Political Snapshot

The Dems, Now Dancing to His Tune

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(Via washingtonpost.com.)

As the Democratic presidential race turns into the political equivalent of the Battle of the Somme, lots of Democrats are glaring at the party’s nominal leader, Howard Dean. The Democratic National Committee chairman (and 2004 White House hopeful) has not been able to force the race to a close or to fix a mess he helped create by tossing out the results of primaries in Michigan and Florida after their state parties violated DNC rules by jumping toward the front of the line in the campaign season. In 2004, Dean famously screamed at Democrats; in 2008, plenty of Democrats are screaming right back.

But Democrats have some good reasons to stop kicking Dean around. You don’t hear the word “prescient” used very often to describe the much-maligned chairman, but one can make a pretty plausible case that his six years on the national Democratic scene have had a significant impact on his party — on machinery, message and methods. If the Democrats win in 2008, they may come to thank Dr. Dean for providing the medicine that cured some of the party’s ills.

Full article here.