Howard Dean on DNC: ‘It doesn't matter how much enthusiasm there is for Biden’

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who chaired the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009, told Yahoo News Senior Political Correspondent Jon Ward that he believes that, in order to defeat President Trump, Democrats “just have to be decent.” According to Dean, for this week’s Democratic National Convention to be a success, the party doesn’t need to build enthusiastic support for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign; rather, the focus should be on making a strong case against Trump.

Video Transcript

JON WARD: All right, Governor Dean, thank you for speaking with me. I appreciate it, and on a busy day during a busy week. Wanted to start by asking you, what do you think the Biden ticket and the party needs to accomplish this week during the convention?

HOWARD DEAN: What we have to accomplish is to show that there is an alternative to the dishonest mess that happens to be inhabiting the White House right now. All we have to do is be ourselves. I mean, you've got two really competent people. Biden is a very, very decent human being. And I do think people are tired of the circus.

So, you know, our task is not that hard. We just have to be decent. Joe and Kamala have to be decent. They have to show that they're capable, and they have to give reassurance to the Americans who are buffeted by, first of all, COVID, and second of all, the unbelievable dishonesty and-- and craziness of the Trump administration.

JON WARD: You-- you're kind of getting at the whole dynamic that's at play in the election, the questions about whether there's enough enthusiasm for Biden as opposed to against Trump. You know, I-- I noticed on your Twitter feed there was a story that I think you retweeted about Biden voters often just saying, you know, he's fine. Is there-- do you have any concerns about that dynamic as things play out and get more intense and Trump's attacks become more intense?

HOWARD DEAN: Yeah, well, Trump's attacks border on insanity. And I think there-- you know, he's going to have his cult following that worships him no matter what, but that's getting smaller actually. His-- if you look at the number of-- the number of enthusiasm-- the polling for enthusiasm for Trump supporters is enormous. What they didn't tell you in the poll is that his support is getting smaller. It's under 40% now, and I expect it to go down lower than that.

This guy is crazy, and I don't think-- I think Americans have just had it. They're sheltering in place. The economy is going to hell. He's giving huge contracts to all his buddies in the business community. This is insane. And so it doesn't matter how much enthusiasm there is for Biden, although I think-- I'm personally very enthusiastic of Biden. I didn't support him during the primaries because I stayed neutral, but, you know, I-- we just need a restoration of decency and competence.

The other thing I really like about Biden is that he has talked about being a transitional president. He understands that the new generation has to take power, that we are going to have things like universal health care, and he's talked about that. This is the most progressive program the Democratic Party has ever had, so it's going to be a welcome change come January 20.