The New Republic has an excellent article outlining what may be one of Democrat presidential wannabe Howard Dean's fatal flaws.

As conversion stories go, Dean's hardly conforms to the conventions of the genre. Rather than show how religion helped him to change his life--see, again, Bush overcoming the bottle--it shows how a conflict in everyday life made Dean change his religion. Not only is the role of religion in the story subsidiary; it's also essentially negative. More important still, Dean's spiritual narrative is, well, not very spiritual. His moment of truth has nothing to do with God or theology or personal faith; rather, it's about local politics. It's hard to imagine this story will resonate with religious voters, because very few people would untether themselves from their spiritual home over a bike path. Indeed, when Dean first explained his denominational switch on ABC's "This Week," George Stephanopoulos was incredulous: "Over the bike path?" Most people respond that way, even Dean's friends and family. My questions about the centrality of the bike path take them by surprise. "I have never heard that before," says his brother James Dean. "I had another reporter ask me that, but he never told me that at the time," remembers [Burlington lawyer and bike path proponent Rick] Sharp.

Dean's recent gaffe regarding the Book of Job is just another symptom of Dean's anti-religion attitude. Dean has worn his secularism as some sort of badge of honor -- and it works in Vermont. But as Dean attempts to win a nationwide election, that badge will become a weight around his neck.