THE REASON FOR THE SEASON: James Taranto writes that a few of his readers disputed his questioning the sincerity of Howard Dean's assertion that he is a "committed believer in Jesus Christ."

In response, Taranto simply runs Dean's December 25 message to his supporters, and notes, "Dean manages to mention Thomas Jefferson and FDR--admirable men, to be sure--but he says not a word about the man whose birth we celebrated last Thursday. He can't even bring himself to use the word Christmas".

Yeah, that's the spirit that'll woo the red states.

UPDATE: Chris Muir seems to agree.