Dean on Face the Nation

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- "Today on Face the Nation, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean thoughtfully laid out the Democratic Party's positive agenda for America in four simple words: we can do better. He answered tough questions from host Bob Schieffer and the Washington Post's John Harris on a number different topics, including:

Iraq:
"The question is, what is a reasonable way to get out? And that's - we have no answers from the President on that at all. He keeps - his Administration appears divided. Some of the generals have said we can withdraw some of the troops, perhaps as many as 30,000 after the elections. We have others saying, we're not going to leave. These people do not know what they are doing. They didn't know what they were doing when we got in, they had no plan then, they have no plan now. ... The President and people like Secretary Rumsfeld are ignoring the career experts like the general who told them before we went in that we needed adequate equipment and troops. ... The President of the United States is the Commander-in-Chief. It is up to him to come up with a plan. ... The President got us into Iraq because people were willing to trust the President, even Democrats were willing - some Democrats were willing to trust the President in assuming he knew what he was doing. The problem is now that there's ample evidence that says that they didn't understand what they were getting into. They still don't know what we're doing there. They change their goals, the troops are still not properly equipped, the constitution looks like it may take away freedom from the Iraqi people -- at least half of them -- instead of add to them. What we need is a plan from the President of the United States."

Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts:
"Here are my concerns about Judge Roberts. He seems to be an engaging personality which certainly helps, because judicial temperament matters. .. I know something about this. I actually appointed large numbers of judges when I was Governor. That's one of the first things you always look for. Judge Roberts has judicial temperament. What he does not have is apparently the interest of civil rights, at least judging on his early writings. He does not have as much sympathy for young women and girls in terms of sports under Title IX. What he does not have is a full understanding of why the Voting Rights Act is necessary. He took the far-right position in the Reagan Administration, which he ultimately lost inside the Administration. What he does not have yet is the credibility he needs - he needs to explain how he denied being in the Federalist Society, when the Federalist Society was touting him as a leader in that society. So, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. These can only be answered if the White House will release documents."

NARAL Television Advertisement:
"I'm not even going to get into that. I'll tell you why: There's been a lot of stuff that's gone too far. And, the Republicans really are great authors of that kind of stuff. This is a diversion. The issue is, will the White House release the documents so that we can find out who Judge Roberts really is? Judge Roberts is likely to be on the bench for perhaps as many as three decades. That is a very important to the American people. We need to know who this man is and what he believes before he's confirmed."

Democratic Message:
"We can do better. We'll do better in the deficits. Only president who balanced the budget in the last 40 years: Bill Clinton. We need a balanced budget. Harry Truman, 1948, health insurance for all Americans. We need to keep that pledge. We need a strong defense that's compatible with working with our allies and not going off half-cocked without understanding what we're getting into."-from the DNC press release.