<p>With John McCain on his way to the Republican presidential nomination, Howard Dean felt free to let down his hair a bit on Thursday.<br id="v::d" />

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Talking to reporters at Democratic National Committee headquarters, Dean said that of the GOP presidential hopefuls, &quot;Mitt Romney is the candidate I feared most,&quot; because he is wealthy and &quot;articulate.&quot;<br id="efu5" />

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But Dean seems to be coping just fine with McCain. &quot;John McCain is a weak candidate,&quot; he said. &quot;He is very far out of step with the American people.&quot;<br id="tn5c" />

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Of course, he probably would have said the same about Romney.</p>