Chip Saltsman running for RNC Chairman

By Michael Patrick Leahy

Tennessean Chip Saltsman, most recently the manager of Mike Huckabee's remarkably successful "up from nowhere" 2008 Presidential campaign, has thrown his hat in the ring as a candidate for the Republican National Committee Chairmanship position.

At forty, Saltsman is the youngest of the announced candidates and arguably has the most electoral success in his background. He helped the ignoble Don Sundquist win the Governorship in Tennessee back in 1994, and has been involved in several successful Tennessee campaigns, ranging from Bill Frist's Senate election to the glorious defeat of native son and Democrat Presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000. Without a Republican victory in Tennessee in 2000, all of the drama in Florida wouldn't have mattered, and Al Gore would have been elected President.

Saltsman's relationship with Sundquist, the ultimate RINO (Republican in name only) , has been problematic. When elected to his second term in 1998, Sundquist reversed his campaign promise to oppose the imposition of any state income tax in Tennessee and introduced a proposal to do just that.

To his everlasting credit, Saltsman, who by that time had become Chairman of the Tennessee State Republican Party, vigorously opposed his old mentor's proposal, and was an important part of the conservative coalition of Republicans and talk show hosts ( a big tip of the hat to Phil Valentine and Steve Gill for that) whose protests and opposition killed the income tax proposal. Today, Tennessee remains one of the few states that does not have a state income tax. Many would argue that is one of the key reasons why the state continues to grow economically, even in these tough economic times.

The devolution of former Governor Sundquist's conservative principles are perhaps a case study of why Republicans nationwide must stick to truly conservative principles, articulating them well, and building the party by attracting voters to those principles, rather than modifying those principles to accomodate "moderates." When Sundquist, the Republican without principles, slunk off into ignominious obscurity at the end of his second term in 2002, he left behind a sordid record of broken promises and cronyism capitalism so revolting to voters that they readily ushered in his Democratic successor, current Governor Phil Bredesen.

Despite his work against Sundquist on the income tax, one weakness of Saltsman's candidacy may be questions about the degree to which he is firmly committed to conservative principles. He's never worked for a candidate who would be considered a "classic" conservative, for instance, and his public comments of late about reaching out to all groups sounds more like the failed "Big Tent Accomadation" policies of moderate Republicans who brought us the McCain debacle in 2008.

The role of the Party Chairman, however, is not necessarily to "paint the vision and imagery of the future." Instead, it's to build the ground game of technology, networks, communication infrastructure, and tactics, upon which the candidates can build their campaigns.

With a ground game in place, it will then be up to that crowd of ambitious Presidential wannabes to build the imagery, vision, and mythical narrative for the future that will appeal to the critical 18 to 29 year old demographic in whose hands the balance of power lay in 2008. That same demographic group will be even more important in 2010 and 2012. Just as Ronald Reagan did in 1980, and Newt Gingrich did in 1994, one of these pretenders to the throne --Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindahl, or candidates to be named later--will emerge from the pack when and if they are able to build such a vision.

The 2012 horse race is not the race that matters now. Instead, it's the January 2009 horse race for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee that matters.

Saltsman is considered an underdog in the race, but is pursuing the position with great vigor. The "Big Three" announced candidates--former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, current Michigan Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis, and current South Carolina Republican State Chairman Katon Dawson-- have garnered more press, but Saltsman has hired a former Mitt Romney operative to help him communicate with the 168 Republican National Committee members who will select the new chairman in January, 2009.

The Romney move is a smart one for a politico so closely tied to Mike Huckabee. One of the objections to Saltsman is that he is merely a stalking horse for Huckabee's 2012 campaign.

Saltsman has made another smart move, by putting out a 10 page summary of his plan for victory, and publicly endorsing the "goals" of the Rebuild the Party wing of the party. That's a group of young turks headed up by the brilliant thirty year old Patrick Ruffini, which has laid out a very specific plan for reclaiming the internet for the Right.

Saltsman's rival, Saul Anuzis of Michigan, has also endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, and, unlike Saltsman, is also using the social media tools described in the plan (Twitter, Facebook, Ning networks, including the Rebuiild the Party Ning Social Network to connect with the conservative base of internet activists.

Surprisingly, neither Steele nor Dawson have endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, leaving both of them currently exposed to charges that they represent the old "Brain Dead Luddite" faction of the Republican Party that let Howard Dean, Barack Obama, and a legion of inspired left wing netizens completely pummel the party in 2008.

Anuzis, in particular, has made great efforts to demonstrate that he is not a Brain Dead Luddite. He has been extraordinarily accessible to the conservative internet activists who make up the Rebuild the Party network. To use the terms of conservative icon Richard Viguerie, he is in practice demonstrating how to "re-engineer" the successful Democratic internet tactics and strategies.

Most observers are probably picking Michael Steele as the front runner for the Chairmanship. While that may be the case today, it would be unwise to count either Saltsman or Anuzis out until after the last vote is cast in January.

As that famous philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over."