July 7, 2003 5:44 AM

Is Howard Dean electable?

THE CONTENDERS : Howard Dean- Short-Fused Populist, Breathing Fire at Bush

So who is Howard Dean, and why is he suddenly becoming the darling of left-wing Democrats? If being vehemently and vigorously anti-Bush is enough to get oneself elected President, then Dean is off to a flying start.

The question, though, is if there is any substance behind the anger and the vitriol. It's still an open question, but fortunately it's still early.

Although he first gained notice for opposing the war in Iraq, these days Dean likes to hammer the "radical right-wing wacko" Bush administration on nearly every issue. President Bush is all wrong, he says: wrong on the economy, wrong on the environment, wrong on health care and affirmative action and peace and justice for all.

Dean talks about this every chance he gets, gets worked up about it nearly as often and sweeps along his audience -- largely deeply anti-Bush -- every time.

He says he is running for president because he is too upset at the direction the country is heading not to do something about it. Howard Brush Dean III, 54, a Park Avenue-bred medical doctor, is the Democrats' angry Everyman, heading to Washington to make things right.

"This sounds very idealistic and naive," he said on a hot afternoon in Iowa between sweaty rounds of house parties, "but we're going to lose our country if somebody doesn't do something idealistic. When I say that a lot of Democrats are more mad at the Democrats than at the Republicans, I get a lot of nods. This party has made a fundamental mistake in not challenging the administration."

Anger and idealism will only take one so far. At some point, Dean is going to have to let us know who he is and what he stands for. He may well turn out to be eminently electable. I'm hoping that this might turn out to be the case. Right now, though, I just don't know anything about Howard Dean.

The reason I haven't thrown my support behind any Democrat yet is that none of them have explained to my satisfaction what they plan to do. Thankfully, it's still early in the process, but at some point someone needs to spill the particulars- otherwise Shrub won't need to steal Florida this time around.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 7, 2003 5:44 AM.

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