Though Howard Dean is no longer actively campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomiantion, I don’t regret supporting him for a minute. In fact, I believe Dean’s campaign was exactly what the Democrats needed as the election season approached. Calpundit sums it up nicely:
… although Howard Dean may have failed to win the Democratic primary this year, he nonetheless had an outsized impact on the race. Unlike ordinary losers who just fade away without making any real impact, Dean can claim to have affected the race in two big ways: first, by revolutionizing fundraising via the internet, and second, by providing a welcome injection of backbone into the campaign. He demonstrated that voters wanted someone who would go on the offensive, stay on the offensive, and make no apologies for it.
Howard Dean was unafraid to criticize the Bush administration back when Democrats needed to be reminded that they “had a pair,” and proved that the Dems could take on George Bush and more than survive politically. If the Democrats take back the White House, they’ll have Howard Dean to thank, at least in part. I hope we haven’t heard the last of him. Knowing Dean, I’m certian we haven’t.