Attempts to smear Howard Dean grow uglier

Attempts to smear Howard Dean and thwart what looks increasingly like an unstoppable bid for the Democratic presidential nomination grew uglier yesterday, as an incendiary new television advert highlighted his lack of national security experience and a well-known internet gossip-monger hinted at possible campaign finance irregularities.

It is hard to overstate the enthusiasm and renewed sense of possibility that Mr Dean's campaign has provoked in a deeply demoralised Democratic Party.

The new jabs at the frontrunner were murky in origin and certainly had no effect on the soaring morale of the candidate as he finished up a 48-hour swing through California with Democratic office-holders, show business entertainers and grassroots supporters falling at his feet like giddy teenagers in love.