Party fighting for the sake of warfare
There are some folks trying to stop in impending crowning of Florida Senator Mel Martinez as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
It's a strange group of nativists, fans of Michael Steele, anti-illegal immigrationists, and people just disgruntled by the fact that the White House dictated the pick. Note: some of these people fall into more than one camp.
Hotline's blog reports that English First has purchased banner ads opposing Martinez. Meanwhile, various folks, eg Paul Burka, have noted that Texans are leading the charge.
It seems like an awfully silly fight. If I recall my history correctly, whoever wins the GOP nomination will probably replace Martinez with his/her (although I can't think of any female candidates running) own RNC Chair.
So, keeping in mind that the pick was likely to only stick around for about a year, what are the two main jobs of the RNC Chair? 1) Be a public face for the party, 2) Raise money.
I'd have been quite happy with Michael Steele. But like it or not, the White House has traditionally made the pick. Regardless of the merits of the White House picking the RNC Chair, now isn't a particularly good time to try to reform the process so that the grassroots make the pick.
Mel Martinez is certainly not out of the party's mainstream, despite the depictions of some who disagree with him on immigration. He'll be a great public face for the party, and he has a track record as a good fundraiser.
Therefore, it seems to me that the actions of RNC delegates Denise McNamara and Bill Crocker, as well as state party chair Tina Benkiser, only serve to make the party look bad. So why make quixotic stands? We aren't the party of Howard Dean. Hehe.
Posted by Evan @ 01/18/07 07:34 PM
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