Whether you like Howard Dean or not, you cannot deny he is a man of his word. Speaking the other day in Jackson, Mississippi, the new DNC boss said, "The way we're going to win elections in this country is not to become Republican lite. The way we're going to win elections in this country is to stand up for what we believe in."
Not the kind of talk you were likely to hear from Terry Mcauliffe, candidate Gore in 2000 or candidate Kerry in 2004.
Dean is a smart guy. He knows the massiveness of the machine he's up against.
The questions are:
1. Can Dean build an organization that can win back the senate and the WH? That means victories with margins big enough to overcome factors like Deibold and Ken Blackwell.
2. Can Dean raise the serious amounts of cash needed to fuel such an organization?
3. Can Dean use his leverage to help fund liberal media beyond Air America, Pacifica, and the blogs? This is key to helping reach the majority of Americans (who, according to the latest NYT/CBS poll, think Bush is out of step with American values) who would likely vote Dem if they weren't being lied to on a daily basis by their news outlets.