Videos: “RNC Chairman Michael Steele Addresses The House Republicans”

Part 1

Part 2

More Questions for #RNCChair Candidates

I have some more questions for the RNC Chair candidates:

• Do you play any MMORPGs?  Do you have a Second Life avatar?  How much experience do you have with online multi-player role-playing games and/or virtual worlds?
• How can Second Life and other virtual worlds be used to advance our candidates and causes?
• If you have been a state party chairman, what was the percentage of elected offices in your state held by Republicans when you started and when you finished?  How will your experience in that office influence your decisions and actions as RNC Chair?
• If you have run for office or managed a campaign, what is your win-loss record?  How will your campaign experience influence your decisions and actions as RNC Chair?
• How long have you been using “social media” like Twitter and Facebook?
• Have you ever had a blog?  When did you start it?  How often do/did you post in it?

Video: “RNC Chairman Debate – Question about focus of the Republican Party”

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Video: “RNC Chairman Debate – Question on President Bush and on Ron Paul”

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Video: “Candidates for RNC Chairman Describe How They Will Reach Out To Young Voters”

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Questions for the RNC Chairman’s Candidate Debate

Americans for Tax Reform is sponsoring a debate among the candidates for the RNC Chair.  Anyone can submit questions on their website, where we can watch the debate on Monday, January 5, at 1 p.m. EST.

The two most important things I want to know are

1. What will the candidate do as chairman to close Republican caucuses and primaries so only party members can vote in them?
2. What will the candidate do as chairman to make the Republican Party the home of the conservative movement again?

I found and voted for the following questions related to my first one:

• “I would like to know if the new Chairman will take action to close our primaries. We don’t need anymore liberals as our standard bearer.”  link
• “Why do we allow dems to vote in our primaries? They choose BAD candidates so they can defeat us.”  link

Here are the ones I found and voted for that are related to my second question:

• “How will you convince committed conservatives like me to continue to make donations to the RNC without a renewed commitment to true conservative values a la Ayn Rand? Does the RNC have the guts to fight PC on all levels in 2009 and stand firm on a true conservative platform or will it continue to dilute said values even further? Without a new and invigorated leadership that has the guts to winnow out the liberal sleepers et al, the Republican Party will never be able to attract the youth of this country and will continue to disenfranchise its present members.”  link
• “This is not so much a question but a comment: The Republican Party has lost its focus on conservative values. It has made a major move to represent BIG Business and BIG Lobby groups and has really forgotten the true conservative voter. Both young, middle and older voters are longing for a fighter of family values, majority rules vs. loud small minority groups, less government and the right for those who work hard to gain what is due them. The Republicans have allowed the jobs to leave by standing with BIG Business. Shame on us for allowing this to happen.”  link
• “How will you work to make sure that the building of coalitions is an ongoing work rather than something that seems to be concentrated on only in election years? How will you work to strengthen Reagan’s coalition of the three legged stool (strong defense, strong economy, strong social values) if you are chairman of the RNC?”  link
• “I have a list of 6 “Pillars of Conservatism” that I expect candidates to support in every way. What will you do to ensure that every candidate that you support follows these: (1) Limited Government. (2) Free Markets. (3) Individual Liberty. (4) Traditional Values. (5) Strong National Defense. (6) States rights.”  link
• “Do you agree that, although it is a laudible goal to want to attract young voters, as others have asked about, but it is even more important to convey to everyone, young and old, that we must return to the basics of conservatism, not only for the sake of the GOP, but for the sake of the country and our children. Moderate or left-of-center republicans have been suffering at the polls (Norm Coleman – MN is a classic example of a RINO!)because they have abandoned conservative principles, not because the country has moved left. Do you agree?”  link
• “The Republican Party is in a positon similiar to 1992, with a democrat president elect, the democrats holding 258 House seats and 58 Senate seats. It took the GOP two years to regain control of the House and later we regained control the White House and Senate. This was done by convincing Americans that conservative principles are the answer for contemporary problems. What will you do to restore America’s trust in conservative ideals and ideas?”  link
• “Will the elected RNC Chairman be advocating a new Contract With America that contains Conservative principles? Conservative principles when presented in clear terms always win. The RNC Chairman’s job is to take the fight to liberals not get along.”  link
• “Do you view the GOP as a stepping stone for ambitious political leaders or as an institution devoted to the great conservative traditions in the United States?”  link
• “Why have elected Republicans failed to stay true to a conservative vision? Why would I donate to a party with some top names being Giuliani and Schwarzenegger? The party appears unorganized and incapable. Why are there open polls in primary elections in certain states? After this last election cycle I am ready to put my work in to build a strong third party(Constitution). I need my party to stand for something, and right now the Republican party is found wanting. We need to hear more from Gov. Jindal and Dinesh D’Souza.”  link

