"Do or do not. There is no try."
During more than a decade as Vermont governor, Howard Dean did not appoint any blacks or Hispanics to his Cabinet, but minority leaders say it was not for lack of trying in the nearly all-white state.
I concur with the many assessments I have read today that said Howard should have stood up to Al Sharpton instead of pandering to him. Nonetheless, this kind of post hoc attempt to explain away or mitigate his past behavior is just silly. On the other hand, if minority leaders say Dean tried (as hard as anything he ever tried to do in his life?) and failed, does that mean that Al Sharpton is no longer a minority leader?