GUEST, Dean can always practice medicine if he doesn't get the DNC job.    Or work with the PACs he inspired, like Democracy for America. Or he can join Al Gore and set up a liberal cable TV outlet, or do any number of things. He's not one of these compulsive types whose only joy comes from being a politician. I don't think he'll take it personally or feel "shut out" if he doesn't get the job. Many good people, including some of his own campaign staff, may be vying with him for the job, so it's not something he can just take if he wants it, and he's aware of that.

By the way, you seem very eager to attribute any form of wrongdoing, like "shutting out" Howard Dean for a very competitive job, to the Democrats.

I think most people would argue that Anderson ceased to be a practical guy when he went indie and ceased to be a political contender. The question is, does Dean want to go the route of Anderson, and hand the election to the person least like him (actually, Reagan would likely have won anyway), or do what he did this year, and work for the candidate most like him. As you say, there isn't any point in us speculating. We'll all see what he decides to do.