JOE TRIPPI, the political svengali behind Howard Dean, has a new book out, entitled, humbly, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything. Trippi, you'll recall, became famous in 2003 as the architect of Howard Dean's Internet strategy, which used the web as a fundraising and outreach tool. It was quite a success. The Dean campaign broke fundraising records and the idea the Internet had a "power" to "transform" American democracy took on a mystical, quasi-religious status during the Democratic primary. Trippi was, and remains, the cult's high priest. Dean was beaten, of course, and badly, but Trippi and his acolytes continue to preach the all-praise-be-to-the-Internet gospel, roaming the country like a posse of itinerant preachers. Trippi's pulpit is currently MSNBC, where he is a political analyst.

Like most political books these days, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a thrown-together piece of work, threadbare and rushed into print in time for the November election. It is 252 pages long, with large print and ample space between the lines of text. It is memoir, mostly, but with some anti-Bush chapters thrown in for good measure, and also a lot of futuristic technospeak gobbledygook that you'd find in a Peter Drucker book on management. At times it is breezy and fun to read. Mostly it is ponderous, pedantic, and overwrought: "We are at a critical moment in American history" Trippi writes at one point, ever serious.

Yet the book is a remarkable document, for two reasons. It traces (rather sketchily) the rise of Howard Dean from Vermont governor to first-tier presidential candidate and an undeniable force in American politics. Dean may have won only one primary this season, in his home state of Vermont, but he established himself as the symbolic leader of angry, left-liberal Democrats everywhere. And Dean has street cred with angry left-liberals who are outside the Democratic party as well: Only Dean, for instance, could debate Ralph Nader on whether Nader should give up his presidential bid, as happened last Friday, and be taken seriously by the Naderites. His campaign, "Dean for America," defunct, his organization lives on as "Democracy for America," a political advocacy group. In other words, the story of Howard Dean, in which Joe Trippi plays a significant part, is one to know, because the Deaniacs will no doubt be with us for some time to come.

Which brings us to the other reason why The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is interesting. Howard Dean has made his peace with the Democratic party this year. But what about in the future? Dean could always splinter from the Democratic party if his constituency grows disgusted with it. Or he could become the Democrats' answer to Pat Buchanan, someone wreaking havoc in the party from within. In other words, Dean debated Ralph Nader today, but might he not one day find himself a Nader-like figure, an independent candidate who sees no difference between the two parties? Stranger things have happened. And one way to judge the likelihood of this happening is by reading what Trippi, the ur-Deaniac, has to say about the head of the Democratic party, Massachusetts senator and presidential nominee John Kerry. And here's the thing. Trippi doesn't seem to care for Kerry. Not at all.

TRIPPI SEES KERRY as an establishment type, someone who, as he puts it, "had been considering a run in 2004 for fifteen years." [italics Trippi's] Also, Kerry is a thief. He stole Dean's positions, he stole Dean's tactics, he even stole Dean's one-liners:

"It is time for regime change!' [Dean] said. "We need regime change in Washington!" The room went nuts. It was a line that would get John Kerry in trouble with the media weeks later, but when Dean coined it, there were no reporters around, just a roomful of people who had been waiting for someone to have the courage to say it.

For Trippi, the Kerry campaign is a product of Dean's success. After Dean dropped out, he writes, "Kerry inherited much of our online momentum."

And much else:

If John Kerry ends up in the White House, it will be in large part because of Howard Dean. Howard's message, his willingness to take on the White House, his use of the Internet--these are the things powering the Kerry campaign. . . . It's John Kerry's campaign now, but it's being powered by Howard Dean's courage and by the grassroots energy that he enflamed."

Trippi's problem is that, for all Kerry owes Howard Dean, Kerry can never be Howard Dean. Trippi brags that "two months after" Dean for America closed shop, Kerry "still had only" 80,000 people signed up on Meetup.com. The good doctor had 165,000 "and he wasn't even running any more." [italics Trippi's] Dean talked a lot about his supporters during the primaries: It was, Trippi writes, about them. They "have the power," to use the Deaniac mantra. Contrast this with John Kerry:

Every time I see John Kerry on television, I am struck by the same thought. Whether he is snowboarding or playing hockey or wearing his leathers, sitting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, the message seems to be the same: Aren't I amazing? His campaign spots, with their focus on his laudable service in Vietnam, tell the same story: Aren't I amazing? It's no different with the other Democratic candidates, or with George W. Bush . . ."

Got that? Kerry is "no different" from "the other Democratic candidates," who are, in turn, no different from George W. Bush. It is a remarkable statement. And it reminds you of a simple truth: John Kerry needs Howard Dean and the Deaniacs to win in 2004. But how long will Howard Dean need John Kerry?

Matthew Continetti is a reporter at The Weekly Standard.