The Former Governor: As the Race Turns Hot, What About Dean’s Collar? By RICK LYMAN

Friends and former employees of Dr. Dean say his temper can indeed flare, although of greater concern to campaign aides is the occasional crisis created by his speaking too quickly on the issues. Even that, he and his top aides say, is not as detrimental as his opponents might hope: as long as he talks straight and from the heart, he said in an interview in Iowa not long ago, voters will overlook a little roughness around the edges.

“What people are responding to is that I believe in what I’m doing and it’s not calculated,” he said. “That’s a quality you can’t fake. People can tell the difference.”

The greater danger, a number of aides say, might be trying to muzzle him. Dr. Dean maintains that one reason many Democrats have not connected with voters in recent years is that they allow their message to be filtered through layers of focus groups and skittish pollsters.
“He hasn’t yet got the filter completely in front of his face,” Mr. Rogan said. Though some of those around him are urging that he do so, “his attitude is, `If I do that, I’ll be just like them.’ “