Howard Dean, the erstwhile governor of Vermont and Democratic presidential hopeful, stopped by the offices of The New York Sun yesterday for a chat. While the press have styled Dr. Dean the “anti-war” horse in the Democratic primary race, we found far more interesting what the governor has to say for himself on matters domestic. It’s not often these days that you hear a Democrat arguing for states’ rights, but that’s just what Dr. Dean did. “I’m fairly big on states’ ability to do their own thing,” he said. Maybe it’s a side effect of being a governor, as opposed to a legislator like most of his rivals.

What’s Dr. Dean’s opinion of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act? It’s an “unfunded mandate.” He calls it the “No School Board Left Standing Act.” Education, he said, is a matter better left to the states. Does he favor tort reform to lower insurance premiums? It’s a state issue. Gun control? He supports what gun control laws are in place, but thinks that states should set up their own regimes. In Vermont, he received high marks from the National Rifle Association — a good thing in a rural state where people love their guns (as, for the record, do many in urban states). But other states might want tighter controls, he said.

It’s hard to know if Dr. Dean’s commitment to federalism is genuine. On the issue of health care, he’s happy to have the federal government override the states and make Medicaid a “middle class entitlement” available to anyone under 25.

The Green Mountain governor said that Mr. Bush should focus on the North Korean threat before worrying about Iraq. But his suggestion for how to deal with North Korea is simply to open up bilateral negotiations — no threat of force, just more appeasement. He argued that America needs the United Nations’ permission to liberate Iraq because Iraq doesn’t present an immediate danger to America. It’s hard to imagine this view remaining intact were Dr. Dean actually to win the White House. He acknowledges that Saddam Hussein does pose an immediate threat to his neighbors, including Israel. Will he pledge, then, American support for Israel should it launch a unilateral attack on Iraq?

Overall, though, Dr. Dean strikes us as an interesting horse in the Democratic field. In a small group, the man from Montpelier is much more Bush-like than Clinton- or Gorelike. He answers questions in a laconic but friendly New England manner, rather than pontificating or lecturing. He’s making the rounds of New York to meet the thinkers and campaign givers in the city, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him start to pick up some support from the Democrats around town.