media noticing the Inspiration Primary

This MSNBC article is a nice piece that contrasts the response to Dean by the political establishment with the "inspiration primary" effect that

Dean noted the irony of his liberal audience’s applauding the idea of a balanced budget. “It warms my heart to have 1,200 people in Seattle who are progressives yelling and cheering and screaming for a balanced budget. Whoever thought we would do that?”
...
Democratic strategist Pat Caddell told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews the centrist DLC is spooked by the Dean phenomenon. “They’re panicked by it because the Democratic grass roots is in revolt right now because they’re tired of a party that doesn’t stand for anything,” Caddell said. But outside the Beltway, Dean appears to be playing well in early primary and caucus states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and Washington. Dean’s appearance in Seattle underscored the potential importance of Washington state’s presidential caucuses Feb. 7.

(here's a report of the Seattle rally from the local paper, the Tacoma News Tribune)

Newsweek's Eleanor Clift also has an interview with Dean that asks him directly about the DLC affair:

NEWSWEEK: Two leaders of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, Al From and Bruce Reed, criticized you on May 15 as an elitist McGovern liberal. What’s your reaction to that?

DEAN: I really think this is mostly the old Democrats, not the New Democrats talking. These are the guys that want to protect the inside-the-Beltway folks and it’s not going to work. Inside the Beltway doesn’t win this election.

NEWSWEEK: How do you combat this?

DEAN: I don’t worry about it. Bill Clinton and Jim Jeffords have already done more than I could ever do.

NEWSWEEK: Did it surprise you that the DLC would come after you like this?

DEAN: It was stunning. I couldn’t believe it. I only thought Republicans treated other Republicans like this … [But] I’ll tell you something. I was in Seattle last night. We had a crowd of 1,200 people. I asked at one point, “How many of you have not been involved in politics in the last 10 years,” and half of them raised their hand.

NEWSWEEK: That’s the Democratic dream, to bring in new voters.

DEAN: That’s right. That’s the Democratic dream, and the tired old folks from inside Washington can’t do that.

The interview also asks Dean about whether his health plan can be characterized as "nationalized" (with all the negative connotation that implies), the conventional wisdom about his being a super-liberal, being pegged as the "anti-war" candidate, and whether he was scooped by Gephardt on health care. Dean's responses are as always direct, fresh, and matter of fact.