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RNC Shakeup: Swapping a General for a Colonel
By Mike Bayham
January 24, 2002

This past weekend the "leadership" of the national Republican Party converged on Austin, Texas to ratify the second RNC head in as many years.  The vote to elect former Montana Governor Marc Racicot was a mere formality with President George W. Bush's post-election/debacle decree that Racicot should be running the RNC going into the mid-term Congressional races.

It is tradition, and good policy, that the occupant of the White House, or his advisers, select the chairman of the national party so that the strategies and messages coming out of both camps are coordinated.  Because the now immediate past RNC Chairman did not fully understand this tradition and reality, he is now out of a job.  

Obviously things were far more pleasant a year ago for Jim Gilmore.  Because of the single term limit on governor in Virginia, there really weren't a lot of options for  Gilmore nearing the end of his time in the governor's mansion.  To run for another statewide office would be considered a step down and an act of shameless political desperation.  And because the Old Dominion State has shifted more and more to the right, there is not an available (i.e. Democratic occupied) US Senate seat to run for.  And then a fellow Republican governor threw him a lifeline.

Before taking office, President-elect George W. Bush, possibly the biggest proponent of state executives to ever hold the White House, announced his "endorsement" of Gilmore to lead the Republican National Committee.  This was the perfect opportunity for the Virginia governor to remain in the national spotlight, develop contacts across the nation and while finishing his term in office.  He was truly in the best of both worlds.

And then the 2001 election cycle hit with Republicans losing the two governors races contested in November.  Though Republicans managed to hold on to the office of mayor in New York City, that victory had more to do with Michael Bloomberg's association with Rudy Giuliani than the new mayor's party affiliation.  

After the November defeats, I fully expected Gilmore to receive a slap on the wrist for the electoral embossment.  His record as chairman was still better than Jim Nicholson's dismal 4 years at the helm in which the most consistent thing about GOP Congress was its shrinking margin of control.  But the White House is less forgiving than the Republican National Committee.

After the election, Gilmore made an announcement not terribly different from the one Nikita Krushchev probably gave when "he decided" it was time to step down from his position of power.  The lifeline that Bush's people had given Gilmore had become a hangman's noose.

Aside from that nobody in politics believed a word of his canned "I want to spend more time with my kids, etc." statement, the GOP political "furies" referred to by the press as "unnamed political sources" leaked a deluge of bad commentary on Gilmore.  Instead of giving him a gold watch to mark his brief tenure, they gave Gilmore piano wire around the neck.

The most persistent, and believable, story on Gilmore's demise was that he did not work well with the White House "zaploits" (Russian for political officer).  Gilmore might have seen the rest of his two year term had he been more obedient and settled with being the face of the Republican Party instead of the brain.  But state executives don't take orders well...especially from staffers.  

What I do know about Gilmore is that he prides himself on being an organizational genius and he is not modest about claiming his part in the GOP's success in Virginia.  But as cited at the beginning of this column, the head of the RNC is supposed to be subservient to the White House when his party holds the presidency. Basically the Bush people picked a general for a position that required a colonel.

What took place at the RNC was a disaster waiting to happen.  Though he was on his way out as governor, he was still working on a large portion of his campaign agenda and had to deal with tedious budget issues.  That one of the two important races going on was in his own state should have been a red flag.  

Already tempted by the possibility of capturing a large Republican leaning southern state, the Democrats saw an irresistible opportunity to embarrass the GOP by winning in the home state of the RNC Chairman.  

Finally, I seriously doubt that any RNC chief could have salvaged 2001 in total.  The first problem rested at the front step of the White House.  The President did not want to be his party's political cheerleader in 2001.  Though Virginia was a winnable race up till the end (despite what one critic of mine claimed) and the elections results attest to this, Republicans lose their edge when the Democrats are better financed and lack a party primary.  New Jersey was a lost cause from the start.

What was required in order to win in New Jersey was something that the White House, the GOP nominee and the RNC was not willing or lacked the nerve to do: to give the state party an enema.  Bret Schundler's campaign was undermined by country club fifth columnists the second he won the nomination.  The only public voice I have heard state what happened there is Star Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine, and he is not a member of the Republican National Committee.

As for the new chairman, I think he is as good as an appointment the Bush people could possibly make.  Racicot is on good terms with the right and is conservative on social issues.  He was active in the Bush presidential campaign and was visible in the post-election campaign in Florida which means Racicot has had a working relationship with many of the White House zaploits he will be dealing with at the RNC.

He and Louisiana Governor Mike Foster went back and forth over the past few years for the title of "nation's most popular governor."  And most importantly, he is a FORMER governor so he will not be distracted with local politics.    

Racicot is not in a position for the political faint of heart.  He has less than a year to turn around a trend that has already resulted in the loss of the US Senate to the Democrats and history right now has them control of both houses of Congress in 2003.  

Racicot also needs to figure out an effective system of getting the president to spend more time stumping for Republican candidates instead of focusing primarily on pet White House issues.  Though it is in George W. Bush's best interest to be presidential, it is important for the GOP for him to start getting political.

"Colonel" Racicot has his work cut out for him.  2002 can the year that makes Racicot politically just like 2001 was the year that broke his predecessor.  The success of the GOP will either mean that the Republicans remain control of the House and possibly the US Senate or that the Democrats return to their Congressional roost after an eight year forced vacation.  Defeat for the GOP in 2002 means a promotion Dick Gephardt and very likely a court-martial for the gentleman from Montana.