Hugh Hewitt thinks that being a cybercampaign has made the Deaniacs too insular, insulating them from reality.
The nuttiest 1 percent of the American electorate is going to number around 1 million voters. Gather those people in one place, let them talk to each other and cheer each other on, and they are going to begin to assume that their 1 percent is much more numerous than it is, much more powerful, much more authentic than the 99 percent not at the rally.
This appears to be happening among the Deaniacs. They believe themselves to be far more numerous than they are, and to think that their self-referential assurances of virtue and victory carry weight beyond their chat rooms.
Someone over at Free Republic commented that the Dean campaign is just “one extended flash mob.” I think that’s a good characterization.