I diaried once before on this subject: Dean led his party out of the wilderness by failing to become President.
But unlike Goldwater, Dean did not win the nomination, and also unlike Goldwater, Dean went on to contribute in more than a symbolic way to the eventual victory of his ideas- Howard Dean lost, but took hands-on control of the party and made the key decisions that won the day.
And I do believe that we have not heard the last of the good Doctor Dean. He clearly means to make the party larger than any candidate- even a President if they were to win the big one.
Most pundits who laughed and jeered when he took the chair will live to see Howard Dean regarded as a pivotal figure in American politics- the first one in many years to the find the practical, truthful voice that the core of the Democratic party represents.
I hope for the good of the country that a Republican can help find the true voice of their party, because they represent important notions beyond the plane of truth and practicality themselves- when they are not perverted as they have been.