I admired Howard Dean, but face it, the Republican attack machine would have shredded him in a week.
Shredded him how? Remember the couple of years they spent trying to "shred" Clinton? This was a man who had a well-known habit of riding interns' faces while discussing issues of national security on the phone.

It's time to forget the conventional wisdom that pundits succeed by generating stong reactions pro or con, while politicians succees by not offending anyone. Give us someone to either love or hate for gawd's sake, and we'll tell you if he's the right one. Hell, give us two or three of them we can love and hate for different reasons, and we'll pick one in the primary.