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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > February > 03 > Entry
Martin Gottlieb: Strength with GOP base didn’t work for Blackwell — again
As seen from Ohio, the main news in the selection of a new chairman for the national Republican Party is that Ken Blackwell managed to lose even though it was the year for a black guy.
Two black men were seeking the chairmanship of a party that doesn’t have a single black member of Congress and hasn’t had for years. Blackwell and new-chairman Michael Steele must have constituted about half the black contingent at the GOP convention last summer, or so it seemed to the naked eye taking in things on television.
If the Republican rank-and-file has any doubt about whether the election of President Barack Obama really means change, surely that is resolved now.
Neither of these candidates for chairman came into the national race as any sort of conquering hero. One case for Steele over Blackwell was that his loss in a Maryland Senate race in 2006 was smaller than Blackwell’s loss of the Ohio governor’s race. And Steele can note that Maryland, unlike Ohio, is a clearly Democratic state.
Blackwell, the former secretary of state and treasurer, got into the chairmanship race later than Steele, the former lieutenant governor of his state. Blackwell apparently saw an opening on the right, because some diehard conservatives are skeptical of Steele’s commitment. Steele is a conservative, a commentator on Fox News and the author of the “Drill, baby, drill!” chant at the Republican convention.
But he opposes capital punishment. (As a former Catholic seminarian, he sees it in a similar light as abortion). And he said that running as a Republican in 2006 was like wearing a scarlet letter. And he doesn’t please the right on affirmative action. (Actually, though, some people might be a little surprised by what Blackwell has to say on that last one.)
Blackwell, after running last in early votes, withdrew and threw his support to Steele over a more clearly conservative candidate. But that candidate, from South Carolina, has belonged to an all-white country club. The party was skittish about going there, especially after a flap about another candidate who had circulated a song titled “Barack the Magic Negro.”
Weak field.
The logic of Steele over Blackwell has to look pretty sound even to somebody interested in seeing Ohioans in positions of national power.
Blackwell pursued the chairmanship the same way he ran for governor. The idea was to first lock up the right-wing of the more conservative party, then go from there. In Ohio, after he won the primary over a candidate who had once seemed stronger, he lost the general election in a historic landslide, running well behind even other Republicans in that Democratic year.
So one can see why the prospect of an intra-party fight was attractive to Blackwell. It would play to his strength.
Clearly, though, the Republicans are better off with somebody whose ideological image is a bit softer. Blackwell’s hard-line reputation puts a lot of Republicans on guard immediately. He was deeply controversial within the party in Ohio. State Chairman Robert Bennett supported another candidate for national chairman. Blackwell does not seem like the person to reach out to purple states.
The death of the Republican Party has been often overstated. This talk about it becoming a party of white southern males is nonsense. In Ohio, the counties in which it’s strongest are precisely the ones that are growing fastest: the ex-urban places like Warren, south of Dayton, and Delaware, outside of Columbus. The places where the Republicans are weakest — the big cities and their counties — are the areas that are losing population. Meanwhile, the Republicans are dominant in vast stretches.
If they had won the last couple of elections, these facts would be pointed to as the reason. When a party has a losing streak, some people always come along and say the problem is fundamental, having to do with long-term trends. Typically, though, it’s a just a losing streak brought about by fleeting factors.
Still, a chairman’s job is to ignore that kind of analysis, to assume that bad trends are at work that the party needs to come to terms with, and to recognize that the party needs to get creative about winning in areas beyond its base.
In being all about the base, Ken Blackwell did not put himself in a good position to compete for that kind of job.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Columns, Martin Gottlieb, National politics
Comments
By Jackie
February 5, 2009 12:14 AM | Link to this
Interesting article but the reason for Obama’s win is lost. The Republican base had control of the US Govenment for 8 years. When Bush came in office we had a budget surplus. Today we have Trillions of debt, 4000 plus dead soldiers and no friends around the world. The Election wasn’t about black or white it was about honest Leadership. Picking a black Leader for the RNC isn’t fooling anyone. Most Republicans have spoke of their policy and it’s good. The Party is divided just like the country. As each day the recession hits more people both Democrat/Republican/Independant we all lose. Rush Limbaugh openly spoke the Republican Plan to destroy the Obama Administration even at the cost of the American people. That’s why the GOP all voted No on the stimulus bill. This will continue as more people suffer. It’s time for the Republican Party to put the people first and move on from losing the Presidential Election. We have serious problems and we need serious people to handle them.By TRS
February 5, 2009 3:14 PM | Link to this
Seems the typical Democractic mantra is still around. The problem with the 8 years the Republicans were in charge was that they acted like Democrats, more interested in power and spending to try and lock themselves in. Now that we have the “professional money changers” in charge, people are seeing the real deal beginning with this alleged stimulus package. It is good to see the Republicans coming back to their principal. They did not oppose the stimulus bill to destroy Obama - that is Democratic rubbish. They opposed it because it is bad legislation and does not do what it is intended to do - stimulate. It is a reward to every interest group that the Democrats are beholden to and will bury this generation and those that follow in a sea of debt. Even the Senate Democrats agreed that the bill as passed by the house was bad! So you see - what really would be of great cost to the American people is for the Congress to redirect this country toward the European socialist model where this bill would take us. In that regard, the Republicans are certainly putting the people first. They are serious - it is the house Democrats who are are trying to dress up this “pig” of a bill and make it look pretty. That being said, Michael Steele is a good choice and I believe will serve the country and the party well.By Savanation
February 5, 2009 10:16 PM | Link to this
“Blackwell pursued the chairmanship the same way he ran for governor. The idea was to first lock up the right-wing of the more conservative party, then go from there.”(Mr. Gottlieb) The problem with that strategy is that once you “lock up the right-wing of the more conservative party” that leaves the people who may actually have a brain that functions. No way Blackwell would do for someone who thinks, even a little. The man actually complained that the Obama Stimulus bill just might create the wrong kind of jobs-you know- jobs which might be held by people who just might vote for Democrats. So his theory was- it is better not to have jobs, therefore negating the possiblity of Democratic votes. Hmmmm? Good for Republicans, terrible for the Country. But it does fit right in with TRS’ view of things. Fortunately, the TRS types are few and far between. Some of the last remmants of that fossil type are still acting as Republicans in Washington right now. Doing all they can to hamper America. TRS loves these folks.