RON KIRK FOR DNC CHAIR?

BOP News has an interesting discussion on the DNC chairmanship. Seems former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk has the inside track.

Tell me no. The man's a charmer and a terrific speaker. End of story. There is nothing new here, not in terms of leadership, ideas, unique appeal, and certainly not in courage of conviction, which in Ron Kirk's case blows with the prevailing winds. We're talking Republican lite, victory for the DLC, and a disaster for the Democratic Party if Kirk wins. He brings nothing more to the table than old-style Chicago machine politics. As Dallas mayor he was the willing captive of rich business interests. The qualities that have helped Ron succeed thus far -- his urbanity, sophistication, and crony insiderism -- are precisely what disqualifies him as a populist. There's no one more GQ than Ron. He'll go over big (not) in the rural South and Midwest.

This is the 21st century, folks. And Howard Dean is the only viable candidate, in my mind, who gets that. Think Reagan after losing the nomination in 1976. He was too radical, too factional to win, right? Yet he won the presidency in 1980 and remade the Republican Party.

Dean can do the same. The nation is too polarized for a DLC-er to do the Dems any good. We desperately need someone who will hammer the Repugs on every single issue and visibly and vigorously fight for the common man. Dean's post-primary activities have been admirable and impassioned AND successful. He proved he wasn't just in the race for ego -- he wants to see the nation, and the party, back on track towards progress, not regression. He's the man for the job.

Besides, the media owes him big-time, they know it, and they secretly feel guilty about it. He just might get some mileage out of it.

UPDATE: For more about Ron Kirk, see this and this.

UPDATE: Just thought of another important reason to elect Howard Dean as DNC Chair: we desperately need a foil, or more accurately a cattle prod, for Harry Reid. His fellow Dem Senators sure don't look up to the job.