I'm watching Dean's California Democratic Party speech from last May (March?). I hadn't seen it before, and I was struck by two things.
- Dean is actually surprisingly gracious in his attacks on the DC Dems. He says straight out that they are fine people who have served this country honorably, but because of their votes (Iraq, etc.) he thinks we won't win against Bush. Nothing personal, nothing mean, strictly focused on the issues. He says clearly that he'll support and work very hard for whoever is the nominee.
- He's just on fire, revving up the crowd, looking and sounding like an absolute rock star. I'm left wondering what the hell the other guys were thinking not taking him seriously. How is it possible that they waited until six months later to deal with the threat to their candidacies from Dean.