WashTimes: GOP power struggle starts

[Dan Schwartz]

Notice the "astroturfing" by the Romney supporters in the Conservative Steering Committee to get Mike Duncan re-elected as RNC Chairman

GOP Power Struggle Starts

A power struggle that will determine the future leadership of the Republican Party has broken into the open as dissatisfied Republican leaders pushed for a meeting early next month that they hope will be the first step toward ending Washington-based control of the party. In a move seen as a backlash against years of control of the Republican National Committee (RNC) by allies of President Bush and their District-based consulting firms, several senior members of the party's governing body are working to call an extra meeting to hear from all candidates for national chairman three weeks before the election for the post is scheduled.

The effort is seen by party insiders as an attempt to allow all six candidates for chairman to have an equal shot at the job, rather than giving an edge to the incumbent chairman, Robert M. "Mike" Duncan.

The special session would assemble all 168 members of the RNC on Jan. 6, the same day the Conservative Steering Committee, a self-designated "conservative" rump group of about 80 RNC members, has scheduled its own meeting with the six national-chairman candidates as well as a straw poll, ostensibly to measure which candidate has the most conservative support.

If only the rump group met Jan. 6, it would mean that most RNC members would not have the opportunity to question the six candidates together, in person, until three weeks later, just before the members vote on a new chairman.

Some conservative RNC members suspect that the Conservative Steering Committee is not particularly conservative and that allies of Mr. Duncan are using the steering panel meeting to advance his re-election bid.

Further down in the long article, we see:

"The idea of the Conservative Steering Committee wanting to have a meeting well in advance to the election is a good idea - it is the exclusivity of it that is the problem," Mr. Emineth said. "What is the committee's definition of a conservative? Who is to make the judgment of who is invited? What are the hidden agendas?" "The purpose of petition is to directly challenge the so-called 'straw vote' from the so-called Conservative Steering Committee," Mr. Steel wrote in an e-mail to other RNC members.

"This [steering] committee was formed as a Duncan enterprise," Mr. Steel wrote. "Its chairman is a RNC vendor. The committee has members who are not conservative. And many conservatives have not been invited. It's exclusive by design."

Mr. Steel said he is convinced that the steering committee was selected to ensure that Mr. Duncan will wind up with a majority in the straw poll, which will be dutifully reported in the media and thus help persuade other RNC members that they had better get on board the Duncan train before it's too late.

Mr. Emineth agreed, saying, "I know conservatives who haven't been invited. So there's some concern that this steering committee and straw poll are a put-up job."

Some RNC members suspect that "other agendas" may be at play in the formation of the steering committee. They note that Oregon RNC member Solomon Yue and Indiana RNC members James Bopp Jr., two of the lead steering-committee organizers, were supporters of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's 2008 Republican presidential nomination quest.

Mr. Yue declared his support of Mr. Duncan's re-election bid. Texas RNC member Bill Crocker and South Carolina RNC member Cindy Costa are the other two steering committee co-chairs.

The day before they are to appear at the Jan. 6 steering committee meeting, the six candidates also have agreed to a debate at the National Press Club, sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, headed by Grover Norquist.

Traditionally, when a Republican doesn't occupy the Oval Office, RNC members chose a fellow member as chairman rather than rubber stamp the White House choice, who is often not a member.

Three of the six chairman candidates this time are RNC members: Mr. Duncan, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis and South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson. The three nonmember candidates are former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Tennessee Republican Chairman Chip Saltsman.

Isn't it funny that even prior to Inauguration Day, surrogates for the various 2012 candidates are already lining up to wrestle control of the RNC?!

[Whitehorse (Robin Ray)]

My first reaction is "I've got their rump committee right here..."

Still have not seen evidence or links where Duncan exhorted the Republicans to get back to core conservatism...

Probably too late for this one, however in the future we need to have a runoff if no candidate gets 50% + 1.

[Dan Schwartz]

I agree 100%.

The worst epithet one can throw at Romney: Mitt-Care.

Øbama wants Romney's "Play or Pay" scam foisted on the remaining 49 States., too.

[Stephen Washington]

I have lost all respect for Romney...

How can one logically come to the conclusion that the chairman of the Republican Party during the disastrous past few years is the best man for the job in the future? I always thought Mitt Romney was phony, but who is he going to fool with this charade? This endorsement clearly points to the fact Romney wants nothing more than the status quo which will eventually lead both this party and country to its eventual death. We have voted for the lesser of two evils for too long, and we have finally reached the evil we were fearing...Socialism.

[Young Jeffersonian Republican]

HAHAHA, is it really a surprise that the "economic guru" (who had no idea this economic mess was coming lol), Mitt Romney , is supporting the man who was the captain of the ship that sank on Nov. 4th? Of course Romney wants Duncan to remain as the parties chairman because he and Duncan share the similar views which helped this party drown in the first place...

Einstein was quoted as saying "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So my question to Romney and the rest of the Duncanites is: Are you insane?