Howard Dean, the 2004 insurgent presidential candidate who previously said Hillary Clinton would not get a free pass for the Democratic nomination in 2016, has adjusted his view.

Appearing in Iowa Wednesday to speak before a labor conference, Dean told The Des Moines Register he’s supporting Clinton in the next White House contest.

“At this point, I’m supporting Hillary Clinton,” Dean, a former Vermont governor and 2004 presidential candidate, told The Des Moines Register in a brief interview in Iowa today.

Asked if he’s definitively ruling out a White House bid, Dean climbed into a waiting car and said with a grin, “Ahhgh, we’re done here. Thank you.”

It’s a peculiar recalibration for Dean, who was one of the few progressives willing to publicly put the breaks on a coronation for Clinton.  And for someone who has been through the ringer in Iowa before, it would be odd if he were caught off guard by a 2016 question lobbed by a reporter.

To be fair, Dean never said he wouldn’t support Hillary — but to put his conditional stamp of approval on her yet-to-be-announced bid once again underlines the real possibility that Clinton won’t have a formidable challenger.

The only way to contest Clinton ideologically is from the left — and if one of the foremost leaders of the liberal movement is already tipping his hat to her, it’s an early indication that unity may trump policy fissures.

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