WASHINGTON - Democrats elected Howard Dean chairman of their national party on Saturday, casting their lot with a skilled fund-raiser and organizer whose sometimes caustic, blunt comments can lead to controversy.

"The way I hope to deal with that problem, is not to abandon our core principles, but talk about them in a different way," he said. Democrats are not pro-abortion, but "we are the party in favor of allowing women to make up their own minds about their health care," Dean, a physician, said. Democrats are not for gay marriage, but "we are the party that has always believed in equal rights under the law for all people," he said. "We are the party of moral values," Dean said. "There is nothing moral about cutting 300 million dollars that is used to feed starving children."