Howard Dean didn't get the Cabinet spot he wanted, but he does have a new job. The former head of the Democratic National Committee is joining CNBC as a regular contributor, a gig he kicked off Monday morning with a spot as the guest-host of the network's show "Squawk Box."
The announcement is especially interesting given the context provided recently by the fire the network has taken from "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, and the approving reaction Stewart's criticisms have gotten from the kind of people who make up Dean's base. The Huffington Post's Sam Stein reports CNBC's decision to bring Dean on was coincidental and unrelated, though. Stein quotes an unnamed source "close to the former Vermont governor" as saying, "This was in the works long before the Jon Stewart stuff."
Dean has some background in financial matters -- he did some time as a stock broker before going to medical school, and his father worked in finance.
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