My big fat mea culpa
I haven't decided to vote for Howard Dean, but after 10 days watching his campaign, I promise never to say he's unelectable again

Choice moments--because they get to the heart of what so many thick-skulled journos keep missing:

You can't get his charisma without seeing him in person. . .

What did I learn? I got enough to let me refute some of the latest media stereotypes about him. He was pretty nice to me for a brusque guy some folks call "mean," given I approached him with a lot of skepticism and I didn't have a scheduled interview. . .

I didn't need alone time with Dean to shed my cynicism about his electability as much as I needed to see his effect on other people. And I saw that at his two San Francisco speeches and the Meetup the next week.

I think this captures something really important, too. The press is obsessed with him being too lefty, and then alternately worried that lefties will discover his a moderate. (A few commenters here voice the same concerns.) They're missing the point. They still don't understand what's driving his appeal. This leftie does:

I ran into Well co-founder, entrepreneur and activist Larry Brilliant, the only other person besides Amy Rao I knew personally, and he was beaming. "Look at this crowd!" he said, marveling at its size and diversity. Later, he explained Dean's appeal in an e-mail. "Liberals like myself may be disappointed to find out he's a fiscal conservative, in the mold of Clinton not FDR, and a moderate on most things -- except this obscene ideological 'coup' of the Bush crowd. But I'm surprised how happy I am that someone is finally calling the emperor on the fact that he has no clothes. I was afraid Bush's deceptions would go unchallenged. That alone makes me love Howard Dean. I also happen to think he can win." ...

 

And here is the flipside:

Of course, Larry Brilliant is exactly the kind of guy you expect to love Howard Dean. Casey Williams isn't. The stocky, friendly meatpacker from tiny Friona, Texas, voted for Ross Perot twice; he was undecided about a candidate for 2004 until he saw Dean at the UFCW's healthcare forum with me at the end of July. He decided right there Dean was the man to beat Bush. "I really didn't know about Dean except from reading the papers a little," Williams explained. "But I liked what he said. He's honest, and he's tough."

But the best of all comes near the end. (Comments from me in brackets.):

Democrats who are dissing the phenomenon are crazy. [Thank you! You don't have to embrace him yourself, but the denial about it happening is just lunacy.] One rival campaign aide called the get-togethers "the bar scene from Star Wars" in the New Republic. Kerry campaign manager Jim Jordan came close to dismissing the whole Dean Internet campaign in Time last week: "It's like watching my 13-year-old daughter instant-messaging," Jordan said. "It's not particularly about politics and policy. It's almost like a reality show." God forbid someone should make politics fun again. [Exactly.]

Finally, an op-ed from someone who grasps what the Dean phenom is all about. Of course it's not by a uninalist, but a poly sci prof. From this morning's Baltimore Sun:

But why Dean? What is it about politicians like Dean and McCain that so excites voters and the media?

Part of the answer is authenticity, a characteristic evident in so few elected officials that citizens find it refreshing, almost intoxicating. Authenticity should not be equated with novelty, likeability or even honesty. An altogether different political trait, authenticity requires a bit of explaining.

...Politicians often pepper their speeches with "the American people want this" or "the American people believe that." Words like these suggest that politicians are not revealing what they really think, that instead they are just responding to polling numbers.

Authentic politicians are different. Not because they listen better or understand America intuitively, but because they lead with their beliefs and their chins - and let the voters and pundits be damned. Authenticity is the political antidote to duplicity and phoniness.

...Many of McCain's followers, when polled, disagreed with a lot of the Arizona senator's votes in Congress. They still liked him.
...Inauthentic politicians who give circuitous answers to avoid offending anybody end up inspiring nobody. Authentic leaders inspire. Instead of pandering, they unapologetically disagree with voters and openly admit they don't know it all - and still ask for their votes. Voters appreciate candor and humility because it's politically authentic.

Then he comes to the key question. Can candidates brandishing the aura of authenticity actually win?

...in 2000 McCain's "Straight Talk Express" ran out of gas against Bush, a governor from a major state with a presidential surname and loads of money. ... Winning candidates need cash and character.

Dean is running as a major party candidate, so he won't have Perot's problem. And thus far he has shown that he can use his authenticity to generate resources even better than McCain did. In fact, every time Dean boldly challenges the prevailing wisdom of his own party or the president's credibility, his poll numbers and campaign contributions shoot up.

And he concludes on a very different note, raising an idea I've been pondering for awhile. Pundits and Dean opponents can't help laughing about a certain Karl Rove crack, but was Rove really dumb enough to show his hand? Rule #1 in his position is to do anything you can to get the weakest opponent nominated:

Karl Rove, Bush's political guru, has let slip that the White House believes Dean would make a weak opponent. Did Rove leak this story line to damage Dean in the primaries because Bush's team views Dean as the most formidable threat to re-election? Maybe Rove recognizes a familiar characteristic in Dean, and knows an authentic challenger when he sees one.

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The Baltimore Sun is also home to columnist Jules Witcover, who has broken with the pack and written a string of insightful comments about the Dean campaign which don't rely on the same old conventional wisdom that always lets us down. I have been posting them each time on my Dean News Clearinghouse, but you can find them all in one place here.