Howard Dean vindicated

Understand that I'm not a Democrat nor am I likely to ever become one. However I do admire Howard Dean, have met him (at a book signing) and watched him debate Richard Perle a year and a half ago. And I also very much wanted him to be the 2004 Democratic nominee.

That said, it seems to me that Howard Dean has been vindicated on several fronts.

1. I don't see how the Democrats could have accomplished what they just accomplished yesterday without Dean's strategy of contesting every race.

2. It seems to me that the 2004 Rovian spin about Dean being a far Leftist who is outside of the mainstream, which many, many Democrats promptly bought into, has proven to be bunk. As head of the DNC I think Dean deserves some of the credit for yesterday's results on that basis alone.

3.His record as Governor of Vermont, the only record he has as an elected politician, is decidedly reasonable. One might even call it moderate or centrist. And with the airwaves full of pundits commenting on the "rise of the moderates" to exact vengence upon the radical right I think there is a certain corrolation between Dean's actual record, his current position with the DNC and how many Republicans are hunting for new jobs now. With just under half of voters nationwide reportedly self-identifying as "moderates" in exit polls I don't see how anyone can fail to connect the dots on this.