Its difficult to write

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It’s difficult to write anything about Howard Dean without Dean’s fans thinking you’re bashing him — except, of course, if you’re adoring him or cheering him on.

Having said that, a few more thoughts about the Gore endorsement.

Normally, these sorts of endorsements don’t count for that much. But the real story about this primary race is how much the national Democratic electorate remains pretty much untilled ground.

The upshot of this endorsement is that the first serious impression that a lot of Democrats will get of Dean will be that Al Gore is supporting him. And that seems like an awfully big deal, especially since it plays favorably to Dean’s chief perceived weaknesses — namely, that he’s a weak general election candidate.

I’ve always been a big fan of Gore’s and I remain one, a strong one. But I was talking to a friend this evening about Gore’s announcement and he said that Gore’s endorsement wouldn’t be all positive since a lot of people are still pissed at Gore for what happened in 2000.

But I think that’s very much a DC reaction, and not one, I think, that’s shared very widely among Democrats around the country. Whatever they thought of Gore going into 2000, I think most Democrats around the country see him as someone who by every measure was robbed of the presidency and thus has great credibility to make such an endorsement. (It’s an estimation I agree with.)

I’ve always thought this race would quickly settle down to Dean versus some other candidate who turns out to be the anti-Dean. I think this will greatly accelerate that process, thus providing a benefit to whomever that anti-Dean candidate turns out to be. But it’s not clear to me that any of the candidates in the race have generated the traction to move into that role and make something of it. One or perhaps two are positioned to manage it — but the jury is out.

I’m sure (and in some cases know) that the other campaigns are spluttering in their efforts at a response. And I’m reminded that short term reactions to such announcements almost always overstate their significance.

And as far as analogies to previous election cycles, I’m reminded of a line from the great historian Edmund Morgan who once wrote: (and I’m roughly paraphrasing here) History never repeats itself. It only seems like it does to those who don’t know the details.

Brilliant.

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