It is now official that Chip Saltsman has withdrawn his candidacy for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee and in my opinion it is a sad day for the Republican Party. This leaves current Chairman Mike Duncan in the lead to retain his position and if that lead holds out, our party is going to be in for a long dry spell.
It seems the Republican Party is more interested in keeping the status quo than it is in moving forward and helping the country. I am not as knowledgeable about the workings of the RNC as is Kevin Tracy, but it appears to me that Mike Duncan has presided over one of the worst eras the Republican Party has ever had. We lost countless seats in both houses of Congress and it is evident that those that still remain are going to have little say over the legislation President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid are going to shove down our throats.
Well over a year ago, when the 2008 campaign got underway, I put my support behind Mike Huckabee in his candidacy for President. One of the reasons I did so was because I had seen him at work in Arkansas and the results were great. Another reason was how he was able to articulate his thoughts and plans for the country. Also weighing heavily in my decision was the fact that he was a virtual newcomer to the national scene and he was standing up for the regular people of America, not just for the old guard of the Republican Party. That was very important to me and I believe it was also one of the main reasons so many of those same people came out against him. This included people like Phyllis Schlafly, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity.
The reason these people fought against him so hard was his threat to the status quo of the Republican Party. As much as they spouted rhetoric about how they wanted to change America for the better, the fact remains that they fought hard against a man who could have brought that aforementioned change. The trouble is, it may have cost them personally and they weren’t ready for that. Chip Saltsman has suffered from the same thinking.
When Chip announced his candidacy for the RNC Chairmanship, he came out with a plan that would have set the Republican Party on a pathway out of the corruption and the status quo of the old guard of the party. It would have threatened their power and they didn’t want to see that happen. Thus, a CD that should have never been a scandal was made into one and it cost Saltsman dearly.
With Chip out of the race, I now support Ken Blackwell, even though he may be a long shot. No, I am not supporting Michael Steele. I like the man and how he can speak, but I am not happy with the way he ran GOPAC. He would be better than Mike Duncan or Saul Anuzis, who I consider to be nothing but a political hack for Mitt Romney, but I would much rather see Blackwell win the balloting.
Sometime today, we should know if Mike Duncan will retain his position or if someone new will be given the reins of the Republican Party and it’s direction. Hopefully Blackwell will be able to pull off an upset. If not, we may as well settle in for a siege because it’s going to be along time before the Republican Party can pull itself from a quagmire of it’s own making.