White People Have Confused the Hell out of Howard Dean

During the build up to the primaries, white Democrats across the country said they were ready for a strong fighter to go against Dubya and his corrupt regime. They cheered with abandon for Dean when, in his passionate way, he spoke of Smirky's poor economic record, his lies about Iraq, and his questionable policies. Being the diehard Democrat that I am, I cheered with them.

Then came the disappointing outcome of the Iowa Caucuses. During a speech to his supporters afterwards, Dean was his usual fiery self. He was beaten but unbowed, and he wanted the crowd to know he would continue his candidacy with the same determination. After rattling off the states his campaign would move on to, he ended with the throaty grunt of an athlete heaving a shot put. That single moment of humanity has led to a growing stream of ludicrous commentary about Dean.

A few days after the Iowa speech was mischaracterized as the "screaming" incident, Senator Tom Harken publicly waffled in his support of Dean. Though Harken later said he'd stand by him, the damage was done, in a major way —he is now labeled unpresidential.

Anyone who has seen the former frontrunner since Iowa, has seen a beaten man. Gone is the enthusiam and passion. He has become as wooden and milquetoast as John Kerry and John Edwards. His very vocal supporters apparently wanted him to change his demeanor to suit the whims of GOP-leaning political pundits, and he has done just that.

The problem is he no longer seems comfortable in his own skin. When he speaks he sounds stilted. As he stands at the podium, his posture is unrelaxed and his movements look mechanical. Ironically, his body language is reminiscent of Al Gore, and Democrats stupidly agreed with rethuglicans that Gore was "too stiff".

Poor Dean . . . white folks aren't showing any courage of their convictions, and he's paying the price.