OxBlog

# Posted 10:01 PM by Ariel David Adesnik

HOWARD DEAN IS REALLY, REALLY RICH: Does it matter that a populist insurgent has a house in the Hamptons and a net worth of $4 million? Strictly speaking, no. But if you resent George Bush for pretending to be a corner-store Texan, you can't let Howard Dean off the hook for his own embrace of political theater. While Dean still has a ways to go before he reaches Bushian levels of faux populism, this issue is probably worth watching.

While we're on the issue of character, I think it's worth mentioning that documents given to the NYT show that presidential politics were, in fact, behind Howard Dean's decision to seal his gubernatorial records in Vermont. While Dean admitted as much last January, he then described his admission as a bit of unserious humor just last week.

What is it with this guy? Is he really so opportunistic that he can't remember what he says from one month to the next? (Cf. NAFTA) While one could dismiss all these examples as nothing more than minor gaffes, I think that they will hurt Dean because so much of his support stems from resentment of how George Bush sometimes plays fast and loose with the facts. If he doesn't occupy the moral high ground, Dean will have a hard time presenting himself as an alternative to Bush.

Finally, the WaPo has a fair and balanced assessment of the former Vermont governor up on its editorial page. The WaPo hopes that the old DLC/mainline Democrat who governed Vermont will re-emerge once the anti-war activist on the campaign trail wraps up the nomination.

Strangely, Matt Yglesias suggests that the WaPo's preference for a DLC candidate rather than a McGovernite demonstrates that there is no such thing as liberal media bias. If the WaPo endorses Bush in November, Matt might have a point.

UPDATE: Another day, another Deanism. Unsurprisingly, Dean has already issued an apology explaining why he isn't the sort of McGovernite as his initial statement made him out to be.

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