I was amused watching Capital Gang Saturday as Bob Novak and Mark Shields confessed how Dean surprised them in 2003:
SHIELDS: I think the biggest surprise, certainly to me in 2003, was Howard Dean. I mean, all the smart money counted him out, all the Washington wiseguys said he didn’t have a chance. And because he dared to stand up to President Bush’s preemptive war in Iraq, he won himself a constituency and ardent supporters who are not only willing to knock on doors but to write checks in unmatched numbers. I think Howard Dean was my surprise.
How about you, Bob Novak?
NOVAK: I have to agree with you 100 percent. He’s one of the biggest surprises in politics, bigger surprise than George McGovern, bigger surprise than Jimmy Carter. Nobody, nobody knew Howard Dean, who he was, the — they still don’t know very much about him. He’s still a kind of a mystery. I understand he’s found Jesus. He hadn’t before. He was very secular. And he’s going to carry him on the bus now. But it’s a surprise, and it’s going to be very interesting.
Kate O’Beirne couldn’t join that shocked bandwagon—she predicted Dean’s rise on NRO about this time last year: “It is already pretty clear that Gov. Howard Dean will be the media’s pet in the Democratic field next year.” How’s that for smart money? (Truth be told, Kate didn’t do too bad all around in her predictions).