It sounds like the Southerners in Atlanta over the past weekend set the bar for a Democratic Party regional caucuses for the DNC Chair-- open to the Democratic Party members. The Midwestern is up next, so bloggers, get your credentials (everyone else, just show up at the door):
Now to Atlanta. If you missed the blogging done over the weekend, go read through the blogposts on Burnt Orange Report, Scrutiny Hooligans, BFD (whom also has some Dean photos), and michael in chicago, who blogged the CSPAN coverage here on MyDD. Here's the roundup:

Double whammy. Lobbyist Jim Blanchard and Alamo Molly Beth Malcolm are gone. But really, they were both DOA to begin with, and for that matter, so is Make Ohio Red David Leeland. Makes it a triple, we are down to the final six (for now).

Howard Dean is a candidate for the DNC Chair, and as Chair, he will not be running for President in 2008. Off-topic, Dean's got an op-ed, Keep The Election On Track, about Iraq. On topic, Puerto Rico is on board. If you want to read a Republican's slant on the DNC Chair race, Eric Pfeiffer has written Scream 2 on NRO, but seriously, Dean as "a potentially unstable emotional leader", that's FreeRepublic crap. Maybe tomorrow starting at 1 pm, BFA will start to be used as outreach for Dean's candidacy. The semi-entrance of pro-choice activist Kate Michelman sure positions Dean in the middle, outside the brewing war developing...

...with the candidacy of Tim Roemer. He says he's a candidate, and among the DNC Members in Atlanta, he came off well, but that's the South. In places like Massachusetts, where the Democratic State Chairman came out vocally against Roemer today, he's not going to fly. However, his candidacy does has the opportunity of creating an ideological divide over abortion rights within the Democratic Party. And so we wind up with 40 newspaper stories nationwide Tuesday with the headline, Mass. Dem opposes anti-abortion chairman. Way to go Harry & Nancy.

For Martin Frost, the more that Tim Roemer emerges, the lesser his chances become. As one DNC Member told me, I kept hearing that Martin Frost has support, but I don't see it. Frost and Roemer are sipping from the same cup, and only one of them may emerge as the anti-Dean.

The chances for Simon Rosenberg lessen as the race becomes more high-profile oriented, and less about strategy. For those who are looking for a master campaign mechanic for a DNC Chair, Simon's is on: "The Internet has enabled us to have a more intimate, direct relationship with people than ever before," he said. "I want those people to be partners, not just donors. I don't want the DNC to be just a building - I want it to be a community of millions of people." And this: "The Republicans have built a superior political machine, an information-age Tammany Hall... We are behind the Republicans, in terms of executing the modern technologies and communicating with people's real concerns." Big Netroots fanclub stuff.

Wellington Webb just doesn't generate a lot of news, though he does show up in the top three choices of a lot of DNC Members. But Colorado's race for State Chair on March 5th is going to be interesting. It's the first "accountability" election following the DNC Chair vote on Feb 12th:

Bad luck for Donnie Fowler to get dragged into the Clinon mess by his just-announced Midwest finance director David Rosen. Nothing to do with him though, Donnie just got caught in the crossfire of Bush's DOJ going after Hillary Clinton. Roff has good things to say about Fowler, but the traction he needed out of Atlanta was reportedly not happening.