Howard Dean had some courage amidst a bunch of gutless wonders. Howard Dean had some style amidst a bunch of pre-programmed drones. Howard Dean told some hard truths in oppositon to a lot of folks who found truth concerning Iraq inconvenient to their agendas.

Howard Dean was a rank amateur in manipulating a national media.

He was, however, a very successful governor of a state, one who's tenure I would actaully expect to see some admiration for at this page.

Only 1 state in the union is not required to submit a balanced budget every year, and that's Vermont. Dean took over that state when it was deeply in the red, and moved it rapidly into the black, despite the fact that he didn't have to.

He was quite an effective manager in the process - he had a nasty habit of infuriating the left in Vermont by making deals that were excessively friendly to business in that state. He helped keep its economy strong by attracting business. He made some statements (like about Social Security, etc.) that the Republicans keep trying to use against him and the whole party in political debates. He ended up leading the Democratic Governors group (whatever it's called).

I'll grant you his campaign collapsed under its own weight and its collapse was led by the fact that he never had people teach him how to remain dignified on a national stage. (that plus he had probably the worst ad campaign and GOTV planning of any candidate). But to call him a rank amateur simply ignores his career.