Howard Dean’s Long, Strange Journey To Keith Olbermann’s Anchor Chair

Howard Dean appeared as a guest on MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning – his fifth appearance on the network this month.

But tomorrow he’ll add a new, interesting bullet point to his resume: he’s guest hosting Countdown with Keith Olbermann. How did he get to this point?

In March, Dean became a CNBC contributor, and has appeared frequently on the business news network. But it is his increasingly regular appearances on MSNBC that served as the precursor to his hosting shot on the prime time cabler. Dean will fill-in tomorrow and Wednesday night (other fill-in hosts this week include regular Countdown guests Richard Wolffe and Lawrence O’Donnell).

The spotlight couldn’t be bigger for Dean. Countdown is regularly the most watched prime time show on MSNBC, and the liberal audience is one sure to embrace the former DNC chairman.

But for someone who was once the front-runner to be the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, the past few years have been interesting for Dean. He ran the DNC, and helped the Democrats to large victories in 2006 and again in 2008. For his efforts, he was rewarded by being essentially snubbed by the Obama administration. Then it was the move out of politics, and into the NBCU fold.

Now he’ll prep for his prime time audition. Some might say the “Dean Scream” was like his very first “Special Comment“:

• Another CNBCer, Donny Deutsch, is filling in today for David Shuster on MSNBC from 3-5pmET.

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