As Barack Obama hauled Senate Dems to the White House yesterday for yet another kumbaya session to try to save health care reform, former DNC Chairman and presidential candidate Howard Dean went public with the angry sentiments of many liberals, calling for the defeat of the Democratic Senate bill.

Dean left the reservation after Harry Reid, prodded by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, caved to Joe Lieberman’s opposition to the latest “compromise” public option proposal, which included a “buy in” to Medicare for beneficiaries aged 55-64.

First reported by the blog Plum Line, Dean gave an interview to Vermont Public Radio, bluntly denouncing the evolving Senate legislation as “the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate.”

Joining conservatives who have called for hitting the restart button, Dean called for killing the Senate bill and essentially starting over:

“This is essentially the collapse of health care reform in the United States Senate. Honestly the best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill, go back to the House, start the reconciliation process, where you only need 51 votes and it would be a much simpler bill.”

According to Plum Line, Dean had previously endorsed the Medicare buy-in compromise, saying the question was whether the bill contained enough “real reform” to be worthy of liberal support. Given his street cred on the left—-in many ways Dean’s 2004 campaign was the precursor to Obama’s appeal to liberal primary voters in 2008—Dean’s opposition will no doubt further inflame the liberal blogosphere against the Senate bill.

Later, Dean took to the airwaves to voice his opposition, appearing on MSNBC’s “Countdown” program and urging that the Senate bill be killed. To watch the video click here.

We don’t often find ourselves in agreement with Howard Dean. But this is one time we are on the same sheet of music, if for different reasons: Kill the Senate bill and start over.