by Chris Bowers

Cobbling together as much information as I can, right now I think the battle for the next chair is basically a four-way race. There are 440 members of the national committee, and they will elect a new chairman early next year.

The Big Four

• 1. Harold Ickes. If he is the choice of the Clinton people, as is the rumor, he must have the inside track right now.

• 2. Simon Rosenberg. He is interested, or is at least floating a trial balloon (my apologies to Rosenberg fans who will certainly dislike the link I produced--it was the most recent one I could find). With centrist and insider cred, coupled with respect among the netroots, he might be able to emerge as a compromise figure between the Clinton and Dean people.

• 3. Howard Dean. If people like Breaux are warning about Dean, then our Internet polls and netroots are not the only people pushing for him to become the next chair. And yes, he is interested.

• 4. Jean Shaheen. Seems to have emerged as the favorite of the Kerry people, and is supposedly "testing the waters." Hard to know how much having Kerry's backing will help her now. Pelosi also seems to be backing her, which could quickly allow Shaheen to move up in the rankings.