TNR: Anti-Dean Central

The New Republic has come down harshly against any suggestion of Dean being the DNC chair. They as much as suggest that the very idea is the height of lunacy.

Not Geniuses has the full text of the (subscription only) editorial (link).

The problems with this editorial are multitude, but the most telling is the persistent misrepresentation of who Dean was and is and what he stood for. The TNR editors continue in the mistaken belief that Dean is advocating that Democrats swing left. They are also under the bizarre impression that Dean's position on Iraq was merely "catering" to anti-war activists.

Maybe it's just a case of a bunch of panderers assuming that everyone else is as equally pandering as they are.

The most laughable assertion, of course, is that Dean is flawed because he has no foreign policy credentials. They totally miss the obvious point that Dean did a better job of recognizing the folly of the Iraq campaign than did the "foreign policy credentialed" candidates (Sen. Graham being a notable exception).

Remember while reading this that the TNR editors endorsed Joe Lieberman during the primaries. And they think they are good judges of who is a winner?