The two Howards

Our friends at the Ashbrook Center have posted Professor Andrew Busch’s brilliant column on Howard Dean’s surge: “Howard Dean, the non-fluke.” Professor Busch writes: “The subtle form of anger [in addition to the overt hatred of President Bush] Dean has tapped in the Democratic ranks is aimed not at George W. Bush but at Bill Clinton. Here Dean must tread more carefully, but his appeals to ‘the Democratic wing of the Democratic party’ is a lightly-coded criticism of Clintonism, under which the left wing chafed for eight long years. While Clinton reigned, the true believers were willing to remain largely silent; their many years in the wilderness had taught them the value of winning. When Gore lost in 2000, it became an open question whether the mere promise of victory would be enough any longer to subdue them. Dean

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