Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), a one-time practicing psychiatrist, has endorsed a fellow doctor for president: former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D).

McDermott, who represents Seattle and the surrounding communities, said Dean is the Democrat with the best chance of winning the White House in 2004.

“I’ve taken time to meet with the other candidates, read about them and watch them, and Howard Dean’s simply the best,” McDermott said in a statement. “I admire his willingness to take on President Bush from the beginning about the war in Iraq, which every day looks more like a mistake. I know too that, as a governor, he did all that he possibly could for health care.”

McDermott, one of the most liberal Members of Congress, becomes the eighth House Member to endorse Dean. He is the longtime sponsor of a measure to create a Canadian-style, single-payer health care system in the United States.

While Dean has stopped short of endorsing single-payer, he has advanced a proposal to provide universal health care coverage for most Americans.