I thought that the Dean's interview with Diane Sawyer went really, really well. She invoked the comparison with the interview of Bill and Hillary during his campaign and, well, there's no comparison.

The press has complained alot recently that they haven't seen Judy Dean, culminating in Michael Kinsley's essay in Time about "Why We Need to Meet the Missus." So Howard asked Judy if she would submit to her first ever television interview. She agreed because she thinks Howard would make an excellent POTUS. Besides, the interview worked into her patients' schedule. I liked her immediately just for that response.

Judy Dean is simply adorable. You see no artifice, no media savvy, nothing but the real person. She spoke of their solid relationship, of Howard's forgiveness (it seems that she forgot to mail something that he asked her to mail, and she still frets over having forgotten, while Howard has moved on), and his lack of anger and temper around the house. Call me simpleminded, but I believed her every word. She just oozed credibility. Like when she told Diane that she watches so little television, and how she doesn't just leave the TV on so that her high school son could become enamored of it. (That's a view I've heard from other parents, neighbors and coworkers, btw!)

Howard did a fine job reading the Top Ten List on Letterman's show. He didn't write it, but he made Dave laugh when he read it.

All the Dems performed admirably in tonight's debate, I thought. (I caught snippets of the compressed broadcast on Nightline.) I somehow missed all of the questions for John Kerry, though. Dr. Dean batted aside Brit Hume's snide reference to the now-infamous Iowa concession speech with a bit of self-deprecation. Every answer was on target, as compared with, say, Dennis Kucinich, who seemed to answer the questions he wished they'd asked, and Al Sharpton, who rebutted the previous 10 minutes of questions before he started to answer the question that was asked of him.

Anyway, I'm left with this assessment:

Kucinich-- Good platform. Completely unelectable.
Sharpton-- Good comebacks. Completely unelectable.
Lieberman-- Belongs in the Republican party, except that we need his vote in the Senate; we should make him an Honorary Democrat.
Edwards-- Nice hair. Good teeth. Nice NC accent. Positive message. No experience.
Clark-- Could get my vote.
Kerry-- Could get my vote.
Dean-- Will get my vote...unless someone proves better able to beat Bush.