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Liberal? What liberal?
BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN
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Former Vermont governor Howard Dean has been painted as the progressive choice for the presidency, which amuses the true "Birkenstock liberals" in the Green Mountain State — like Ralph Montefusco, labor organizer and environmental activist. "I’ve known Howard for 15 years," Montefusco says. "We’re amazed to see the national media paint him as a liberal." Montefusco used to work at IBM’s computer-chip plant in Burlington, but left to devote his time to the Alliance@IBM, an ongoing attempt to unionize IBM’s high-tech workforce. "Personally I do support Howard’s bid," he says from his Colchester home. "I look at the field and see Howard Dean standing head and shoulders above them." But that doesn’t mean Montefusco sees the candidate as a progressive liberal. "When he came into office he was very, very pro-business," he says. "Over the years I’ve seen him become much more conscious of labor issues." That included an important stand in favor of nurses seeking to organize at Fletcher Allen Health Care earlier this year — a public stand that Montefusco believes helped the effort succeed. Nevertheless, Dean has disappointed Montefusco by declining to support the IBM effort. Montefusco was political-committee chair for the Vermont Sierra Club in 2000, when that group chose not to endorse Dean in a three-way gubernatorial campaign that featured a leftist alternative. Montefusco says that his committee was torn; some liked Dean’s land-conservation efforts, while others were critical of his record on water quality and runoff. Montefusco does confirm the image of Dean as a blunt, straight talker. "I’ve had meetings where he’s said, ‘I understand what you’re saying, but I disagree.’" He also has a word to the wise for Dean’s opponents in the Democratic primaries. "He has a very sharp mind, never doubt that," Montefusco says. "The political landscape in Vermont is littered with people who have underestimated Howard Dean."
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