Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean Monday night defended his stance on gay civil unions, which he signed into law when he was governor of Vermont, but said the issue of same-sex marriages should be left to the states.
Dean talked about the issue during a live broadcast of ‘Hardball with Chris Matthews’ at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The interview came on the same day as the release of Dean’s new book, ‘Winning Back America.’
Matthews opened the show by asking Dean to define the fine line between gay civil unions and gay marriage a topic that has received national attention after last month’s controversial Supreme Judicial Court ruling permitting gay marriages in Massachusetts.
Despite the fact that Dean is a strong proponent of gay relationships and signed civil union legislation into Vermont state law in 2001, he said he did not want to address the issue of same-sex marriages because the word ‘marriage’ involves religious connotations.
The Vermont law ‘allows [gay] couples to have the same rights’ as heterosexual couples, Dean said.
‘The bill says same-sex couples may have the same rights, but we felt that it was important for equal rights to involve the law,’ he said.
Dean also said the gay marriage debate should be an issue taken up by state governments and not by the federal government.
‘I think equal rights under the law are part of the American dream, and it is a decision made on a state-by-state basis,’ he said. ‘Marriage is not a federal issue.’
Matthews also asked Dean what he thought of the situation in Iraq.
Dean commended President George W. Bush’s Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad, but said Bush has treated American soldiers poorly in general
‘I think that the president did a great thing by going to Baghdad on Thanksgiving,’ he said. ‘But he hasn’t served our troops all that well.’
Dean claimed that both extending the troops’ time abroad and cutting soldiers’ benefit packages damaged their morale two counts against Bush’s handling of American troops in Iraq.
Dean also dodged questions about his failing a 1971 physical for the Vietnam War draft. Matthews presented Dean a New York Times article that said Dean brought paperwork from a doctor to the draft board intending to get an exemption from the draft.
Dean initially tried to talk around the question but admitted to bringing a doctor’s note regarding back problems to the board. Because of the note, Dean was not drafted for the Vietnam War.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dominated the fourth segment of the program, during which Dean said he favored an ‘even-handed policy’ on Israel.
‘We need to be heavily involved in the peace process,’ Dean said. He suggested that former president Bill Clinton be an American ambassador to the Middle East.
Matthews then shifted gears and asked Dean how he would handle the Federal Communications Commission’s recent deregulation measures, specifically whether or not Dean would break up large media conglomerates such as FOX and General Electric/NBC.
Dean criticized the FCC’s recent decision and offered his own view on media ownership.
‘I want accountability this administration is not doing anything,’ he said. ‘I would reverse deregulation laws … we need a wide range of opinions. I would break up the giant media movement. There has to be a limitation on how media can penetrate a community.’
Dean also said he would support bilateral negotiations to defuse nuclear standoffs with North Korea and Iran. He said Bush had wasted over 15 months by doing nothing about a situation in North Korea, one Dean said he believed could be resolved.
But before wrapping up the program, Dean faced tough questions from audience members regarding his transparency Harvard students questioned the content of numerous sealed Vermont records pertaining to Dean’s time as Vermont governor.
One question challenged his decision not to attend a post-show press conference at Harvard. When asked what he would do to improve civics education, Dean responded, ‘Get out and vote.’
Matthews ended the interview informally, and asked Dean’s favorite movie, musician and his heroes.
Dean said his favorite movie is ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and Wyclef Jean is in his CD player. Dean said his heroes are George Washington and Harry Truman.
Dean was the sixth presidential candidate to appear on Matthews’ show. Former Gen. Wesley Clark will be the seventh and final candidate to be part of MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’ series broadcast live from Harvard on Dec. 8.
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