In less than a month, the members of the Democratic National Committee will meet to elect a new chairman. For those readers who don’t happen to be political junkies, the DNC is a body that governs the national Democratic Party. By majority vote, its members will decide who is going to take on the daunting task of leading the committee for the next four years.

Clearly, the next party chairman will have a lot on his or her plate. This individual must find a way to shake things up in the party and regain lost ground in the upcoming 2006 congressional elections as well as the presidential election in 2008. The main candidates for the DNC chairmanship acknowledge that now is the time for reform in the Democratic Party, but who is the best person for the job?

Former presidential candidate Howard Dean has announced his candidacy for chairman, which has led to all kinds of drama. Democratic Party insiders, the same people who sought to derail Dean’s candidacy in the presidential primaries, are once again looking for an alternative.

Dean scares the Clintons and their political allies, who are turned off by his hot-headed persona and view him as too far to the left. According to Newsweek journalist Howard Fineman, party leaders approached former senator and 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey about running for the position, but he was not interested.

Though candidates such as former Texas congressman Martin Frost and Washington-based strategist and fund-raiser Simon Rosenberg have been thrown around as potential frontrunners in the “un-Dean” movement, Dean says he has privately convinced many DNC members to support his candidacy. It seems the doctor has once again claimed frontrunner status.

Though Bill and Hillary might argue with me on this one, I think Dean might be the right choice for chairman. Consider the facts:

nDean is running for DNC Chairman, not for president. Unlike a presidential candidate, it is not the job of the head of the Democratic Party to pander to “undecided” and swing voters. It would be Dean’s duty to energize and mobilize the base of the Democratic Party, and as everyone knows, Dean is capable of electrifying his party. His highly charged campaign brought many new voters into the political process.

nIt might make sense for the key Democratic figures in the House and Senate to be boring drones, because they play such a visible public role, but in a behind-the-scenes position such as DNC Chairman, Dean’s charisma and much-needed bluntness won’t be under the same constant scrutiny. His honesty and energy will allow for a more open dialogue within the Democratic Party, and that can only be a good thing.

n Try as they may, I find it hard to believe that Republican attack dogs are going to have very much success placing Dean in the same negative spotlight as before. Their attempts to do so will leave the general public scratching its head and saying, “Duh, what the hell is the DNC?”

n Last but not least, Dean realizes that actions speak louder than words. While other candidates for DNC chairman emphasize the importance of reaching out to voters in rural communities, Dean has actually followed through on that statement. One month after his presidential campaign ended, he formed an organization called Democracy for America that helped many progressive candidates get elected in conservative states like Alabama, Georgia, Montana and Utah. This is the kind of work the next DNC Chairman must be able to do if the Democratic Party wants to gain ground in red states.

Will the DNC crown Governor Dean as its new boss, or will pressure from within the party cause a shift toward some “un-Dean” alternative? Stay tuned. Perhaps in the meantime, the Democratic Party will come to realize that a more internal role as chairman will allow Dean’s charisma and perseverance to do positive things for the party, keeping his potentially counter-productive ambitions for public office at bay.

Jon Monteith is a sophomore in LAS. His column appears Thursdays. He can be reached at [email protected].