Among Republican circles, it is fashionable to root for Howard Dean to win the race for DNC chair, which it is looking increasingly liklely that he will do, but after reading up on the race, Republicans should be afraid of Dean.

Sure he would PR-wise come off as a bit whacky, but read up on what he thinks should be done to save the Dems and you come to the shocking conclusion he’s mostly right.

# Show up! Never concede a single state, county, district or even a single voter to the Republicans. We must be active and compete in all 50 states and work with the state parties to build a truly national party.

# Recruit, train, and encourage candidates to run for office at every level — building tomorrow’s farm team from the ground up. This was the founding principle behind Democracy for America.

# Actively grow local Democratic committees in local communities. Local neighborhood advocates are our best spokespeople — helping them reach out in their own communities will better articulate our message and enable the grassroots to support state and local candidates.

# Better integrate national and state party operations. Specifically, that means: providing the state party the means to pay for its executive director in every state; building and sharing lists between the national and state parties; and creating an ongoing active presence — a permanent campaign in every state that does not have to be recreated for only four months every four years.

# Develop and articulate core Democratic principles that we all can agree on, that will let people know what our party stands for. We will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing our rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side’s positions. We must say what we mean — and mean real change when we say it.

# Make Democrats the party of reform — reforming America’s financial situation, reforming our electoral process, reforming health care, reforming education and putting morality back in our foreign policy.

# Utilize cutting edge Internet technology, not only to fundraise, but also as an effective organizing tool to recruit more supporters, communicate with them, and empower them to lead in their local communities.

# Strengthen the party institutions and leadership institutes so that they rival the Republican machine that currently exists. These institutions must work together in a coordinated way to recruit new talent, develop leaders, articulate our values and elect Democrats at every level.

This is exactly what the Republicans DON’T want Democrats doing, rebuilding infrastructure to rival our current machine. The fact is Republicans have written off the cities counting on suburbs, exurbs, and rural areas to carry the day, but if Democrats find an inroads into any of these then the Republican majority will evaporate overnight, because the GOP has no such plan to gain a foothold in the cities.

As I mentioned before the reason that Pennsylvania Republicans have lost statewide elections lately, which they used to win, is because the Philadelphia suburbs now go Democrat. Having given up totally on downtown Philly and Pittsburgh, there simply isn’t enough votes to overcome this avalanche. Until the Republican Party begins contesting in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, then PA will stay solidly in the blue column. So Republicans be ware, Howard Dean could be just a scream away from saving the Democrats from permanent minority status.