Alec Poitevint

On Friday, Marc Ambinder provided the latest scuttlebutt on the potential candidates for RNC Chairman. The names mentioned in the piece, in this order, include:

• Alec Poitevint, National Committeeman for Georgia, and the piece says, favorite of McCain insiders, though whoever leaked that was probably not trying to do him any favors.
• Chuck Yob, former National Committeeman for Michigan
• Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party
• Jim Greer, chairman of the Florida Republican Party
• Chip Saltsman, Mike Huckabee's campaign manager and former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party
• Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party

We'll be following this race very closely starting November 5th (assuming there is a race and McCain doesn't win). This job becomes symbolically more important if Republicans are the out party, as the chairman becomes one of the three public faces of the party with the House and Senate Republican leaders. This probably means the most public RNC Chairman's race in the party's history this winter.

The big question to my mind is if a grassroots favorite will emerge from this pack a la Howard Dean. RNC rules were recently changed to welcome candidates from outside the committee -- though in practice this had been waived to make room for many of the President's appointments.