But Dean said it's racist and, well, he doesn't really care so long as the racists vote for him.

Or at least that's what he initially said. Realizing that his position was untenable, he had to apologize. Sort of. In his mea culpa in New York on Nov. 5, Dean said he was sorry if he caused blacks or Southerners any pain (I'm sure millions were in agony) but, he insisted, what he was really trying to do was launch a much-needed "dialogue." It's funny how he never mentioned that was his intent until the whole thing blew up in his face.

Dean had an opportunity for his own Sista Souljah moment. That was when Clinton offended Jesse Jackson by denouncing black rap and signaled that he was willing to throw off the puppet strings of black activists in his party. Instead, Dean offered a different sort of Clintonesque moment, signaling that when caught in an untenable situation he can spout a fog obfuscation and explanations untethered to reality.

Worse, he offered his quasi-apology the same day he signaled that he wanted to opt out of public financing for his campaign. Dean has long said such a move by a Democrat would be an outrage, but he could have gotten away with it by appealing to the Democrats' desire to win.

But by announcing the move in the same speech that he offered apologetic gobbledygook about the flag flap, he seemed desperate, arrogant and unprepared for the big leagues. I mean he made Al Sharpton seem like the more mature candidate.

Dean may still win the nomination and conceivably the presidency. But this week he made his job tougher by managing to insult Southern whites and liberal blacks and flip-flopping on a core issue of his campaign and his party. Talk about classic Democratic marksmanship - he shot himself in the foot three times.