In a bid to block Howard Dean, the executive board of the Association of State Democratic Chairs recommended the endorsement of Donnie Fowler. Adam Nagourney of the New York Times has the story:

The recommendation, to be voted on by the entire association on Monday, reflected turmoil among Democrats as Dr. Dean seeks to portray his election on Feb. 12 by the Democratic National Committee as inevitable, and his opponents move to rally around a candidate to block him.

[...]

The association had sought to keep all its members from making an endorsement in hope of arriving at a consensus. But Dr. Dean picked off some influential chairmen - in particular, Scott Maddox of Florida - in a move that added momentum to his bid but stirred resentment among some state party leaders.

Dr. Dean's allies played down the significance of the vote, suggesting it was a gesture of respect for Mr. Fowler's father, Donald Fowler, a former Democratic chairman. One of his associates said Dr. Dean would rather face Donnie Fowler than Martin Frost, the former representative from Texas and a former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who Democrats said emerged this weekend as the third of the top three candidates.

They said they viewed Mr. Frost, 63, given his stature and experience, as a stronger challenger for the job than Mr. Fowler, who is 37.

This race is certainly shaping up to be hotly-contested, and though Dean is on the inside track to victory, it is far from over. For more information, check out the major candidates' sites:

• Howard Dean
  
• Donnie Fowler
  
• Martin Frost
  
• Simon Rosenberg