It's not always easy...

...maintaining the stance that my strong support for Simon Rosenberg for DNC Chair is not in any way an anti-Howard Dean position. The difficulty doesn't come from anything the Doctor has said or done, but from the tendency from some of his supporters to fall into the worst of their paranoid complaints that there's some kind of evil conspiracy out to get him. Of course, some media reports have only fueled that paranoia, sometimes in absurd fashion.

A lot of it seems to center around the notion that there's a cabal of Clintonista's out to stop Dean at any cost, which is why this item particularly caught my attention...

The AP expands the list, noting Dean "is also supported by former national party chairs Steve Grossman, who was a key supporter in his presidential race, and David Wilhelm."

David Wilhelm, of course, was Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign manager, and Clinton's hand picked choice to follow Ron Brown as DNC Chair. He is, in many respects, the uber-Clintonista (and a prominent Kerry supporter during the '04 primaries).

So, who will the Deaniacs find to blame any dissent from their passion on next? If Howard becomes the Chair, fine. We've done worst than second best before, I'm sure. But if he doesn't make it, it's because he couldn't close the sale with the voting members and sinister machinations behind the scenes just won't be the deciding factor. It's likely because we have a better choice.