''The Democrats' Mini-Deans''

Writing in his Washington Post column today, Terry Neal says "So why should anybody care about some inside politics stories from Arkansas and North Carolina? Because in some ways they mirror what happened on the national level with the election of Howard Dean as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and because they underscore a restive force that could reshape Democratic Party politics in the years to come. I don't think you've seen the end of it [with North Carolina and Arkansas]," said former Gore presidential campaign manager Donna Brazile, whose expertise is grass-roots organizing. "[Dean's election] marks the end of the Terry [McAuliffe] era and in a way the end of the Clinton era. What you see is Deaniacs really asserting themselves across the board. I don't see this is a bad thing, because when you infuse new blood in the party you bring it alive and bring new energy." Tempering the idea that big changes could come is this comment from Brazile: "My only caution, though, is whether this new group is going to really be willing to get down and do the hard, dirty work of rebuilding the party."