Live Online Discussion - WP Writer Tries to Defend Dean as a Progressive

Join in if you catch it in time - Dean is no progressive!

Seattle, Wash.: Sir, you seem to Howard Dean confused with someone else. He is certainly a moderate by all but the most radical standards.

Fiscal responsibility -- reining in spending, balancing budgets -- used to be considered a conservative trait. When did a candidate with these priorities become a "liberal?"

Perhaps you were confused by his anti-war stance? Governor Dean is no pacifist. He merely believes -- along with most Americans -- that there must be compelling reasons for war. As we are now discovering, the Bush Administration's reasons may have been wishful thinking.

I do not see a Dean success taking America to the left. I see it as helping America re-discover its true center.

David Von Drehle: I agree with your description of Dean -- that's why I put a paragraph to that effect in the story.

I also stand by what I said, which is that the terrific energy behind the Dean campaign so far has been largely from the left. If you want to know what Dean's campaign would look like if he making a centrist appeal, look at Bob Graham.