Just want to get this out of the way quickly: outside of people who actually work in the building, no one should care who the chair of the RNC (or the DNC) is.
That's always been true, but one would think that the experience of the last two years would teach everyone not to care about who chairs the RNC.
Look, it's really important for political parties to have innovative, successful activity. American parties can do that through their formal organizations, or they can do it through informal networks and extraparty vehicles, or both. Both Democrats and Republicans have shown amazing flexibility about these things over time. The thing to focus on is where and how that activity will show up in the next election cycle.
All that said, it's certainly true that these party chair elections can sometimes produce great stories. But they're sort of like Veepstakes, except without the chance that it'll matter down the road once the president is gone. As with vice presidents, it's always possible that the RNC or DNC chair will be a serious player in party politics; it's just that the world goes on without noticing if that's not the case.
Nobody SHOULD care.
ReplyDeleteReporters DO care.
Therefore, I care that the Reeps keep Steele around, both for my own entertainment and to drag down the party. Open mouth, insert foot generates coverage that is hardly flattering, and distracts any 2012 nominee every couple of months when they have to go off-message to walk back a Steele-ism.