The problem of Howard Dean.(politics)

As far as most Democratic politicians are concerned, what Howard Dean should do as chairman of their party is raise large sums of money to spend on their races and otherwise keep quiet. Alas for them, he is not doing either. Dean was supposed to be an innovative fundraiser-he used the Internet to outraise his opponents early in the 2004 Democratic presidential primaries-but so far his haul has been disappointing.

And Dean keeps making incendiary remarks: Tom DeLay should quit Congress and go to jail; Republicans don't mind early closing times for voting because many of them don't work an honest day; Republicans are evil; he hates Republicans; the Republican party is a "white Christian" party that is bigoted toward everyone else.

Now in point of fact, the Republican party does draw disproportionately from the majority of the country that is both white and Christian, as the Democratic party does from the minority of the country that is not. But it is hard to imagine Ken Mehlman, Dean's Republican counterpart, complaining that the Democratic party is a party for Jews, blacks, and agnostics. And it is hard to see how insulting and attacking people who have not been voting for Democrats will persuade them to start.

Many Democrats wince when Dean makes these remarks. So far, the list of Democrats who have rebuked Dean includes Barney Frank, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Nancy Pelosi, and Rahm Emanuel. These Democrats span the spectrum of the party. It is not just conservative Democrats who object to Dean's rantings; it is Democrats who are concerned about their party's future. They are well aware that while Republicans have ...