I agree with Matt Stoller's front page assessment of Dean's security in the position of DNC Chair. The bulk of his direct constituency lies within the state parties, and that constituency couldn't be happier with Howard Dean.

All happiness aside, I do think it's fair to say there is some potential danger:

Aside from spreading nasty rumors and cutting off big donors, which they've been doing for years, what leverage do they have on Dean?

Frankly, the likes of Paul Begala and James Carville irritate me to no end. They are yesterday's news desperately attempting to hang in there for today's headlines by starting false inter-party wars. Why the media takes any time to listen to this irrelevance can only be summated by the pathetic need for horserace and dis-unity stories - the later of which would be entirely fulfilled by the Republicans were it not for traitors like Carville.