Dean Tells Dems to Stick to Convictions

In a speech today at George Washington University, Mad Howard Dean urged Democrats not to compromise their principles, not to move to the center, but to emulate the politics of Michael Moore and Howard Dean. Okay, he didn’t exactly say “the politics of Michael Moore and Howard Dean,” but he might as well have. I love this internal debate Dems are having.

I wrote earlier about Al From and friends urging Dems to the center; now Howard is pulling them back leftward. I don’t think either plan will work. The Dean plan won’t because the country isn’t quite that crazy yet, and hopefully is even getting saner. The Al From plan won’t work either, though, because that’s not who Dems are anymore and they don’t have anyone (like Bill Clinton) capable of fooling enough people otherwise.

Just when the Dems thought Republicans were imploding from within over conflicting approaches to the intelligence reform bill, Dems have already one-upped the GOP in the disharmony department. We’re sure to see more of this debate as Dem players, like Dean, begin to compete for the DNC chairmanship. But then again Terry McAwful’s lead boots are going to be pretty tough to fill.