There was a college experiment I once read about where a college class secretly agreed to make eye contact with their professor whenever he neared or stood on a certain spot on the stage (without him knowing). They would all look away whenever he moved away from an exact spot on the floor. Over time the professor gradually came to give his entire lecture standing in one exact spot without ever moving- and without ever being conscious of what the class was doing. This, I feel is what has happened to Howard Dean.
When I first met him and started following him was when he was Governor from a nearby state (I was in Maine at the time). He was eloquent, articulate, and had a great vision about fiscal conservatism and social liberalism- a rare combination. Then the war happened and people started cheering whenever he spoke out against it. The louder and more critically he spoke out the more they cheered- so he spoke even louder and more critically. Over time the crowds came and pretty soon he was yelling.
Time passed and again and again he found the more he yelled the more response he got. At some point it peaked and some people were like, ok quit yelling. He noticed the crowds weren't responding quite as much, so he did what any person who's heard of Pavlov will tell you he did-he yelled even louder.
That speech last night- I think that was him frozen in that spot like the professor. Only the yelling is now screaming and its driving people away in droves. He needs to stop, walk up into the crowd, and have a conversation again. Can he do it again?
I don't know, something tells me that a cheering crowd is like heroin- you lose all sight of everything except the next hit. Recovery starts with a single step. Walk out into that crowd again Dr. Dean, I'm waiting for 6 more days and then I'm gone...