Please, give Hotline TV a quick burial. This is jaw-droppingly bad stuff.

Let's take John & Amy's snappy banter "seriously" for a moment. (Wow. A Dean Scream. Like no one's ever thought of that before.)

1. Michigan & Florida

So John & Amy seem to think he hasn't shown leadership in this area. I'll let Howard speak for himself:

"I have to chuckle a little bit -- the people who are complaining that I'm not taking a stronger role -- when you drill down on that a little as I have ... I see what you mean. You'd like me to be a strong leader and adopt your point of view and then ram it through the DNC," he said Tuesday.

"I'm not going to do that -- for either side. There are going to be donors and supporters on both sides that are mad at me. I'm going to play this one by the rules."

2. Superdelegates

So Amy thinks that privately, if not publicly, Howard should be more assertive with the super-d's.

In this morning's Los Angeles Times, Howard told a reporter that "the rules provide for [the unpledged or so-called "superdelegates"] to use whatever yardstick they want" in determining which presidential candidate to vote for at the Democratic National Convention.

Citing Democratic rules, national committee Chairman Howard Dean on Tuesday said that the superdelegates who are poised to select the party's presidential nominee are free to back whomever they wish at the end of the primaries, regardless of who leads in the popular vote or pledged delegates.

Asked about Hillary Rodham Clinton's suggestion that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment and not feel bound by the standings after June 3 -- the day the nominating season ends -- Dean replied: "That's what the rules say, and I enforce the rules."

Source: 4/2/2008 L.A. Times article "Dean says superdelegates are free agents"

Howard is absolutely correct. Superdelegates are not there to "reflect the will of the people" they are there to do what's best for the Democratic Party. Apparently that point's been lost on John & Amy.

3. 50-State Strategy

Amy thinks Howard was in "the right place at the right time" in 2006. I think she had a chat with Rahm Emmanuel, who is one of the biggest critics of the strategy.

Let's recap why there's a 50-state strategy: If you want to win, you have to compete everywhere. All 50 states. Not just the ones you know you can win. 2006 was the first year that strategy was implemented and this year, the Democrats have a very good chance of picking up even more seats in Congress. Perhaps John & Amy missed all those Republicans who've announced their retirements....

4. Fundraising

Historically the DNC has always trailed the RNC in fundraising. Amy seems to think that investing in the 50-state strategy means there's not enough money to beat McCain. Expect that fundraising to pick up once there is a nominee to rally around.

At the end of 2007, all Democratic committees maintained a staggering $32 million cash-on-hand advantage, or about a 93 percent edge over the rival Republican committees. As of March 7, the NY Times reported the DNC has raised money, paid down debt and put about $4 million in the bank.

In many ways, the D.N.C. is now taking a page from the Republican playbook. Over the years, the R.N.C. spent hundreds of millions of dollars building a nationwide party organization and creating its much-celebrated “Voter Vault,” a sophisticated database that can spew out detailed information on Republican voters and get them to the polls.

“When Dean became chairman, a lot of people did hand-wringing on why we didn’t win in 2004,” said Tom McMahon, the D.N.C.’s executive director. “A lot of state chairmen wanted to know why they were written off. We had laid out a battle plan that had written off half the country. We needed to build a foundation.”

NY Times, 3/7/08, Party Donations Show G.O.P. Edge

And last but not least, a big thumbs down for "Ho-Ho." It's lame and disrespectful.