You seem to have missed the first part of my 'or' statement. I offered "pure politics" as one possibility, not the only one.

It might not have been politics. You seem to be suggesting that Edwards was evincing a genuine emotional reaction. Which I find strange, since Dean had been making that point for months and months as has been documented extensively, so for Edwards to have his emotional epiphany on national television seems awfully convenient. In any case, even if I accept that, then what you're asking me to accept is that Edwards and others who are resentful of Dean-The-Mighty-Northerner are correct in their position that where you come from and what color your skin is matter more than what you say and what policies you espouse. As I said, I find that deplorable.

I went to a couple of very fine educational institutions where I took undergraduate and graduate courses in things like women's studies and religious studies and other liberal arts (and also acquired a couple of technical degrees along the way) and where we talked at length about the complex, interlocking, interrelated issues such as gender, race, and class and how deep and weighty these things are. I've got bell hooks on the bookshelf right next to me.  I agree -- this is deep stuff. But, I also note that all of those ivory tower conversations have solved very few real problems.

You can find fault with Dean's pragmatic approach -- fine. It's what I appreciate most about it him -- the problems this country faces are so deep and so systemic and we are heading in such the wrong direction that I think a heads-down executive problem-solver heading in the right direction (even if not far enough) is exactly the right antidote. I think it's about time we tried just slicing through the knottiness (as someone alluded previously), instead of dancing around filling up bookshelves worth of paper exploring the complexity and rarely actually accomplishing anything.

You assume Dean believes these issues are "one-dimensional," I don't. What I assume is that he actually wants to accomplish something and make forward progress instead of suffering from analysis paralysis.

As for "Dean-colored glasses," that's really not even worthy of a response. If I'd heard Edwards make his "people like you" remark before I knew Howard Dean's name I'd be just as offended. It's appallingly parochial from someone who wants to be a national candidate.