How nice it would be to hear a comprehensive, rational, alternative plan for running the U.S. government during Howard Dean's rally at Kaminsky House in Georgetown. But those who attend, we fear, are in for more of the invective that has propelled the former Vermont governor to the head of the nine-member pack of Democrats seeking the nomination to face President Bush in 2004.

The governor cleverly has capitalized upon the fear and anger that many Americans feel in this era of war, slow job growth and industrial decline to become the presumptive Democratic nominee in advance of next year's primaries. He has turned the Internet into a formidable fund-raising weapon, ensuring himself more than enough money to compete against Bush should be win the nomination. And he has mobilized young true believers in virtually every precinct of the nation to spread the word about his candidacy and his views.

The potentially fatal flaw in his campaign, however, is that there's little light accompanying the heat of his message.

You can travel a long way on harnessed anger in the primaries, which are participatory events for the party faithful. Many party faithful appear to be flocking to Dean because he shares - or professes to share - their disdain for Bush and his foreign and economic policies. They don't much care that Dean's foreign and economic policies are so badly underdeveloped that they make little sense. They don't much care that he has taken few fleshed-out, consistent positions on the issues of the day, instead reconstituting his views to suit the biases of a given audience. They're content to wait until later for the details on how he would run the government, taking on faith that they'll like whatever he proposes.

Anger has its place in politics. But what this country needs from both presidential nominees in 2004 is a vision for bridging the great cultural divide that threatens to make it ungovernable.

If Dean gets the Democratic nomination on the basis of anger alone, he is likely to fare poorly against Bush next year. Americans deserve to know what substance, if any, Dean has; and today's Georgetown rally would be a good place to start laying it out.