HOWARD DEAN IS A POLITICAL GENIUS: While various people are snarking at Patrick Kennedy’s condemnation of Dean’s second amendment stance, they’re missing the real story, which is that this is a masterstroke for Dean. This kind of thing won’t hurt Dean’s chances of getting the nomination, and being attacked by a Kennedy on gun control will be a big plus in the general election if Dean gets the nomination. Democrats will vote for him anyway, and it’ll help him with the many moderates put off by the gun-prohibitionist mindset of the Democratic Party.

UPDATE: Jonah Goldberg responds.