Hundreds of supporters turned out to welcome presidential candidate Howard Dean to Chicago last week. At one event, at The Landmark on Randolph Street, about 300 people listened to Dean speak about his vision for America.
A Democrat, Dean told the crowd that he wants to reclaim the Democratic Party for the Democrats. He said he believes his opponents are all too similar to the Republicans—including on the recent tax cut and the war.
Dean said he opposed the war with Iraq primarily because it changed the way the U.S. has treated its foreign policy—to become one of pre-emption. He said this change in doctrine means that other countries will follow Bush's lead and have a lower threshold of what an 'imminent threat' is to their own nation.
Pres. Hopeful Dean in Chicago
Dean was governor of Vermont when that state became the first (and still only) state to have anything resembling same-sex marriage. The Civil Unions law was heralded as a first step toward equality for couples.
Dean was inclusive in his Chicago remarks, and there were a few GLBTs in the audience. He said Republicans seek to divide groups of people, including based on sexual orientation. 'I want to renew the social contract,' Dean said, and that includes GLBTs.
On Saturday, April 26, there will be three fundraisers for Howard Dean in the Chicago area to mark the three-year anniversary of his signing the Civil Unions bill into law.
The fundraisers will be held in Chicago in the Lincoln Square neighborhood, in Skokie and in Naperville. Call (773) 531-6751, (847) 677-2472, or (630) 288-2254; or see groups.yahoo.com/group/illinois_for_dean/ .