This post is a reprint from July 12. While I’ve been up here at Dean HQ this week, I noticed that the pundits are nominating Howard Dean by acclamation. The people up here are lukewarm on this point. When you find success as an underdog, you’re reluctant to change your stripes. (tortured metaphor is included in the cover charge)

In the intervening 5 months, the smart mob did form around the campaign and so the campaign has raised a lot of money. That’s what impresses the pundits, but what’s more impressive is that the average gift keeps declining even as the total giving climbs.