John Fund says that the Demos plan to settle on an early nominee--thanks especially to Carville and McAuliffe--may have the unintended consequnce of turning Dean (if he should prove to be the nominee) into a pinata for Republicans during the long campaign. Bill Kristol argues that although it may be a good thing for the public to have a real choice in the campaign between Bush and Dean the GOP shouldn’t count their chickens just yet. A lot can happen in ten months. Howard Dean graces the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Marjorie Williams thinks she knows why she feels uneasy about Dean: He’s a Doctor. "But suddenly it all makes sense: Where else but in medicine do you find men and women who never admit a mistake? Who talk more than they listen, and feel entitled to withhold crucial information? Whose lack of tact in matters of life and death might disqualify them for any other field?" Here is the Washington Post’s report on yesterday’s debate. Here is the Des MoinesRegister report on the non-event. I forced myself a bit of the debate and conclude that Wesley Clark was the winner (he did not participate). Rassmussen reports that Dean’s lead nationally has slipped four points during the last month and Kerry went up by four.