I was a big Howard Dean supporter, and I REALLY bummed after Iowa.
What drove me crazy was the strategy that followed.
He was in striking distance in Maine and Washington, and victories would have kept him in the race, and put Edwards out.
Expending next to no effort in either of those states
He might not have won, but his rush to draw a line in the sand in Wisconsin made no sense. It allowed Kerry's momentum to build, and demoralized his supporters, particularly in Maine and Washington.
I was banging my head over this in 2004, and now, almost two years later, there's a part of me that wonders.
After all, he ran as a long shot, and his signature issue was supposed to be health care, but the war catapulted him to rock star status, and I'm wondering if maybe he decided that it wasn't worth it.