Sometimes a political story morphs into an animal story. a caricature. This seems to be happening to the Democrats in the US as they work out their future. Consider Howard Dean. A year ago Mr Dean withdrew from the presidential primaries yelping like a hound. Lately, feral Howard has reappeared as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Now he spends his time savaging Republicans. There are Republican congressmen, he said recently, who “never made an honest living in their lives”. As for the Republican party, it was “pretty much a white, Christian P party”. Howard the Hound cares little for dry policy. He goes for blood, and his party values him for his following among bloggers.

Calling Mr Dean a canine sounds harsh. But he is not the only dog in the Democratic party. There are the Blue Dogs.