At a top-level summit called "Defeat: 2008" being held in Boston, the former Vermont Governor gave a rousing speech to concerned Democrats, bringing his audience to his feet by vowing, "I can assure each and every one of you, we will find a way to screw this up."
With President Bush's approval rating below 30 percent and none of the Republican presidential contenders stirring the public's imagination, many Democrats have been worried that their historic role as losers and sad sacks might come to an abrupt end in 2008, a fear Mr. Dean attempted to quell today.
"Folks, let's not forget, we're Democrats," Dean said. "If there's a way to lose, we will find it."
Carol Foyler, a longtime Democrat from Bethesda, Md., who attended the summit, said that she had been worried that the Democrats might somehow pull out a victory in 2008, but added, "Just knowing that Howard Dean is in charge makes me feel much more confident about losing."
Elsewhere, after a study by the Georgetown School of Medicine said that millions of dollars are wasted on unnecessary medical tests, the American Medical Association said that there might be something wrong with the author of the study and he should come in for a checkup immediately.
