Howard Dean says his piece; reporters offer theirs

"Winning Back America," Dean's autobiography cum campaign manifesto, details his case against the Bush administration. Lord knows there are legitimate beefs, some of which Dean raises. Should rich-tilted tax cuts really take priority over needs such as homeland security and health insurance for those vulnerable to bankruptcy from medical bills? And the planning for the Iraq occupation looks more like the work of Will Ferrell's George W. Bush, or his elf, than the real president. But Dean, like Bush before him, suffers as much as he profits from his old job description. Being governor equips you to fund school aid and close landfills, but there's not a smidgeon of training in dealing with the rest of the world -- no small matter when the neighbors include Al Qaeda, a chaotic Iraq, and a nuclear North Korea. Too often, Dean's statements suggest a rookie making up his foreign policy on the fly, an impression reinforced when you read his book in conjunction with "Howard Dean: A Citizen's Guide to the Man Who Would Be President," written by a team of Vermont journalists.

Certainly, both books lay out the man's virtues. A leader by accident -- Dean was Vermont's lieutenant governor when the Republican governor died in 1991 -- he gracefully managed the traumatizing transition and won five elections in his own right. He conserved half a million wilderness acres, admirably leashed the spenders in his own party while reinforcing the safety net, and signed civil-unions legislation amid sometimes hateful opposition that led him to campaign for his last term in a bulletproof vest. Demonstrating wisdom, Dean signed the bill privately to avoid public gloating that could inflame opponents.