Here's a surprise -- an article in the Weekly Standard that is actually balanced (okay, only somewhat balanced, but a nice surprise anyway). [link]

The article displays the typical Republican contempt for things like giving children health care and making sure that they have adequate schooling, but on the whole, the article takes a respectful tone. On the former, columnist Stephen Moore called Dean's health care plan "dimwitted", notwithstanding the fact that it actually works and makes healthcare available to children. And on Act 60 (the school funding law), Moore neglects to mention a salient fact: Act 60 was not a "cockeyed" liberal plan that Dean cooked up because he felt like it, but a response to a mandate from the Vermont Supreme Court ordering the government to overhaul education funding in the state.

On the latter (the respectful tone), the article compares Dean favorably to Bill Clinton ("without the skirt chasing"), and suggests that if Dean can tack back toward the center from his somewhat left-of-center position in the primary (obviously, I'm paraphrasing there), he would be a serious threat to President Bush.

I think this article suggests that conservatives may be feeling somewhat queasy as we roll toward November 2004. That makes me happy.