Dean and the democrat leaders live in an echo chamber, which has made them deaf to the moderate dems and left leaning, serious independents. Donald Lambro of the Washington Times captures this schism in the democrat party today:

The complaints appear strongest in red states, where state Democratic leaders say Mr. Dean’s attacks threaten to alienate swing voters. Some are even suggesting that if Mr. Dean does not tone down his angry rhetoric, they may have to look for a new leader.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten calls from people who want to know if there is something I can do to talk to him to be a little more gentle with our Republican friends,” said Larry Gates, chairman of the Kansas Democratic Party.

Mr. Gates said he agreed with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who said of Mr. Dean’s attacks: “I’m not sure if the best way to win support in the red states is to insult the folks who live there.”

The liberal fringe is fed up and demanding a frontal attack on the clear majority of Americans – many of which still align themselves with the democrats since they have done so for decades. But ties to a party that once reflected their views and now insults them cannot be maintained. The liberals want total control, which means they will have control of a small minority view which hates much of what the rest of us find good about America.

Larry Elder, also in the Washington Times today, has a litany of Dean’s attacks on Americans, who decided through our electorial process, to go in a direction the democrats are against:

Mr. Dean also blamed Republicans for the unhappy occasion when California voters recalled their Democratic governor: “The right wing of the Republican Party is deliberately undermining the Democratic underpinnings of this country,” said Mr. Dean on Sept. 6, 2003.
…
Mr. Dean considers Republicans a morally inferior species. In a speech in Kansas on Feb. 25, he said the contest between Democrats and Republicans was “a struggle of good and evil. And we’re the good.”
…
Mr. Dean says Republicans have minimal mental capability, as he called them “brain dead.” The chairman says the “brain-dead” Republicans only won the 2004 election because they kept their message simple, while Democrats need “to explain every issue in half an hour of detail.”

That last one is purely aimed at those who voted republican.