Dean will be next DNC Chair

I'll go out on a limb and predict that Howard Dean will be the next DNC chair barring some cataclysmic event. My reasons?

1. I don't think Dean would be running this hard if he thought he could lose. Another high profile loss so soon after the primary loss would doom him.
2. I think that the DNC activists probably think that the recent losses have to do with trying to be more like Republicans, and Dean is the anti-Republican. I think this is wrong, but I believe that the tendency of the base is to take stronger stands on their core positions. I believe that is how the Republican base would react, and I think it applies equally well to the Democrats.
3. I think some Dems think that in retrospect, Dean would have been a better candidate. At least he would have been forceful and stick to his positions. I don't agree, but I think some see it that way.

I also believe that Dean as chair will ultimately be a disaster for the Democratic Party. They will organize and raise money and it will appear that they are back on track, but they will lose elections under Dean, and that's really what counts.