The saga of Howard Dean is a cautionary tale about politics and the Internet. His campaign rode a big wave of cyberspace hype -- and then sank.

There are valid complaints to be made about Dean’s rough handling by major news outlets this winter. Sometimes the coverage was unfair. But what gained him media prominence in the first place was journalistic infatuation with his campaign’s successful use of the Internet for outreach and fund-raising.

Actually, Dean burst onto the nation’s front pages because of money. As far as political journalists were concerned, Dean came into his own as a presidential contender midway through 2003. In the second quarter of the year, he raised $7.5 million -- including $800,000 on a single dramatic day.

In sync with the aphorism that money is the mother’s milk of politics, the former Vermont governor seemed to have found a cash cow on the Internet. The ability to raise large sums from many online devotees caused the political press corps to sit up and take notice.

Countless news stories during the summer and fall chronicled the

Mr Wasserman, you have no idea how very much my family, friends and I appreciate your February 16th article: "Bush wins Triple Trifecta as the worst president ever". With misinformation [and disinformation] running rampant in the media today, reporters like you are a breath of fresh air! Please know how invaluable you are to so many that hunger for the truth!

Sincerely,
Moriah Mattingly Jones
Cumberland, Maryland

A leaked letter from the Bush Administration to state governors reveals a sneaky attempt now underway to get governors to 'voluntarily' commit their states to comply with draconian constraints on domestic procurement (purchasing) policy included in the recently completed CAFTA and proposed for FTAA. Unbelievably, the leaked documents show that the U.S. Trade Representative's Office is seeking blanket permission from governors to sign states on to the procurement provisions of ALL trade agreements under negotiation - including the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the South African Customs Union and a raft of bilateral deals with Australia, Morocco, Columbia, Thailand and more nations.

Rolling toward the Democratic nomination, the Kerry campaign has the enduring benefit of the vast fortune of Mrs. Kerry, the former Teresa Heinz, lovely relict of the Portuguese empire. Mrs. Kerry can use her money to run issue ads. Her interest in environmental issues has been mostly expressed through her Heinz Foundation, whose board until very recently was adorned by that hero of free-market enviros, Ken Lay of Enron.

            The Heinz Foundation put Ken Lay in charge of their global-warming initiative. When Enron went belly up, the Foundation stuck by their man: "Whatever troubles he had at Enron, Ken Lay had a good reputation in the environmental community for being a business man who was environmentally sensitive. When someone does wrong in one part of their life, it doesn't mean they can't do good in another part of their life."

            It's the kind of sublime indifference to the messy realities of politics and life that is now inspiring Democrats to rally behind Kerry, under the vacant banner, Anybody But Bush.

Mr. Wasserman: I started reading your "online" newsletter-rant" (I'm not sure what you call it), last year after you were interviewed on the "Jefferson Exchange" with Jeff Golden, from Ashland, Oregon,  a public radio station.  Nonetheless, thank you! I find a lot of comfort aand encouragement from you. I hope that you might reprise yourself, and make an encore appreance on the exchange before the upcoming election.  I agree that the "Dubya" (or maybe DUD'ya) can be beaten in the fall. Is it really true that the GOP has rigged the "House" so as not to ever lose control again? I think that if there was a real, concerted "movement" to register a whole lot of new democrats from the 50% of the people who do not bother to exercise their franchise, there might be a possible change.  Is this possible? I'm afraid that otherwise, we are left with a hollow, ghost of a republic, and America will then reveal itself to be the"Amerika" of Mr. Orwell, or Cheney, or Citizen Ashcroft, or Minister Rumsfield, or any other modern Fascist/Plutocrat that might stand  before us, waiting for our supplication.