Op-Ed Columnist: Who Gets It? By PAUL KRUGMAN, NYTimes

Earlier this week, Wesley Clark had some strong words about the state of the nation. ”I think we’re at risk with our democracy,” he said. ”I think we’re dealing with the most closed, imperialistic, nastiest administration in living memory. They even put Richard Nixon to shame.” …

The real division in the race for the Democratic nomination is between those who are willing to question not just the policies but also the honesty and the motives of the people running our country, and those who aren’t.

What makes Mr. Dean seem radical aren’t his policy positions but his willingness — shared, we now know, by General Clark — to take a hard line against the Bush administration. …

[T]he Bush people really are Nixonian. …

That doesn’t mean that the Democratic candidate has to be a radical — which is a good thing for the party, since all of the candidates are actually quite moderate. In fact, what the party needs is a candidate who inspires the base enough to get out the message that he isn’t a radical — and that Mr. Bush is.