Howard Fineman thinks so.

Of course, unlike Mark Steyn, Howard Fineman, being a good Democrat, is scared to death that Dean will get the nomination, because he knows that while few Dems have the slightest hope of beating Bush, Dean has none.

Thus, we're already seeing the schism within the Democrat Party (including the liberal media) over who's going to carry their banner next year. We have those who either have no hope or are delusional, versus those who know the odds are low, but want to give it their best shot.

It will be fascinating to see who wins out. It may be almost as fascinating as Chicago in 1968...

I backed McGovern back in the day ('72). He was worht going down with the ship for, even though he never stood a prayer. I don't get Dean. I don't know what he stands for, really, and I don't think he's work anybody's self-immolation.

There is a point to protest candidacies that sometimes get missed, however.

Yes, McGovern went down, hard. But his victory in that years' primary reshaped the politics of the Democratic Party for decades, transforming it into a party full of dynamic ideas for expanding and centralizing state power. Clinton pulled the party away from McGovernism, but it seems like guys like Dean are trying hard to pull it back.

Likewise, Barry Goldwater's spectacular defeat may have embarassed Republicans in 1964. But his victory in winning the nomination actually signaled a massive shift within the party, and many believe that it resulted in the Presidency of Ronald Reagan just 16 years later. It certainly marked a huge paradigm shift within the Republican Party, one where they stopped being the "me too, only less!" party into a dynamic party of ideas that wanted to shake up and change the status quo.

The real question is: What does the Dean phenomenon represent? The last gasp of a dying ideology? A flash in the pan? Hard to say. I must say that I'm not a big believer in the guy, since he seems pretty cynical to me. But I may be being harsh. Maybe he's the real thing, and I just don't see it yet.

"Dean's the real thing!
In the back of Dems mind!
What Dems are hoping to find!
Yes the real thing!"

Which leads one to the observation that Dean is just Democratic New Coke.

Esmay is only slightly on the fence because he feels, subconsciously, that anybody with "Dean" in their name can't be shallow, but deep down Howard Dean is shallow.