Periscope

But not every candidacy is a tech-based insurgency, and Democratic insiders don't want one. They see Dean, who rose to prominence by opposing the Iraq war, as a disaster in the making. They dream of settling pre-emptively (after a foreshortened primary season) on a well-funded centrist. This minute's party buzz is enveloping Sen. Joe Lieberman, after he declared that "no Democrat will be elected president in 2004 who is not strong on defense." Party types--and Republicans--loved the indirect swipe at Dean. Dean, who plans to continue using the Internet as his medium of choice, so far remains unfazed. And only time will tell where the buzz bounces next.

--Howard Fineman and Rebecca Sinderbrand

The Smithsonian: Pictures of Controversy

For photographer Subhankar Banerjee, it should have been a publicity coup. During the U.S. Senate's March 19 debate over proposed oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, opponents of the legislation used blown-up photographs of polar bears and caribou to urge the reserve's preservation. The photographs were from "Seasons of Life and Land," Banerjee's first book and the subject of an exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. During the debate, which resulted in defeat of the bill, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer held up Banerjee's book and implored her colleagues to visit the exhibition.

Days later, Banerjee received notice that the Smithsonian, which depends on Congress for its funding, had decided to move his exhibition from a prominent space near the museum's rotunda to the bottom floor, and the exhibit's captions were expunged of quotes from Jimmy Carter, who, in the foreword to Banerjee's book, urges the refuge's preservation. Attorneys for the museum insisted that Banerjee remove all mentions of the Smithsonian from his book. "I was told that my work was just too political. It's just photographs," Banerjee says.

A Feb. 27 design plan lists the exhibit's location to be a space near the rotunda, but Smithsonian officials say the changes were "routine" and deny any political pressure. "To my knowledge, there have been no complaints about the show," says Michelle Urie. Others aren't so sure. Last month Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin wrote Smithsonian chief Lawrence Small, demanding an explanation. "I really hope this is not an effort by the White House or anyone else to diminish the value of these photographs," says Durbin. The White House had no comment.