Well, that's better.

Caught a bit of Chairman Dean on the PBS version of the Tavis Smiley show last night and he seems to have found a more graceful response to the Schiavo issue, saying that the issue would be framed as government intrusiveness generally. Of course, even without raising her name, any such conversation will bring the horror of the Republican exploitation of that family tragedy to the minds of many.

Again, I don't have a particular problem with 'politicizing' the Schiavo case. It's been thoroughly politicized by now. I do think it's essential to approach the issue carefully, and though Dean stumbled out of the gate a bit, he seems to be finding his footing quickly.

Extra credit for the way he spun the question into a point about the Democratic Party being the "...the party of fiscal responsibility..." Even solid progressives sometimes fall into the 'liberal on social issues, conservative on economic issues' trap, as though there were something illiberal about fiscal responsibility. Dean's got the language right on this one, and made the point repeatedly and effectively.

He's only had the job for a brief while. Democrats do need to hold the Chairman's feet to the fire, but we also need to give him a chance to catch up to a steep learning curve.

Credit where it's due for a rapid recovery.