Posted by
travis christensen on Thursday, January 01, 2009 2:53:36 PM
Mike Duncan is the current RNC Chair and is seeking reelection.
Duncan has an impressive resume: a former state university chairman, former President of the Kentucky Bankers Association and Director of the Cincinnati branch of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank, Assistant Director of Public Liaison at the White House, Treasurer of the RNC, General Counsel of the RNC, delegate at several Republican National Conventions, at party positions in all levels of the Republican Party.
Duncan has the experience and certainly is worthy of consideration for reelection, but I don’t think it will happen. The 2008 general election was a disaster for Republicans, it’s time for "out for the old and in with the new."
To highlight the need for change, take a look at this article. My comments are in italics.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
In Case You Missed It: RNC Chair Discloses Comeback Plan
From Politico
By Robert M. "Mike" Duncan
Op-Ed
December 4, 2008
Before we go any further, consider the concept of the "comeback plan" in the title of this article. I challenge the reader to find anything below that looks like a comeback plan.
Sen. Saxby Chambliss' reelection this week was a tremendous victory for the people of Georgia. Voters went to the polls on Tuesday and selected a strong leader prepared to deal with both the domestic and the foreign challenges our nation faces in the months and years to come. Chambliss won his election because he represents the core values of Georgians and voters recognized the very real differences between the candidates.
Georgians refuted any notion that the ideology of the country has shifted to the left. They supported the candidate who believes that people should keep their hard-earned dollars; that every American resource should be leveraged to address our energy crisis; that the role of judges is to interpret the Constitution; and that America must be vigilant against the very real threats to our nation and its citizens.
Notably, Chambliss won in spite of strong support by President-elect Obama and Democrat organizations for Jim Martin. Georgian's clearly sent a message that any rhetoric about a liberal mandate is nothing but hot air. Georgians -- and all Americans -- will be watching Washington closely and expecting policies that make government work for them and not against small businesses and entrepreneurs.
"Strong support" by President-elect Obama? While I am sure that Martin did have a great deal of support from Democrat organizations, I don’t remember Obama making any real efforts in Georgia."
In the first contest since the presidential election and what many believe is the first race of the 2010 cycle, Republicans won because we coupled a strong, conservative candidate in Saxby Chambliss with a solid ground game that reached out to millions of Georgians and turned out the vote. Chambliss' reelection sends a message to all those who believe the Republican Party and its core principles are anything less than strong and competitive.
The ground game that reelected Sen. Chambliss focused on the nuts-and-bolts of campaigning, enhanced by investments in technology that the RNC has made over the past two years. The Chambliss team, the Georgia Republican Party, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the RNC were full partners in a Victory plan that executed the basics flawlessly. With dozens of RNC staff and hundreds of volunteers in 11 regional Victory offices across the state, our team contacted nearly a half-million Georgians in the last five days alone.
I don’t remember Obama campaigning for Martin, but I do remember Palin campaigning for Chambliss. This article makes it look like the RNC, the Georgia GOP, and the Republican Senatorial Committee were the big heroes, but if you name them you should also mention the efforts of someone who is one of the most famous and arguable the most popular member of the Republican Party. My theory is that the RNC doesn’t want to call too much attention to the efforts of someone considered a little bit too socially conservative.
The RNC's investment in technology over the past two years allowed our Republican team to maximize every volunteer's time and every contributor's donation on behalf of Chambliss, creating a get-out-the-vote effort that overwhelmed Democrats in the state. Through sophisticated online advertising techniques we reached hundreds of thousands of Republicans who requested absentee ballots, voted early, and found their polling station. Our investment in technology enabled our Victory program to significantly increase the Republican share of advance voters in the runoff election. We also provided volunteers the tools to make phone calls from home to likely supporters and/or send numerous e-mails to their neighbors engaging them in the reelection effort.
Without a doubt it was of vital important to get voters to the polls for the run-off election. However, I don’t consider it to be an exercise in state of the art technology.
And while we overcame challenges in reelecting Chambliss in Georgia, we have another Republican leader seeking a conclusion to his race in Minnesota. We must not lose sight of the significance and absolute importance in ensuring Norm Coleman returns to Washington in the 111th Congress as Minnesota's senior senator.
Chambliss was an incumbent Republican in Georgia who had already won the general election. While it was a victory for him to go on and win the run-off election, it was in no way a come-from-behind win, and in no way can be taken as proof that the Republican are back. I’m not buying it, and I don’t think anyone else is.
As I write, Coleman leads his opponent. Coleman won the election on Nov. 4, he won after the canvassing of votes had occurred, and he will be the winner at the end of the recount. These results only lead to one conclusion: Coleman will be reelected as a U.S. senator from Minnesota.
Unfortunately, it’s looking like Franken will win.
At the RNC, we have spent the past two years investing in programs, technology, and training staff and volunteers on the basic fundamentals of winning elections. Chambliss' victory yesterday demonstrates the value of those investments and proves that Republicans still know to win elections.
We loss the Presidency and we took big losses in the House and Senate. Whatever you claim to have done in the last two years, it did not work.
As Republicans, we must continue to take stock of the 2008 elections -- first and foremost, strengthening ourselves by listening to the American people. But that also means learning from our mistakes and acknowledging our successes. Our success in Georgia is a strong sign that reports of the GOP's demise have been greatly exaggerated, and I look forward to future Republican successes in 2009 and 2010.
Yes, listen to the American people. Start this effort by re-engaging the Republican base and seeking popular participation in the selection of RNC Chair