Dean prevailed, and so did the Democrats.

Dean's strategy was an investment strategy. His assumption was that if you get locked into a rigid blue state/red state map, you will have no room to spare. Consequently, you should invest in a strategy that has a higher probability of yielding a surplus, even if it carries a higher probability of not meeting your minimum target in the short run.

Rockman believes Dean ultimately was right. The proof is the president-elect with a healthy Democratic Congress as his wingman on policy and on the courts.

In the end, for every Republican who lost or had a close electoral shave, it is hard to separate success of the Democrats’ strategy from the impact of President Bush's deep unpopularity and a worsening financial crisis. The moon and the stars all came together to make Dean and Obama look good.

Throughout the campaign, Republicans were stunned by Dean’s strange silence, but that is what a good party chairman does. And that is what Dean ultimately became; he never became the joke his detractors expected.

Now that Democrats have won, the DNC chair will answer to whoever becomes the Obama White House’s political director, making this the time for Dean to exit his post.

So, what should be next for the good doctor from Vermont, who as governor held the distinction of having more constituents with health-care coverage than any other governor in the union? A man who was, yes, a moderate, fiscally conservative chief executive, despite the image most people have of him?

If President-elect Obama is as serious about health care as he claimed to be on the campaign trail, Dr. Dean may become his health-care czar at the Department of Health and Human Services.