Howard Dean stumps for Obama at Drake

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By Fred Love | Friday, September 05, 2008 |

VIDEO: Howard Dean Speaks at Drake
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, speaking during a campa…
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DES MOINES — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean claimed Friday that Republicans glossed over substantive policy solutions during the GOP national convention this week to spend time attacking Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Dean spoke at the Drake University campus a day after John McCain accepted the Republican presidential nomination during the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.

Dean said Republicans neglected issues like health care and the economy during the convention.

“I’ll tell you what I didn’t hear at the convention. I did not hear one thing — not one thing — about the struggling families of Iowa who are worried about how to pay college tuition, how to get health care and how to do something about the economy,” he said.

Chris Taylor, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, discussed the economy and energy policy at length during their speeches at the convention.

“I’m sorry that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin laying out the facts about Barack Obama’s slim resume seems to only amount to smears, but the truth is his lack of experience will not qualify him to be commander in chief,” Taylor said.

Dean said Obama has pledged to cut taxes for middle-class Americans, while McCain aims to extend many of President Bush’s economic policies.

“Their plans are to do what they’ve been doing for the last eight years,” he said. “We have had enough of George Bush and Dick Cheney.”

Dean said Obama has reached out to all voters, including evangelical Christians, historically a key bloc for Republican candidates.

But the Democratic Party’s messages on the environment and poverty could sway younger evangelicals, he said.

“Those are Democratic Party issues, and we ought to be able to work with anybody who will work with us on issues that matter to them,” he said.

Dean, a former governor of Vermont who ran for president in 2004, called on the college students who made up the bulk of those in attendance to support Obama as a generational figure who will inspire a new kind of inclusive politics.

That message hit home for many young voters in the audience, said Amanda Hanzlik, a Drake freshman from Stillwater, Minn.

Hanzlik said environmental issues drove her decision to support Obama, and she said she expects a big portion of young voters to turn out on Election Day based on similar concern for the environment.

“It seems that Barack Obama is really a candidate that resonates with a lot of young people,” she said. “I think he’s going to inspire a lot of people to come out and vote.”

Fred Love can be contacted at

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