Does "Dr. Dean" un-arm the "uber-liberal" tag that is coming from the RNC meme machine? To an extent yes... as Anna said, it's time combat one meme with another. The "common sense moderate" is one way, shifting the terrain, by using Dr. Dean, goes toward this direction as well.
As far as the invasion on Iraq goes, the strong position is advocating for multilateral support, which Dean has consistently done. The nuances around that issue are fine, but he has to stick to that imperative-- it's what differentiates him from the others, and what the Democratic Senators failed to enforce on Bush.
Issues aside, nice to see Dean get such prominent (and reasonably favorable) coverage in the NYT today.
The reason Dr. Dean is used is the way NYT does their articles. They always say Mr. Bush, Mrs. Bush, instead of President Bush, First Lady Bush. So they'd use Mr. Dean, but Mr. Dean has a doctorate, so he is Dr. Dean! Its just a NYT thing
They've been Dr.ing Frist, too, so it's good to have Dean to counterbalance that.
IF MR DEAN IS SO HONEST AND STRAIGHT TALKING HOW COME HE CONTINUES TO MISLEAD PURPOSLY THE PUBLIC BY SAYING THE US IS UNILATERLY GOING TO ATTACK IRAQ. EITHER HE IS DECEITFUL OR MISINFORMED. IF HE IS MISFORMED LET ME TELL HIM THAT 18 NATIONS HAVE AGREED TO SUPPORT US AND OUT OF 19 NATO NATIONS 3 ARE ON THE FENCE. THE DEFINITION OF UNILATERAL IS ONE.
IT IS SAD THAT AT A TIME OF CRISIS FOR THE COUNTRY THE PRESIDENT GETS MORE SUPPORT FROM OTHER NATIONS THEN PEOPLE THAT OBVIOUSLY THINK THEIR POLITICAL AMBITIONS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE COUNTRY. I DON'T WANT SOMEONE LIKE THAT MY PRESIDENT IN THE FUTURE.
I've got an even better title for Howard Dean, MD: President.
Wow Right-wingers see Dean as threat. Thank you Wendy for lending credibility to the notions that Dean will kick u and the vast right-wing all over the place in 2004
But when he becomes President, will he be "Mr. President" or "Dr. President"??
Whether Mr. or Dr. I hope Howard Dean will raise fundamental issues about our foreign policy of "pre-emption", a dangerous departure from the policy of containment. North Korea has already said in effect that if we can
do it they can too. What an example we're setting! Where does it all end? We need to face up to our own arrogance and work with others in the world to solve problems. Good for France and Germany. I wish some of the Democrats and especially Dean would speak to the fundamental "un Americanism" of our scary and short sighted foreign policy.
Wendy,
Do you seriously think that having Bulgaria as your 3rd strongest ally in attacking Iraq without a UN resolution really counts as multilateralism?
Wendy, Wendy, Wendy...
Its good to see you misinformed flag wavers are staying on top of the positions of your opposition. But please don't mischaracterize Dean's position on Iraq, it won't fly here. What IS sad is the fact that the Presidents position is so weak for military action at this time, that 7 of the 8 European countrys that signed on to his position are either economic basket cases (ie Spain, Portugul, Italy)and need our economic assistance, or are trying to show their thanks and are "one of the club" after the US pushed to get them into NATO (ie Poland, Czec. Rep., Hungary). Britain is our patsy (I hate to say that...but its true) we bribed Turkey with billions in guarunteed loans and debt forgivness to sign on, and we have billions in military assistance given to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar,and others to join us. What IS sad is that we have to bribe, arm twist, threaten, and denegrate our allies to join us. Do you REALLY think that if our position was so strong and morally righteous,that our long time allies of France, Germany, Belgium, Lux., Netherlands, Norway etc., etc., would'nt already be on board??? What IS sad is that this right wing coup government we have is so ideologically driven and inept at true diplomacy that we are on the verge of creating what could be a permanent split in NATO, and we, the creators of the UN, will by definition, be an aggresor nation as prescribed in Article 51 of the UN Charter, if we do this without the UN Security Council blessing. That Wendy is what is sad...
From the San Francisco Chronicle, Tuesday Feb 11 (editorial). More clues about Bush's intentions. It would be good if Dean could raise/publicize this.
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EDITORIAL
Patriot Act, the sequel
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
SOMEONE IN the Justice Department clearly wants to preserve our most cherished civil liberties.
Last week, that individual leaked a bill secretly drafted by Attorney General John Ashcroft's staff to the Center for Public Integrity. "The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003," is a chilling sequel to the USA Patriot Act, passed shortly after Sept.11, 2001. It's already been dubbed "Patriot Act II."
The draft legislation would reduce judicial oversight of surveillance, authorize secret arrests, create new death penalties and allow the government to revoke the citizenship of any American who is a member of -- or gives material support to -- a group designated as a "terrorist organization" by Ashcroft.
Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, speculates that the Bush administration may have planned to introduce this legislation after another terrorist attack or in the middle of a war with Iraq.
Congress, moreover, was not consulted. Ashcroft's office only sent copies to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Vice President Dick Cheney on Jan. 10, 2003.
Secret arrests? Expatriation because you belong to a suspicious political group? Unchecked surveillance? These are instruments of repression, used by totalitarian states. They are why American soldiers have fought -- and died -- in wars against fascism and communism.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., warned that "Patriot Act II" amounts to "little more than the institution of a police state." We call upon our congressional delegation, as well as Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, to vigorously challenge any such attempt to undermine constitutional rights.
I got my first thank you for making "a donation to my campaign" letter from the Gov yesterday. It is signed, Hooward Dean, M.D.
This is good in a trival way because those I send money to and who never acknowledge it, get crossed off my list for any future donations.
Poor Wendy- go read this story in yesterday's newsday "Moral Price of Coming Home" by Matthew McAllester- and tell me you still get that warm and fuzzy feeling about the moron. Now I understand why the french are opposed to Turkey joining to EU. We pay everybody off to support our crooked government's position. I'm waiting for the wingnuts to finally say, the french and germans aren't backing the war because they don't want to kick in money like the last time. Wendy- send your taxes straight to the Dept of War because it has become a junkie. Everything else, roads, schools, libraries take a back seat to a smack addict and rumsfeld is one hell of an addict of our MONEY. 
Aziz - the license lapsing is a non-issue. He hasn't practiced in 11 years and it'll be in good standing once he pays his $25 fine. If the license was revoked or he was fined for something he did while practicing medicine, that would be a story.
I posted about this at my blog for Dean here. The convention with politicians (I think) is to refer to them by their highest elected office. But I'm not sure how the Dr. thing factors in... NY Times is consistent with its style guidelines, but I'll be they referred to him as "Governor Dean" while in office...