Who Is Saul Anuzis? #RNCChair @SAnuzis

A number of people whose blogs and tweets I read regularly have been promoting Saul Anuzis for the new RNC Chair.  I ran across his name last month in a list of candidates for the position, which I wrote about here.  I didn’t know anything about him, so I did a little research.

He is currently the Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party.  According to his website,

Saul Anuzis is not your typical Republican State Chairman. He is an unabashed Reagan-conservative with strong opinions about the role of government. He is also one of the most tech savvy chairmen in the country. The phrases often used to describe him include “constantly inmotion”, “whirlwind”, “true believer” and “man with a plan”. He joined the Teamsters union and rides a Harley Road King. But he leaves the Harley home when he’s campaigning so he can Twitter, blog and blackberry on the road. He is also a Boy Scoutmaster and a hockey dad. And, he is as committed to the Republican Party’s conservative roots as he once was to the liberation of Lithuania, the country his parents fled before seeking the American dream in Detroit, Michigan.

Saul is a believer in the core principles of Republicanism. They are the reason he became a Republican. He certainly wasn’t born into it. Saul grew up in a working class neighborhood in Detroit. He played in the streets with the kids of other autoworkers. He saw Ronald Reagan speak to those workers with a message that spoke to him as well. And he knows that, until we reach those voters again, Republicans will not win.

 The theme of his campaign is “The comeback starts now.”

In his “Blueprint for a GOP Comeback,” he outlines his plan for that comeback

• one idea at a time
• one neighborhood at a time
• one email at a time
• one dollar at a time

I’d recommend reading his plan.  I intend to look at it more closely.

His interest in and use of web 2.0 applications is a plus.  On the home page of his site are links to his online presence in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Video, YouTube, blip.tv, and Flickr.  The obvious omission from the list is Second Life.  (A search for Anuzis using the in-world search engine yielded non results.)  That omission does cause me to question how serious/deep his interest in and knowledge of web-based tools are.

More important than his use of technology is his commitment to conservative principles, which is at least displayed on his website and in his plan, but I don’t know enough about his history to know how committed a conservative he is.

I also have to ask why he is going to all this trouble campaigning for the position of RNC Chair when, as I wrote a week ago, the Chair is selected by the members of the RNC–not the members of the party at large.  (I don’t know if the other announced candidates are doing the same.)

How Is the #RNCChair Selected?

I’ve been wondering how the RNC Chairman is selected.  I even asked that question in a tweet earlier today, but I didn’t get a reply.  I finally put my research skills to work and found the rules of the National Republican Committee, which consists “of one (1) national committeeman and one (1) national committeewoman from, and the chairman of the state Republican Party of, each state” (1).

The officers of the Republican National Committee include a

chairman and a co-chairman of the opposite sex who shall be elected by the members of the Republican National Committee. The chairman or co-chairman need not be a member of the Republican National Committee. Except as otherwise ordered by a majority of the members of the Republican National Committee present and voting on the matter, the chairman and the co-chairman shall be full-time, paid employees of the Republican National Committee.  The chairman shall be the chief executive officer of the Republican National Committee.  (3)

Following is the election process:

The chairman, co-chairman, and all other officers shall be elected in January of each oddnumbered year. All officers, except the vice chairmen, shall be nominated from the floor and shall have at least the majority vote of the Republican National Committee members in each of three (3) states in order to have their names placed in nomination. There shall be no nominating committee. (4)

Therefore, it seems that the only way to influence the selection is to lobby your state’s committeeman, committeewoman, and party chairman.

The hashtag (#RNCChair) in the title of this post is an experiment.  I have TwitterFeed set up to post my blog entries automatically to my Twitter account.  I hoping the tag will show up in that particular tweet.