I didn't think Dean was a great progressive dream candidate but I did think he was a more motivational speaker. Kerry was too technocratic but Dean seems"likeable" and regardless of whether that seems to make any difference intellectually it does matter to a great many people.
I wrote a letter to Noam Chomsky and his argument on why Dean loss was because he was getting young people excited about politics. Hence the reason the press went after him with anything & everything they could. Thomas