The current chairman of the Republican National Committee defended his losing record in the 2008 presidential election and promised RNC members that if they re-elected him to the position, it would bring about “change” in the GOP.
“I am proud of the accomplishments we achieved in this campaign,” Chairman Robert “Mike” Duncan told a room full of party activists during the first-ever debate held for a high-ranking GOP position.
All candidates had some campaign materials to distribute, but Duncan’s was by far the most comprehensive and probably the most costly. His 20-page glossy pamphlet touted the $400 million he helped raise from 1.9 million donors during the last election campaign and the 12 million email list he built during his term.
While Duncan may be influential among RNC members, he is certainly not a favorite of those outside the party. The race was closely watched by grassroots activists who have an anti-establishment bent after suffering devastating national losses in the last two elections.
A significant number of people at the event openly supported GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele by wearing huge “Steele for Chairman” stickers and carrying signs.
“All this noise about the group dying at death’s door is bullshit,” Steele said. His statement was evidenced by the observable support for his candidacy in the audience.
The other candidates for the position are Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, former Mike Huckabee presidential campaign manager Chip Saltsman and South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson.
The modern chairman will be elected by the RNC’s 168 members at the GOP Winter Meeting later this month. Americans for Tax Reform convened Monday afternoon at the National Press Club in Washington. In recent years, the position was essentially an appointee of President Bush, eliminating the need for a public forum for candidates – and so Duncan became chairman of the RNC in January 2007.
Without specifically mentioning Duncan, Blackwell at one point in the debate negatively referred to the RNC as “an appendage of the White House.”
This was the closest any candidate came to direct criticism of the chairman. Rather, his detractors seemed to have strayed from the topic, instead choosing to express their opinion on “going back to the rules” and playing their individual records. Dawson, from the ruby-red southern state, boasted about the election of Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, prompting another slight jab at Blackwell in Ohio.
“We all know how hard it is to win an election in this swing state of South Carolina,” Blackwell, considered the front-runner for Beltway conservatives, added sarcastically, giving Dawson a keen jab.
While no one seemed willing to hold Duncan accountable, Michigan’s Anuzis emphasized the need and his ability to hold other Republicans accountable for critical battles by making sure his state’s Republicans oppose tax increases along party lines. “We cannot be afraid to stand up,” he said.
Oddly enough, it was Duncan himself who was most candid about it.
“I understand the difference between when we have the White House and when we don’t,” he said. In his closing statements, Duncan promised that on day one he would be “best prepared to hold the RNC accountable.”
