And the battle is joined. Each wing of the party is ready for a slugfest that will determine who will the new DNC chairman, and how that person will help shape the direction of this party. Lots of names have been mentioned, some of them mostly unknown to people are aren't involved in the minutiae of party operations (read: us). So let's leave off those who aren't interested or won't win, and focus on a few of the others.
Dennis Archer, former mayor of Detroit. Why? I lived in Detroit when he was mayor. Archer had great vision for the city, but didn't accomplish much, as I recall, I have no idea why we would want him for the job, except that he's Black, and speaking as a black man, that doesn't cut it for me.
Simon Rosenberg. He's a centrist who knows how to get things done. He's a great organizer, well known and liked throughout the party and has lots of support, at least partially due to the NDN. However, I think the idea that we should move the party further to the center is fatally flawed, so he wouldn't get my vote. However, this choice wouldn't offend me, either.
Roy Barnes, former governor of Georgia. I lived in Atlanta (still do, actually) under Roy Barnes, and he was a pretty good governor. He got ambushed at the polls by the "old south" the same way that Max Cleland did, mostly because of that stupid state flag issue (to have the confederate flag or not). He's also a centrist, and a southerner, which everyone seems to like. He was a good governor, and I like him (even though he's a centrist).
Howard Dean, liberal firebrand. I am not swayed by the arguments that Dean is a centrist. Dean is a liberal in my book, which is why I like him. He energizes the party faithful (like me and many, many others), raises money like nobody's business, and speaks his mind. Even more important, he has convictions which are immediately apparent when you listen to him speak, and that, in my opinion, is what gets people to vote for you. You have to sell your ideas better than the other guy sells his. Along with that, the most important factor in Dean's favor is that he's not afraid. I saw him on CNN after that huge flap about the comments made by Kerry about Cheney's daughter. He told Wolf Blitzer point blank that Dick Cheney was a hypocrite and really out to just "shut up about it". He was right, and it didn't scare him to say so.
Everyone knows you can sell the public a total lie if you do it right. Just look at republican voters. A majority of them believe that WMD's were found in Iraq, that Iraq was directly involved in 9/11, and that W. supports the environment. Luckily, we don't need to sell lies. We just need to make people understand that our ideas are the correct moral choice. We're right to support a woman's right to choose. We're right to support limits on assault guns. The department of education is a good thing. Public schools, slicing the deficit, being a part of the world community...these are all the moral thing to do. We need someone who not only believes that, but can sell it.