The war between James Carville and Howard Dean reflects a long-running divide inside the Democratic Party. I suspect Republicans suffer it, too.

Carville speaks for the political pros – the consultants, pollsters and media mavens.

Dean speaks for the grassroots – the state chairs, county chairs and precinct chairs.

The battle is over money. The Carvillians say give us more money and we’ll elect more Democrats. The Deaniacs say give us more money and we’ll elect more Democrats.

The problem this year is that every Democrat can claim that what they did worked, because most every Democrat won.

But my vote is with Carville.

The Dean crowd basically says organization wins elections.

In other words, they say Karl Rove is right.

But he wasn’t right. The much-hyped 72-Hour Plan wasn’t what it was hyped up to be. Not this year, not last time and not 2000.

Organization may – may, I say – make a 1 or 2 point difference in a tight race.

But information – media, that is – can make a 10 or 20 point different with the same amount of money.

That’s my two-cents worth.

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