What does it mean for a politician to "use the Internet?" A website used to be bleeding edge and then you needed to have a blog. Well, Dean is using the internet as an attack tool to keep from getting Gored.

Dean Defense Forces: Lobbing E-mail at the Enemy

When Dotty Lynch, CBS's senior political editor, wrote a column criticizing Howard Dean on foreign policy, she was deluged with e-mails defending the Democratic presidential candidate, often in similar language.

"They were all rather insulting: 'Why don't you do your research?' " Lynch says. "When anything's orchestrated, you sort of smell a rat."

The letters were indeed generated by Dean Defense Forces, a volunteer outfit affiliated with the doctor's campaign. Day after day, the DDF Web log, which is linked to Dean's official site, hammers reporters deemed critical of Dean and urges its followers to flood the in-boxes of offending journalists.

Howie calls it defense, but I think he's wrong. No matter how nonchalantly the reporters may seem here, they don't like letters criticizing their reporting. They don't like the idea of organized groups watching their stories and looking fro any error. It makes reporters cautious in how they write. The last thing they want is an editor or board member asking if there is an anti-Dean bias.
[more]