Is Dean the un-Clinton?

This piece by Andrew Cline for National Review Online caught my eye. Its thesis is that Howrd Dean is the Democratic anti-Clinton. This, says Cline, explains the unexpected strength of his candidacy as much as his early anti-war stance. Cline is correct, I think, when he says:
“It is easy for the Right to demonize the Left as a bunch of power-hungry opportunists, but at the Left’s core are plenty of romantics who get misty-eyed at the thought of an honest, well-meaning president who actually wants to provide health insurance to the poor by raising taxes on those evil corporations. Burned by Clinton, these romantic liberals (and left-leaning independents) want a presidential candidate who gives off no Clinton-like signals. All of the other potentially viable candidates remind the Left of Clinton to one degree or another, and this sets off that inner alarm.”
Less clear is whether Dean actually has as little of Clinton in him as Cline suggests. Cline is a New Hampshire newspaperman, and undoubtedly knows more about Dean than most. However, Mark Steyn, who also lives in New Hampshire, has written that the Dean he sees on the campaign trail bears lilttle resemblance to the Dean who govened Vermont. I’m hoping that we’ll never have the opportunity to learn how Dean would govern the U.S., but it should be interesting to see if he remains the un-Clinton if he captures the nomination.

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