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I’m unsure how to feel about dear ‘ol Dr. Dean. Many are claiming he made a damaging, if not fatal, mistake the other night when he kind of lost it after the Iowa Caucus. Ironically, he’s now trying desperately to appear more “human” by wearing sweaters, appearing on Letterman, and trotting his reluctant wife out to the press. Has it occurred to any of the political wonks advising him (or maybe even to Dean himself) that his humanity would be cemented by simply admitting he kind of lost it the other night and moving on.

For some reason no one wants to appear fallible as a presidential candidate. Sure, they can lie, cheat on their wives, etc. once they are in office. But they must appear somehow warm, approachable, and perfect during the campaign. And they wonder why people don’t trust candidates? It’s obviously a facade.

I actually respected the fact that Dean hadn’t insisted his wife be at his side playing the part. She had her own life. This wasn’t her thing. As long as it worked for them, I was fine with that. I actually liked the non-conformity (go figure). Now I’m thinking he’s caving to all the pressure to be the perfect candidate. And I pity his wife. He’s lost more credibility with me while trying to recover from his faux pax, then his misstep alone ever could have eroded.

I wonder if a candidate will ever have the nerve to just be him/herself during the campaign. I have a suspicion they might do better they the political strategists seem to believe.