This only works, if you link every democrat who is in or running for office to dean and not allow them to call themselves "different type of democrats" or distance themselves.
The GOP has NOT done a good enough job of tying the democratic partys canidates to its base, or to Dean.
If they get around to tying the base to the canidates then they can use Dean as a whipping boy.
Until then, Dean is just going to make an ass of himself all on his own, by offsetting losses of big party contribuors with college kids and elitists, and mismanaging resources and blowing it all in every single dumb way.
Uh, the Democrats do a good enough job themsleves of tying their loony base to the entire party. That's why they have forever aliented giant chunks of this country.