win. This is an incredibly complex area, and I'd be happy to tell you what I personally believe is the right thing to do, although I'm sure it will be at some variance with the candidates. But the fact is that those kinds of discussions are expert discussions, and people do not vote for candidates based on the length of their complicated position papers. What they vote on is their set of values. So it's important to remember that these candidates are trying to convey their values to voters, which is how the Republicans have managed to beat us, because we haven't done a very good job of that for the last 30 years. We've unloaded long position papers - that's not something that helps you win elections. What helps you win elections is telling people where you are, and making sure that folks can understand what you're talking about. Most people are not going to understand the complexity of health care, including people like me, who spent a lifetime in health care. It's very difficult and complex stuff. So I understand the frustration from somebody who's most likely an expert in the field, but that's not what campaigns are about. Campaigns are about broad-brush debates.
HD: We need a system where we rotate the primaries. We put four states early, which are geographically and ethnically diverse. It's the first time we've ever done that, and that's a good thing and they're small states. But for states like Maryland, you need to be in a rotation where you're not always the first state and you're not always the last state.
N-L: Another issue important to young adults is health care, and obviously it's important to everybody. The president of Johns Hopkins, William Brody, is a physician, and he comments a lot on this issue nationally. And he went to the National Press Club last month and basically said that neither the media nor the presidential candidates are asking the right questions or saying the right things about health care - they're talking mostly about tax deductions or cost and coverage but not patient care, for example. What do you think about that? Do you think the candidates are asking the right questions and, if so, what are the Democratic candidates talking about that the Republican candidates aren't?
HD: This is one of the problems, with due respect to Dr. Brody, about politics and campaigns. Campaigns are not for education. Those candidates who educate the public are not the candidates who win. This is an incredibly complex area, and I'd be happy to tell you what I personally believe is the right thing to do, although I'm sure it will be at some variance with the candidates. But the fact is that those kinds of discussions are expert discussions, and people do not vote for candidates based on the length of their complicated position papers. What they vote on is their set of values. So it's important to remember that these candidates are trying to convey their values to voters, which is how the Republicans have managed to beat us, because we haven't done a very good job of that for the last 30 years. We've unloaded long position papers - that's not something that helps you win elections. What helps you win elections is telling people where you are, and making sure that folks can understand what you're talking about. Most people are not going to understand the complexity of health care, including people like me, who spent a lifetime in health care. It's very difficult and complex stuff. So I understand the frustration from somebody who's most likely an expert in the field, but that's not what campaigns are about. Campaigns are about broad-brush debates.
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