http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2010/12/updating-the-rn-2.php
“”More than one-third of Republican National Committee members have declared their support for one of the six contenders seeking the chairmanship, and with just over two weeks to go the race remains wide open.
The big movers over the weekend: Former RNC co-chairman Ann Wagner, who picked up support from the West Virginia delegation, and former Bush administration official Maria Cino, who announced her first public endorsements. Those nods came from several highly-regarded voters who have served on the committee for years.
So far, at least 64 committee members have publicly said they back a candidate. We consider an endorsement either a comment in a publication or a release from a candidate’s campaign. Missing any names? Email us and let us know.
The Hotline’s latest RNC whip count:
REINCE PRIEBUS (22)...
MICHAEL STEELE (12)...
SAUL ANUZIS (11)...
ANN WAGNER (10)...
MARIA CINO (6)...
GENTRY COLLINS (3)...
UNDECLARED (104)””
I did some cursory research on Reince Priebus.
http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/28/former-steele-ally-reince-priebus-now-gunning-for-steeles-job/
He appears to be a staunch conservative but there is some question about his involvement with stimulus funds.
I definitely don’t support Mary Cino who a Rino diversity choice.
There appears to be only 3 choices for conservatives:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46729.html
Reince Priebus, Gentry Collins and Saul Anuzis are the only candidates that I see have committed to supporting pro-life pro-traditional marriage candidates. I’m not to hot on Saul Anuzis and don’t know much about Gentry Collins.
I personally think maybe Steele’s return might not be so bad. Sure he said some stupid crap and did some stuff that looked bad but Steele has learned the hard way and has responded to the grass roots. Plus I’m sure a lot of the things he said were in line with an internal strategy agreed on internally at the RNC after Obama won in 2008 which explains some of the stuff he said that appeared out of character. I think personally that many of the big wigs want to put someone in that will pave the way for Romney and moderates. Steele is not perfect but I’m not excited by any of his replacements.
Booyakasha.
Ick. :: sigh :: I used to be a big fan of Michael Steele and I still like him on a personal level (got my picture taken with him at the "Fire Nancy Pelosi" Rally on Chicago's South side), and the man actually LISTENED to me. That being said, it's clear he's fumbled as party chairman, made way too many gaffe's (he's starting to be our version of Joe Biden) and was downright embarrassing at times, so I came to conclusion it would probably be best to replace him when his term is up.
But looking at the list of potential "replacements", I don't think we'd improve much, and there's probably a good chance we'd end up with someone even worse.
I read today that our RINO combiner Illinois GOP Chairman, Pat Brady (no relation to Bill Brady), has endorsed Reince Priebus. Quite frankly, anyone who Brady is for, I'm against, and I know many Illinois conservatives who feel the same way. Much of it has to do with Brady trying to pin his own failures on Steele. Michael Steele did a lot more to promote insurgent tea party winners like Joe Walsh, compared to Brady who just ignored him. Priebus' fans here go nuts if make fun of his name, but seriously, if we elect a guy named "Reince Priebus", regardless of what his actual background is, the Dems will have a field day mocking his name constantly. Bad PR move. I also heard California RNC committeeman (and former GOP Chairman) Shawn Steel (also no relation to Michael Steele) jumped on the Priebus bandwagon when Brady did. Anyone know is Shawn Steel is a RINO?
Saul Anuzis ran against Steele for RNC Chair last time, and was a bottom of the barrel choice. I don't think that's changed at all. Anuzis record as Chairman of the Michigan GOP was abysmal. The Dems ran that state into the ground, and this guy could get absolutely no where as "opposition leader" when the ruling party had done everything wrong.
Ann Wagner... barf... the Kay Bailey Hutchison of party officials. Long time "don't rock the boat" cozy beltway insider. Zzzzz. Wasn't she Co-Chair of the national party for a long time?
Maria Cino ... there's an article here on FR about how she worked as an Obamacare lobbyist for Pfizer. That pretty much tells me all I need to know about her. I guess she was some low-level Bush adminstration bureaucrat for a while too. I'm not even going to ask her position on amnesty.
Gentry Collins seems to be the best of the bunch, but I'd give this guy about a 2% chance (at best) of getting the nod for RNC Chairman. Maybe if all the other challengers dropped out and Steele was caught on tape having an orgy with Obama. Otherwise, forget it.
I don't see any clear cut strong conservative reform choice this time around. There's no Ken Blackwell or Katon Dawson stepping up to the bat now, just the guys who even worse than Steele still looking for a promtion.