I wrote a piece here on FR during the campaign where I hypothesized that the way to understand Dean is to realize that he is someone who HATES his father, i.e., he is a pure Freudian head-case. Substitute "my father" for "republicans" in Dean-speak, and it all becomes clear.
I could not agree more, and I think it's true of many Democrats. Anti-authority/Oedipus complexes are very unattractive on adolescents, but downright repugnant on fifty-somethings.
Btw, I could not help but notice how sensible and articulate all the hardworking folks on this thread are. I wish we could have more citizen legislators like these instead of the professional crooks who dominate politics.