The year’s most remarkable political story has been the rise of Howard Dean from little-known former governor to Democratic presidential front-runner. A close second may be the way Mr. Dean has redefined himself from maverick Democrat to orthodox liberal on an array of issues without damaging his campaign.

Dean, who once promised to make it “a huge issue” if his rivals shunned public financing of their primary campaigns, became the first Democratic hopeful ever to do so. Earlier, he had switched positions on other issues.

In Iowa last week, he defended himself from accusations he has flip-flopped on issues, blaming opponents concerned “about their positions in polls.” He also said “there have been a number of quotes taken out of context” but added that, “if you’re not willing to change your position in response to facts, then you’re probably not qualified to be president of the United States.”

Here are several issues where Mr. Dean has changed his mind:

• The North American Free Trade Agreement. As governor, he strongly backed the pact. Now, he says it has to be amended to include environmental and labor standards: “The facts are that NAFTA and the (World Trade Organization) haven’t worked very well for most working people in this country.”
• Gun control. In 1992, Dean opposed curbs on the private ownership of semiautomatic assault weapons in a National Rifle Assn. questionnaire. Aides said the question referred to a state ban, but The New York Times reported it covered both state and federal limits. Dean says he favors the federal ban on assault weapons enacted in 1994.
• Nuclear waste. As governor, he supported establishing an interim nuclear waste site at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. But in Las Vegas last month, he said that “now that I’m running for president, I’ve seen the light.” He said “significant questions have been raised about the safety of Yucca Mountain,” and until they are resolved, “Yucca cannot be opened, and new plants must not be built.”
• Cuba. Dean has long favored ending the U.S. trade embargo. But in August, he told reporters that, due to Fidel Castro’s crackdown on dissidents, “we can’t do it right now.”
• Social Security. Dean conceded in June on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that in 1995 he advocated raising the Social Security retirement age to 70 and cutting benefits. He said he no longer thinks it is necessary, though he would “entertain taking the retirement age to 68” and raising the income level for collecting Social Security taxes. In August, at an AFL-CIO forum, he said, “I have never favored a Social Security retirement age of 70, nor do I favor one of 68.”
• Medicare. In 1995, he called it “one of the worst federal programs ever” and backed cutting its growth rate from 10 percent annually to 7 percent, similar to a Republican plan. On CNN last month, he contended, “That’s exactly what we did” in a bill Bill Clinton signed in 1997. Clinton opposed the 1995 GOP proposal and signed a bill with smaller cuts in 1997. Dean now opposes any cuts and says, “I’m a strong supporter of Medicare.”

Other candidates have changed positions in or after a campaign. George W. Bush vowed never to do the “nation building” he now pursues in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Clinton called for a middle-class tax cut that, as president, he delayed for years.

Still, despite repeated attacks on his changes from opponents, Dean’s campaign seems to be thriving. His current positions fit the views of Democratic voters more than some he abandoned. And his changes don’t seem to have dissuaded backers attracted by his strong criticism of Bush and his consistent opposition to the war in Iraq.

Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News.