Ryan Lizza writes in the latest web-only dispatch to the New Republic that Al Gore should be the next head of the Democratic National Committee. He offers some very good reasons:

Gore could be the anti-McAuliffe. One close Gore associate said a few weeks ago that the rigors of fundraising were a big obstacle to him getting in the race. The next DNC chairman won’t have to worry about that. Gore is also hugely popular with the party’s African-American base. Gore could help heal some of the racial tension at the Democratic headquarters that marked McAuliffe’s appointment, and he could help energize black voters during the campaign. Maybe Gore isn’t the most compelling television surrogate for the Democrats, but he’s a famously good debater, and the party should have someone who can alternately play the role of partisan and statesman when it faces off against the reserved and high-minded RNC Chairmain Marc Racicot.

Go, Al, go!

The rumour is, if Trent Lott doesn’t survive the vote on January 6th, he has threatened to resign altogether, allowing Misssissippi governor Ronnie Musgrave to appoint a new senator (and presumably a Democratic one at that). Speculation has it that former Secretary of Agriculture (and African-American) Mike Espy would be his choice. Very interesting…