Today's MSNBC.com column by Howard Fineman says in part:
"Party leaders — such as they are — once dismissed Dean's anti-war based message as too narrow and liberal to reach the Democratic mainstream, let alone the swing voters in swing states the Dems need to win the White House back. That argument looks fatuous now, with public patience with the war in Iraq eroding, and with the combat deaths and financial costs mounting steadily. In the latest polls, by Newsweek and others, his views... are as mainstream as can be."

Full article
From Player to Front Runner
http://www.msnbc.com/news/957948.asp