Apparently, William Saletan is an idiot. In his < A HREF="http://slate.msn.com/id/2092275/">Slate column he rails against Al Gore's endorsement of Dean because Gore came out and said basically that Democrats should get behind Dean and stop criticizing him.

"Should Democrats fight it out and see who wins? Not if Gore has his way. "Democracy is a team sport," he declared as he endorsed Dean in Harlem this morning. "All of us need to get behind the strongest candidate."

Who decided Dean was the strongest candidate? Not the voters: They haven't voted. Not the polls, either: They've shown Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, and Wesley Clark scoring better than Dean in hypothetical match-ups with President Bush. The person who anointed Dean the strongest candidate is the same intervening politician who complained three years ago about intervening politicians."

Um, last time I checked Gore did not have the power to stop people from voting, or giving money, or support. Everyone is free to continue supporting the candidate they like, and to ignore Gore completely. Gore's complaints regarding the 2000 election dealt with judicial interference.

Also, Saletan does not seem to understand what an endorsement is. Does he want Gore to come out and say "I'm for Dean, but you should just go vote for who you like, don't let what I say influence you?" What would be the point in that? The whole reason you endorse someone is that you hope your support will sway others to agree with you.