I finally recognize why Dean augered in so rapidly. He motivated the Democratic base to action, and deserves praise for that. However, he was too dangerous and therefore needed to be destroyed. He ran against party politics as much as he ran against Bush, and so the Democrats had to bag him and put in someone more palatable to their special interests.

Strangely enough, for all the press coverage labelling him as a hothead, he managed to get re-elected several times as Governor with a Republican-majority legislature, demonstrating a deeper personality than the caricature presented to us . He also managed to shepherd significant health care reform through said Republican-majority legislature over the many years of his multiple terms.

However, I came to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Dean died on the vine because the electorate can stomach the man who is the front-runner, and know Kerry has a broader appeal than Dean. Kerry is damaged goods, but only slightly. Besides, he is our damaged goods. I'd rather have Democrat tax-and-spend over GOP spend-with-out-any-money.

I'll gladly take Kerry over Bush, even though I'm still going to vote for Dean in the primary (barring changes to the choices.) However, Kerry isn't a bad choice, and I understand those who are already jumping ship.