I'm seeing a weird meme that Dean has called for the bill to go down in defeat. It isn't true.
Here's how the meme started. The Hill posted an article that is selectively quoting Howard Dean from an appearance on the Bill Press radio show.
This then was piled onto by Jonathan Chait, in this posting.
And since then it's been accepted as an article of faith that Dean is calling for the bill's defeat. I've seen it on redstate, and even the reclist here is grouping Dean in with Kucinich and others who don't want the bill to pass.
Here's the actual audio from Howard Dean's radio show appearance, judge for yourself. (Sorry, I cannot find a transcript.) This was from March 4th.
What Dean is calling for, on a progressive, liberal radio show, is for adding in the Medicare buy-in. He's focusing in on some details that are fair criticisms, and we all acknowledge that the bill isn't perfect. He's not calling for the defeat of the bill - he'd like it to be improved, but he also supports the bill.
The next day, Howard Dean debated Karl Rove:
He said there are two ways: through the private sector and through the public sector. Dean said he is in favor of combining both ways.
“I support [President Barack Obama’s] bill,” he said. “[But] I don’t like the president’s bill all that much because I think the existing system doesn’t work very well.”
So, sure, it's qualified. But Howard Dean is not an opponent of the bill. He supports it.