Howard Dean shared with us a few choice thoughts about George "Macaca" Allen yesterday on Hardball.
DEAN: I served with George Allen when he was governor. I don‘t think he belongs in public service, to be honest with you. There are Republicans who are capable and smart, thoughtful people, and he‘s not one of them. So you know, the people in Virginia are going to do what they want to do, but I...
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DEAN: I think you should vote for the Democrats because there‘s a clear difference. We believe the war was a mistake, along with most of the rest of the American people. We believe that the president wasn‘t telling the truth, along with a majority of the rest of the American people. And we do not believe, as the president has repeatedly said, that these troops ought to be staying and let‘s leave this problem for the next president. This president created this problem. He needs to deal with this problem.
MATTHEWS: There‘s two interpretations of what Senator John McCain said yesterday when he talked about the president saying it would be a day at the beach going into Iraq. Either he was misinforming us, knowing better, or he knew less and he was misinformed himself. Which reading do you take on it?
DEAN: I don‘t pretend to know what goes on inside Senator McCain‘s mind or the president‘s.
We can remember Secretary Rumsfeld saying that the oil revenues would pay for all of this. We can remember the vice president saying we would be greeted with open arms as a liberator. Those things just simply aren‘t so.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about this thing in Virginia. The president is going to be at Ed Gillespie‘s house over in Virginia tonight, actually. That‘s across the Potomac here. He‘s going to be helping to raise money for George Allen.
Are you satisfied with George Allen‘s apology to the young man, Sidharth, for having called him Macaca?
DEAN: I served with George Allen when he was governor. I don‘t think he belongs in public service, to be honest with you. There are Republicans who are capable and smart, thoughtful people, and he‘s not one of them. So you know, the people in Virginia are going to do what they want to do, but I...
MATTHEWS: You make him sound like a knucklehead. Is that what you think?
DEAN: I‘m not going to use those kinds of words.
MATTHEWS: In other words, you‘re saying he doesn‘t belong in public service, because of why?
DEAN: Because he‘s always shooting from the hip. He never thinks through what he means, and he caters to the wrong instincts in people. And I think using derogatory terms to people of color is certainly something that a public servant might not do.
MATTHEWS: Do you know what Macaca means?
DEAN: Yes, I do.
MATTHEWS: What does it mean?
DEAN: You know what it means as well as I do. It refers to a monkey, and it‘s also a racial epithet used in some parts of the world.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about the Lieberman campaign: If Joe Lieberman wins this general election, he‘s on the ballot as of today...
DEAN: And let me just say...
MATTHEWS: If he wins, will you accept him as a Democrat again? Is he allowed to come back like the prodigal son?
DEAN: Let me add one thing to the Allen controversy. We happen to have a great Democratic candidate who is only three points behind George Allen, and his name is Jim Webb. Served in the Reagan administration with distinction. There is a Democrat that the people of Virginia can be proud of, and the people of Virginia can vote for.