Everyone's picking on Howie!

Brendan Minter at the WSJ - Backsliding Dean: Does he have a firm stand on anything?

All candidates develop a reputation with the media. In 2000 the story line on Al Gore was his wildly exaggerated claims. Mr. Gore may not have said precisely that he "invented the Internet," but his propensity to tell "whoppers" got him tagged with the line nonetheless. Unfortunately for Mr. Dean, that's the kind of story line that's now emerging about him.

After building a campaign on the anger of the Democratic electorate, the former Vermont governor can now be called "Backsliding Dean." He leaps forward with a bold statement aimed at pleasing his core supporters, but ultimately is forced to slide back because of the ludicrousness of his position.

Lie down with wing nuts, come up with fleas.

But there's more - Infighting Between Dean, Rivals Gets Ugly:

Infighting between Howard Dean and some of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination has gotten so nasty of late that Dean called on party chairman Terry McAuliffe to step in and tone things down. In the process, Dean managed to insult McAuliffe.

Republican strategists, meanwhile, are watching it all with barely contained glee.

"They are beginning to really gouge this guy," Republican pollster Bill McInturff said about Dean, chuckling. "Look at Howard Dean and, as a Republican, think about the advertising we're going to run."

McInturff said Republicans could use John Kerry's quotes about Dean wanting to tax the middle class, or the "wonderful attack" from Wesley Clark about Dean's draft status or the "terrific comments" from Joe Lieberman about Dean's stance on Saddam Hussein's capture.

Woohoo!

Lieberman said he was surprised by Dean's sensitivity, noting that the former Vermont governor fired the first volleys with a negative ad about his rivals, called members of Congress "cockroaches" and party leaders "prostitutes," and referred to the centrist Democratic Leadership Council as "the Republican wing of the Democratic Party."

Dean also warned Sunday that hundreds of thousands of his supporters would be unlikely to back anyone else in November if he is not the Democratic nominee.

Kerry called the comment "divisive and threatening" and said it fit with Dean's pattern.

"He was the first candidate to attack in this campaign and the first to run negative ads and he has been attacking Democrats and their accomplishments during the Clinton years from day one of this race," Kerry said.

Gephardt accused Dean of now wanting to change the rules of the game "as he makes a series of embarrassing gaffes that underscore the fact that he is not well-equipped to challenge George Bush."

Boys, boys! Can't you behave?