Free Republic

With Hurricane Dean finally ending its run, some fascinating discussions will be breaking out around kitchen tables, at bars, on pundit shows, and throughout the political world in the coming weeks. A preview: "He's the most consequential loser since Barry Goldwater." — The Wall Street Journal. Maybe, but Goldwater at least got the nomination. His record in the 1964 GOP presidential primary, mediocre by today's standards, demonstrated much wider and more serious support within the party than Dean. He won narrow victories in Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska, upset New York governor and favorite Nelson Rockefeller in California, and won the...

Howard Dean's bizarre concession speech Monday night, where he roared about winning future primaries and ended with a final, screeching, "Yeeehaahhhh," left more than a few journalists wondering about the emotional stability of the former Democratic presidential front-runner. "[Dean's speech] was a little strange," Newsweek's Jonathan Alter said Tuesday. "He looked like he was off his medication or something." "He was just trying to be feisty for his supporters," Alter told radio host Don Imus. "But he just went way over the top. He was about as presidential as Howard Beale in 'Network,'" the liberal columnist observed. Alter said the...