DWT Is Sticking With KKK Grand Dragon Chip Saltsman For RNC Chair But It Looks Like The Extremists Are Lining Up Behind Mr. Blackwell

The most extremist of the Republican Party bosses have endorsed defeated Ohio ex-Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, who is, after all, experienced in working the only levers that Republicans can use to win elections. The list of endorsers is like a Hall of Shame of America's Far Right:

Gary Aldrich, Chairman, CNP Action Inc.

Morton C. Blackwell, Virginia Republican National Committeeman

Robert B. Bluey, Contributing Editor, RedState

L. Brent Bozell, Founder and President, Media Research Center

Kellyanne Conway, CEO and President, the polling company, inc./WomanTrend

T. Kenneth Cribb Jr., Former Domestic Adviser to President Reagan

James C. Dobson, Ph.D., Founder and Chairman, Focus on the Family

Becky Norton Dunlop, President, Council for National Policy

Stuart W. Epperson, Chairman, Salem Communications Corp.

Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes Media

Dr. Ronald Godwin, Vice Chancellor, Liberty University

Rebecca Hagelin, Author and Conservative Columnist

Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring

David Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union

Tim LaHaye, Founder and President, Tim LaHaye Ministries

Ed Meese, Past President, Council for National Policy

James C. Miller, Past President, Council for National Policy

Tony Perkins, President Family Research Council

Ken Raasch, Chairman & CEO, Creative Brands Group

Alfred S. Regnery, Publisher, The American Spectator

Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum

Pat Toomey, President, Club for Growth

Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

As my friend Teddy mentioned in an e-mail, if someone were writing a book, Who's Hurting America?, it would be hard to omit any of these.

Right wing extremists are concerned that a mainstream conservative, Michael Steele, might beat one of their favorite fanatic lunatic candidates and he's being attacked. The far right blog Red State piled on today, insinuating Steele is unqualified by dint of incompetence, corruption and, sin of sin, reaching out to Republican "moderates."

Steele boasts that his chairmanship of GOPAC qualifies him to run the RNC. He cites GOPAC’s work to elect Republicans as good preparation. So how did GOPAC fare under Steele’s leadership? During the 2008 cycle, GOPAC gave 11 candidates seeking U.S. House seats nearly $20,000. Six won and five lost.

Among GOPAC’s expenditures in 2008 was $5,000 to Steele for Maryland, even though Steele wasn’t on the ballot. The money probably went to pay off Steele’s 2006 campaign debt. It also happened to be the third largest expenditure for GOPAC, raising questions about the organization’s priorities under his leadership.

Money has been a problem for Steele in the past. Jennifer Skalka of National Journal’s Hotline reported that when Steele’s consulting business struggled financially, two banks threatened to place liens on his house. Although Steele cleared his debts, these financial issues are factors that must be considered for anyone seeking the RNC chairmanship.

Steele’s well-documented role with the Republican Leadership Council and association with co-founder Christie Todd Whitman is perhaps the most egregious political error he’s made. Any conservative who partners with the liberal Whitman must be viewed skeptically. Steele claims he was trying to broaden the party’s base by appealing to moderates. “We have to elect moderates in the party,” he told CBN’s David Brody.

Maybe they should give the job to Norm Coleman. Although he may have to spend a lot of time in court on his own behalf, he certainly needs a new job.


UPDATE: NOT THAT OBAMA'S CHOICE IS ANYTHING TO DANCE IN THE STREETS ABOUT EITHER

In another example of Obama putting all the levers of power in the hands of conservative Democrats, Virginia's plodding and "moderate" governor, Tim Kaine, was chosen to head the DNC. Yes, you read that right-- not the DLC, the Democratic National Committee.

This unfortunatel decision comes on the heels of corrupt corporate Democrat, Terry McAuliffe, who was a major embarrassment and an abject failure as DNC head under Clinton, announcing that he wants to take over the Virginia governor's mansion when Kaine steps down. Boo Man adequately summed up how most progressives feel about McAuliffe:

I ordinarily am not much interested in who runs states that I don't live in, although I obviously prefer Democrats to Republicans. Mr. McAuliffe is an exception. He represents everything that I see as being wrong with the Democratic Party over the last 16 years. I would actually prefer that a Republican run Virginia than to see McAuliffe raise his profile and influence within the party.

Everyone acknowledges that McAuliffe's main qualification is his prolific fundraising prowess. He's a glorified bagman...the nuts-and-bolts-guy of the DLC's corporatocracy. If he holds a progressive idea anywhere in his head, it is merely a branding decision that makes him distinct from George Allen-Republicanism. It's little more than a charade. McAuliffe is every bit the Economic Hit Man. He's a James Carville 'D' to Mary Matalin's 'R'. They are so in bed with each other that they're raising each other's kids. That kind of branding is no branding at all. It's just a deceit.

The health of the Democratic Party depends on it ridding itself of the soulless moneygrubbers, like McAuliffe, that stole its soul during the 1990's and delivered one devastating defeat after another. But McAuliffe prospered anyway. That's how that game is set up. Mark Penn made a killing last year, too.