Dean and Hackett

I like half of Howard Dean's reaction:

"I think there was some skullduggery in Washington, that was going on, which I don't approve of. And I frankly think that's a shortcoming of the Democratic Party."

I would agrue that it's not only a shortcoming of the Democratic Party, but politics in general. A candidate not accepted by the party on either side (see, Harris, Katherine) is going to generate any number of calls for dropping out and the search for replacements, etc.

But back to Dean, his first statement would have sufficied. In this instance, there was a problem with the way the party handled things. I think everyone would find the truth there and move on from the story. But by adding his second statement, he's implicated that this happens all the time, and is a strctly Democratic phenomenom.

But that's the danger (and the reward) of Howard Dean. He's going to say what he thinks, and he's not going to stop short. So while you get some good, you're also going to hear some bad as well.

I'd be interested to hear Howard Dean talk about more of this sort of skullduggery that's going on and what he, as DNC chair, is doing to stop it. That would be part of his roll, right?