Speculation last week that S.C. Democratic Party chairman Joe Erwin or state education superintendent Inez Tenenbaum could be contenders to head the Democratic National Committee has some state party insiders pleased.

But Tenenbaum, who just lost her race to replace U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, and Erwin say they’re not that interested.

“I’m interested in being the best superintendent of education I can be,” Tenenbaum said, adding she’s already considering running for statewide office in 2006.

Erwin said e-mails and phone calls from people across the country since his name appeared in a news report last weekend had him thinking about it.

“It’s really flattering,” he said. “I take it as a compliment more to my team than to me.”

Some state party members guessed Erwin’s and Tenenbaum’s names were circulated to soothe hurt feelings or in an attempt to help insiders jockeying for power. Both are inexperienced nationally — Erwin was elected S.C. chairman just a year ago, and Tenenbaum has held one statewide office.

But David Rudd, the Camden native who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said Erwin and Tenenbaum also impressed people this year.

Erwin successfully put on the state’s Feb. 3 presidential primary “making him a logical person to consider,” Rudd said. “Inez’s aggressive race that dramatically exceeded expectations and her ability to talk across the aisle is an obvious reason she should be considered.”

A dozen or so names besides Tenenbaum and Erwin have come up as Democrats contemplate who should replace DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, expected to step down when his term ends early next year.

Among the potential candidates: former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean or Clinton friend Harold Ickes of Long Island, N.Y.

Others say the party should go in a different direction. They say it has lost touch with the majority of voters, and it’s time to elect a chairman from a conservative state.

Former DNC chairman Don Fowler, who lives in Columbia, said Erwin could be that person.

“I’m for it 100 percent,” Fowler said. “He’s done a magnificent job here in South Carolina.”

If Erwin did run, he would need to appeal to Democratic committee members across the country. At the moment, he doesn’t have support from all of the committee members in his own state.

DNC member Gilda Cobb-Hunter laughed when told Erwin was a potential candidate for party chairman.

“Oh please!” said the state representative from Orangeburg. “I think that’s funny. Nobody knows him.

“I would think Joe Erwin has his hands full trying to build the S.C. Democratic Party,” she said. “He has yet to prove himself here in South Carolina.”

Erwin said he planned to talk to people in other states and find out more about the process before completely ruling out a run.

Regardless, he said, the Democratic Party nationally needs to listen more to the states.

“I intend to be pretty outspoken for change,” he said. “We’ve got to make it clear we are not a party of a bunch of heathens. We go to church. We’ve got to find a way to talk to people who go to church.”

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com