In an era where Republicans paint their foes with the big brush of "liberal, terrorist-loving, unpatriotic, welfare supporting losers" these same folks have remarkably fragile feelings when Howard Dean points out the obvious. Republicans, by and large, are predominantly the party of white Christians whereas the Democrats represent everyone else.
Fox News and other conservative media only manage to trot out one meaningful statistic, that Bush got 40% of the hispanic vote. Does that mean what Dean said was not basically true? The Republican party manages to win elections because it has become the party of the ethnic majority, white Christians. Not every Republican is a white Christian. But most are.
Face it, it's a lot easier to stereotype a Republican than a Democrat. Democrats represent people of all races and creeds. It's really is a big tent party. That is why the Republican party is doomed in the long-run. Karl Rove and the Republican leaders know this. That is why they are spending so much time trying to reach out to non-white citizens. They need to start being paletable to other types of people. Howard Dean has the luxury of letting time do the work for him. In another decade 'everyone else' will be the majority and the Republicans will be pigeon-holed as a permanent minority white-christian political party.