Howard Dean's head is now firmly above the parapet. The former Governor of Vermont is currently established as the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, a position confirmed by the latest polling. It's a good position to be in, providing you can handle intensified scrutiny from rivals, Republicans and reporters alike.
This week, Dean has been taking that test, confronted by questions over his decision to seal up documents relating to his decisions as governor for 10 years. Why do such a thing, ask suspicious minds, if he hasn't got anything to hide? Another angle of attack is Dean's military record; he was exempted from the Vietnam draft with a back problem. During a high-profile television interview this week, Dean was asked whether he had hoped his health would defer his drafting; on the second time of asking, he answered 'yes'. True to his anti-war reputation, Dean also said he thought the Vietnam conflict itself 'was wrong'.
Andrew Sullivan, the conservative blogger of renown, has also picked up on Dean's recurrent references during his TV grilling to the Soviet Union, when he meant Russia. Sullivan observes that Bush wouldn't be allowed to get away with such a gaffe, so why should Dean? That's the problem of being the frontrunner and, while we're on the subject, here's a gaffe I'd like to highlight myself. When Dean was asked as to his favourite musician, a question to which he responded: 'Wyclef Jean'. Oh dear.
· Paul MacInnes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weblog/usa...057810,00.html