From The Guardian

"What amazes me, however, is how obscure he remains at this point in the electoral process. Purveyors of opinion in the national press continue to brand him as a north-eastern liberal, an anti-war activist who will appeal mainly to white, well-educated, granola-crunching and latte-sipping liberals of the type who supported George McGovern in 1972 [McGovern lost by a huge margin to Nixon in the presidential race]. In recent weeks, the infamous McGovern comparison was raised once again by David Brooks, a regular columnist for the New York Times. It's a ridiculous notion, worth discarding as soon as possible."

David 'neo-con & Bush shill' Brooks and 'regular' are not typically found habitating the same sentence. Or, with a nod to Dean,'co-habitating.'

Get yours here.

More:

"Dean is, I think, a pragmatist without an obvious ideological bent. Trained as a physician, he studies a given situation, assesses the facts, and makes a diagnosis. As governor, he was remarkably decisive, even combative, willing to make cuts in healthcare and education to balance the budget. On the other hand, he strongly backed the idea of universal healthcare, and made sure that medical assistance for Vermont's children under the age of 18 was guaranteed - a real achievement. Famously, he supported the idea of civil unions for gay couples in Vermont, although he did so rather quietly, signing the act presented to him by the legislature behind closed doors. In a sense, this pragmatic governor simply went along with the majority opinion in Vermont, where a substantial gay population exists.

I woke up most mornings for a decade listening to Dean on the radio. He is a talker, and was quoted most mornings on Vermont Public Radio. He is, as most Americans have now gathered, a blunt fellow, prone to shoot from the lip. He often speaks before he thinks. But the good news is that, given a few moments, he can think."

Ouch. A British journo takes aim at Bush.......Direct Hit!

Again. Why is it that we need the foreign press to tell us these things in such a frank manner?

I've written on these very pages about Dean being a pragmatic person. I've also said that pragmitism and politics are often a messy mix.

The writer does hail from Vermont.

My nominees for Time magazine's 2004 Person of the Year. 1) Paul O'Neill 2) The Foreign Press. (I'll add as circumstances warrant)