Last night's results were the nails in Dean's coffin, but he has yet to fall on his sword. Chris Sullentrop over at Slate thinks Dean will transform his campaign into a PAC in order to retain some influence on the political process, and on the face of it, this doesn't seem like a bad idea. Problem is, Dean's movement, strong as it has been from the perspective of grassroots organization and internet innovation, doesn't have any real content. The policies Dean's put forward aren't exactly groundbreaking - they don't have the force for true believers that a Kucinich can claim.
What's driven the Dean campaign is the message, along with an inspired organizational model. The message, in a somewhat more calculating form, is everywhere now, so it's not very useful as an outside political lever. The internet campaign strategy might be even more lasting, but somehow I don't see Dean starting a thinktank on political organization or a campaign consultancy. He probably wasn't the evil genius behind all that stuff anyway...
UPDATE: More on this from Matt Bai.
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