Dean on the money... still

Recent reports suggest that Democrats are a bit unhappy with Howard Dean's fifty state strategy, a strategy I approve of here.

Here's another reason Democrats need to be on the ground and active in all fifty states - you never know when the stars will align:

All five of the states polled - Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida - went to Bush in the 2004 presidential election by margins ranging from 58 percent in South Carolina and Georgia to 52 percent in Florida.

Less than 18 months later, Bush isn't even close to majority approval in any of those states.

"For him not to even break (50 percent), not to even approach it, says all you need to say," said Hunter Bacot, an Elon political science professor and director of the poll. "In five 'red' states that have been ardent supporters of Bush, he can't even approach 50 percent."

Any Republican incumbents in these states running at any level will feel some of the Bush backlash, and getting folks active in the south is certainly going to help Democrats take some of these seats. And that, as I've said, will lead to bigger wins in the future.