How hard core is Dean?

For many months now, I’ve firmly believed (as I thiink most observers do) that the Democrats will nominate Howard Dean for president. I’ve also believed that the Howard Dean of 2003 would have little chance of defeating President Bush. However, I’ve assumed that the Dean of 2004 would bear little resemblance to the Dean of 2003 because, once he clinched the nomination, he would move quickly towards the center. The big question for me has been, how seamless will this move be. Clearly, the move cannot not be perfectly seamless, since the current Dean has created a record that will leaves obvious seams. However, because Dean is intelligent, clever, and shrewd, I have tended to believe that Dean can pull off a decent transformation, one that will enable him to make a plausible run, should events fall his way.
But this profile of Dean by David Tell of the Weekly Standard makes me wonder. Tell provides enough evidence to suggest that Dean may find it difficult to “put away his categorical denunciations of the wayward tens of millions, and fashion, in their place, a broader appeal.” To find out why, read this fascinating piece.

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