The RNC Chairman's Race: Saltsman Platform

RNC chairman candidate John "Chip" Saltsman has mailed his platform to members of the national committee. It provides us with an opportunity to look at the race.

Plan_for_Republican_Victory-Chip_Saltsman[1].pdf

In the schema, Saltsman comes down on the side of those who believe that the Republican Party does not have an ideological problem and that the country has not repudiated conservatism. He identifies target demographics -- younger voters, Hispanics, African Americans, and suggests that enhanced outreach will catalyze their movement toward Republicans.  (Not to be outdone, candidate Michael Steele tells the Washington Times that "outreach" isn't enough; the chairman must actually listen to these constituents. "The problem is that within the operations of the RNC, they don't give a damn. It's all about outreach ... and outreach means let's throw a cocktail party, find some black folks and Hispanics and women, wrap our arms around them."  Ok -- but what does the RNC say to these folks?
Saltsman begins with  -- of course -- a quotation from Ronald Reagan. He wants to turn the RNC into a clearinghouse for best practices; he wants to borrow a page from Howard Dean and invest in all 50 states; he wants a national fundraising strategy; he wants to modernize the party's technological infrastructure. Saltsman has spent considerable time working the phones, talking to RNC members and to conservative activists. He is seen by others in the race as the candidate of the social conservatives, but that's not really fair to him or his opponents: those battlelines haven't been formed yet.

Activists tend to associate RNC candidates with their presidential candidate patrons, and in this Saltsman has the strong support of the man whose campaign he ran, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas. Saltsman has to convince Republicans of his independence and make sure that Huckabee's interests are represented.

Saltsman's platform isn't that different from his opponents'.  Fund state parties. (check).  Reach out. (check.)  Make Republicans feel good about being Republicans again (check). Broaden the party without comprising core principles. (check.)  Keep tabs on the liberals. (check.)

In January, members of the committee will vote for the person who will best represent their interests.  Don't expect a new ideological synthesis out of the RNC in 2009... don't expect the chairman to be the face of the party; that's not what the RNC does, or is equipped to do. It's not entirely clear whether the RNC as a body is more establishment-oriented than the party base; more conservative than the median ideology of the 58 million Americans who voted for John McCain; or whether RNC factionalism (mods, social cons, leave-us-alone Westerners, inside intriguers) results in the election of a candidate who pleases no one.