Like a lot of people, I was grateful when Howard Dean started sounding off about the war in Iraq. It was easy to hear him because almost every other politician had been bullied by the administration into silence.

He said the magic words, and yet lightning did not strike him down. People did not shun him as a traitor. No one knew who the hell Howard Dean was -- I'm still not sure, to be candid -- but they were really happy that someone was breaking the silence.

Imagine: an elected Democrat who said out loud that Sept. 11, 2001, did not justify all excesses, did not explain all malign or stupid decisions. An elected Democrat who gave other elected Democrats permission to find their courage. Even better: an elected Democrat who demonstrated that Bush-bashing might be a noble and necessary occupation.

So now we've had 2.5 rounds of primaries (Iowa is its own thing, a quasi- democratic photo op of limited significance), and Howard Dean seems to be pretty much out of it. I do not pretend to understand the reasons; it is my guess that people who say they understand the reasons probably don't either.

Was it the Scream? The Wife? The Warmth Issue? The Impatience Problem? I dunno. Maybe it's just hard for a truly obscure and inexperienced candidate to endure the ritual bear-baiting we call an election. Would you want to run for office? Yes, please, dig up something stupid I said in 1987 and confront me with it on national television -- that sounds like fun.

Nor do I have any particular opinion about John Kerry. I'm glad he's bringing up the chickenhawk issue because it really is maddening that various folks who spent the Vietnam War in undisclosed locations are now sending 20- year-olds to die and kill for unclear or bogus reasons. These are the guys who think that four-star Gen. Colin Powell, the man who was in charge of Operation Desert Storm, is a wimpy little appeaser who is too soft on Saddam Hussein.

Excuse me, but: How dare they?

I'm also glad that Kerry brought Max Cleland back from political obscurity. This triple amputee and standard bearer for veterans' rights was savaged and slandered by Republican operatives working for the Rove machine; I'm glad he's getting a chance to return fire.

And I'm glad Wesley Clark got in the race because it's not possible to out-patriotic him. Clark has made speeches about the dangerous nature of the Patriot Act and its dreadful little brother, the PROTECT Act. John Ashcroft, who used his family connections to dodge the draft during the Vietnam War, seems to have forgotten that U.S. soldiers in Iraq are fighting for freedom, not for a police state.

And it's all because Dean made it possible. You were around a year ago -- you remember how hopeless it seemed, how many people were saying that Bush could not be beaten. You were looking into Canadian real estate, and Howard Dean was deciding to run for president. See what I'm saying?

Now people believe that Bush can be beaten. His popularity rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time since the election (when it was also below 50 percent but, hey, let's not go there again). Now people are voting for John Kerry on the interesting thesis that he has the best chance of beating Bush. Imagine that.

Meanwhile, Bush is getting careless. His latest budget will put a $100, 000 debt burden on every man, woman and child in the United States. I didn't say that, David M. Walker, the comptroller general of the United States, said that. Sometime, this unwieldy construction of lies is bound to fail.

Maybe Abe Lincoln was right after all: You can't fool all of the people all of the time.

Whoever the Democratic nominee is, he should thank Howard Dean for leading his party out of the darkness. The electorate is energized; people are finally paying attention to the Bush bunco schemes. Good going, Howard; whatever happens, you done good.

©2004 San Francisco Chronicle

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