E-Mail This Article to a Friend Campaign 2004 Howard Dean stays calm and plays both sides on MSNBC BY ADAM REILLY

There are two things Howard Dean needs to do to become president. He has to keep appealing to progressive Democratic voters who see him as a straight-talking populist in the mold of the late Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone. At the same time, Dean has to reach out to swing voters who might think he’s too angry or that his views tend too far to the left. It won’t be easy. If Dean starts selling himself to independents and conservative Democrats too soon or too aggressively, his progressive base could desert him during the primaries. But if Dean waits too long to court moderates — or isn’t convincing enough when he does so — his image as a hectoring, volatile lefty could be hard to shake in a general-election campaign.

So how’s Dean going to manage these competing priorities? The answer was previewed last night during an episode of MSNBC’s Hardball, filmed at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In a strong performance, Dean — who’s occasionally appeared grumpy and combative during the Democratic presidential debates — came across as thoughtful and poised, weathering aggressive questioning from host Chris Matthews and several students without losing his cool. Just as important, he genuflected to middle-of-the-road voters who may not yet be sold on a Dean presidential candidacy while simultaneously dispensing several doses of the liberal populism that’s helped make him the Democratic front-runner.

Matthews began the show by explicitly addressing Dean’s temperament. "If we elect you president, when can we count on the geyser going off?" Matthews asked. "Probably not very often, actually," Dean replied casually, then shifted the discussion to the civil-unions bill he signed as governor of Vermont. If Dean becomes the nominee, it’s an issue that’s sure receive a great deal of discussion, with George W. Bush’s campaign likely to portray Dean as an Extreme Liberal Out of Touch with Mainstream America. Dean’s working on his own script, however, and it may be an effective one. While staunch supporters of gay marriage might object to his description last night of Vermont’s civil-unions bill as "a bill that allows gay couples to have the same rights as everybody else" — after all, it doesn’t allow the right of marriage — Dean’s characterization generated a torrent of applause. Lest that sound too radical, however, Dean went on to say that Vermont eschewed legalizing gay marriage out of deference to certain individuals’ religious convictions, and that decisions on the definition and scope of marriage should be made at the state and not the federal level. In two minutes’ time, Dean had made distinct overtures overtures to gay-rights advocates, religious conservatives, and opponents of big government.

That was the night in a microcosm. Throughout the hour-long session, Dean gave moderates clear signals he could be their candidate while assuring members of his liberal base that they hadn’t been forgotten. Pressed by Matthews to describe his conception of the United States’ role in the international community, Dean said he believed that the US should serve as a moral exemplar for the rest of the planet —then deftly claimed that Bush’s my-way-or-the-highway approach was limiting our ability to do so. Dean also took a shot at the Bush administration’s economic plan and acceptance of deficit spending, telling Matthews that he’s a fiscal conservative compared to the president. Later in the show, however, Dean played the part of an economic populist, railing against the practical and spiritual effects of corporate consolidation and vowing he’ll be a latter-day trustbuster if elected.

The evening wasn’t a complete success, however. As lengthy and incisive questioning from Matthews demonstrated, Dean still doesn’t have a convincing pitch to make on his Vietnam draft exemption, which was granted due to a bad back. (As many people know, Dean spent the year after receiving his deferment skiing. While he maintains his activity on the slopes didn’t aggravate his condition, it’s hard, in retrospect, to imagine a poorer choice.) Under pressure from Matthews, Dean conceded that he had been relieved not to serve in Vietnam, but argued that a young man from a lower income bracket and of a different race would have received a deferment as well if he suffered from the same medical condition. Dean’s ability to stay calm and not become defensive was impressive, but his explanations, while candid, were awkward at best. But maybe, given the circumstances, that’s the way it has to be.

All in all, it was a good showing, one that allowed Dean to showcase his savvy and make a case for his oft-disputed electibility. Even so, at least one Dean supporter seemed slightly disappointed afterward. "Governor Dean needs room to uncork his message, and this kind of a format doesn’t give him a lot of time to answer each individual question," said Philip Edmundson, a 45-year-old master’s student at the Kennedy School who wore a Dean button on his jacket. "He’s much more persuasive when he has that ability to speak from a platform—to expound about it, to lengthen it, to deepen it."