MICKEY KAUS says that Howard Dean is “cluelessly pre-Clinton” on race.

Ouch. You know, the conventional wisdom is that the Democrats do better with a Southerner, and the unspoken assumption is that it’s because a Southerner will appeal more to those confederate-flag-pickup guys that Dean mentioned.

But I wonder if it’s really because Southerners are less likely to say damnfool things about race and defense, the Democratic Party’s two big weak points?

UPDATE: Robert Tagorda has more thoughts.