Having taken a closer, objective look at the GOP primary in Missouri’s new 2nd District, it would seem former Bush Ambassador Ann Wagner is a far better choice for Conservatives, than is Ed Martin – and then some. In fact, some of what I’ve seen on and from Martin is at least mildly troubling – enough so to raise a red flag, or two.

When I saw a link for Jim Hoft’s site, Gateway Pundit on Martin’s site, I assumed he was backing Martin and gave Jim a call. To be clear, Jim spoke well of both potential nominees, though he is backing Ann Wagner. After speaking with Jim, I certainly don’t want to go out of my way to run down Ed Martin, but research, facts, records, reputations and actions are what they are. Adding up what I’ve been able to ascertain, Ann Wagner is hands down by far the preferred candidate in the race.

For starters, Wagner bested Martin 5 – 1 in their latest reported fund raising efforts and added twice the number of new donors. It’s also important to note that Martin rolled in dollars from his abandoned Senate campaign to up his published numbers quite a bit.

He threw his name in the US Senate race. In time, Ed Martin realized he was no match for Sarah Steelman’s lackluster campaign. How sad is that! Steelman’s last two fundraising quarters has many in the media calling the campaign in real trouble. So Martin wandered off into another US House race only to have Ann Wagner join the race too. Once again, we see the lack of enthusiasm for Mr. Martin.

With Russ Carnahan a likely entry on the Democrat side, it’s going to take real money, solid support and a tenacious fighter to ensure a win, even in the Republican leaning District. Wagner has demonstrated her significant ability to raise campaign dollars, not only for herself, but for several other conservative Republicans, as well –  that’s a team player and something of a campaign all-star in my book. Helping others achieve their goals also pays great dividends in terms of support and endorsements. There’s nothing bad about that, it’s actually how the system works best for everyone involved.

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Given that at least two of my recent web postings on the race for RNC Chair dealing with Reince Priebus’ unsuitability for that particular job have made it into emailed discussion threads among all RNC Committee members, I’d like to respectfully address you as regards what those postings represent and what they do not.

I saw one reference from Mr. Henry Barbour suggesting that open criticisms of the various candidates, obviously including my own, actually represents hating. Truth be told, if they represent anything, it’s love – as in love for our country in perilous political and economic times, with a sincere desire to impact politics to improve the Republican Party, so that we may do what’s right for America, not continue down a path of doing things wrong.

Well, whoever these people are that seem to wake up each morning hating all of our candidates for chairman jumped on my use of the phrase “personal contributions” and are acting like I was somehow trying to mislead folks.

Unfortunately, and with all due respect, in this a Tea Party and New Media age, that is the language of the antiquated and self-appointed back room deal-making pol interested in little more than stifling dissent to his chosen candidate.

The Tea Party, an energized base due to Democrat over reach and the ability for citizen activists to publish their thoughts, has changed American politics. It is for that reason I am writing you. It is so important to the future of the RNC, the GOP and even America, I believe it warrants some thought and careful consideration as you prepare to elect a new Chair.

Later today, I will publish a list of valid reasons why so much of the GOP base finds Reince Priebus unsuitable for Chair. But that is not my purpose with this letter.

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Team Steele promised something akin to a prize fight at the recent RNC Chairmanship debate.

A Steele insider tells Power Play that the embattled chairman will “name names” and “make it personal” when he faces off with the four candidates looking to replace him as RNC chairman at today’s debate hosted by The Daily Caller and Americans for Tax Reform.

That it didn’t happen causes me to wonder if the pre-debate statement wasn’t simply stage craft, perhaps designed to get the others taking shots at him. I think Steele handled himself very well, in fact, but he has shown a tendency to enjoy playing the victim a bit too much during his term. If he wanted a me against them debate, he didn’t get it and he certainly didn’t start any fights. And while I continue to like Steele, that he lost so many PR and narrative battles, some of which he didn’t deserve, it’s that, almost as much as anything, that convinces me the RNC needs to turn the page. In prize fight terms, I ranked him fourth of the five RNC Chair contenders that took to the ATR/DailyCaller stage yesterday.

In lieu of judging it as a fight against one another, I’ve been thinking in terms of ranking them based upon how well they would likely perform as fighters for Republican candidates and the party going into 2012, especially given the unique demands of the job.

I liked Maria Cino more than I thought I would. Still, she struck me as someone who may very well need to be working for the next RNC Chair in an important role, as opposed to leading the team. She can spin it however she wants, but lobbying for Pfizer, which supported Obamacare, even to improve it on their behalf, means she was doing precisely what she now claims to have not been doing. Given that, plus the fact that even NRO didn’t buy her explanation of her supposedly Pro-Life stance, while acting contrary to it, she gets a DQ for disqualified. Frankly, after hearing her out, I’m glad we have someone like Maria Cino in the GOP. I’m just not convinced she’s the right person to be one of the leaders of it as RNC Chair right now.

I came away seeing Saul Anuzis as an able fighter, but ultimately second best in this particular case. He’s a favorite in some corners of the grassroots and I can see why. However, even as a member of the grassroots, my sense is, we need more than that. If Saul does come up short, it’ll be on the high-end fund raising side. We need a Chairperson who can work both with the base and high-end donors. It’s a fact of politics today, one to be taken seriously. For now, that ring is one in which I’m unconvinced Saul would truly shine.

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At 1pm EST today, Americans for Tax Reform and The Daily Caller will host a debate of all announced candidates for Chair of the RNC. The 168 members of the GOP Committee will vote January 14th to select a Chair for a new two-year term, which, of course, includes the period of redistricting and the critical 2012 election.

The race for RNC Chair won’t get a lot of attention from either the media or, sadly, the grass roots, but it is an important campaign. It seems counter-intuitive, but the national GOP actually underperformed this past November. Yes, they won the House and picked up an historic 60+ seats, but it could-and should-have been 75-80 seats. They left 3-4 Senate seats on the table.  Worse, the GOP came up short in Governor’s races, which are critically important with redistricting on the agenda this year. (They lost to Jerry Brown (!), Rod Blagojevich’s Lt. Gov, and a retread who supports socialized medicine, for example.) Don’t get me wrong, it was a great victory, but, watching from the front-lines, it hurts to realize it could have been even greater, but for the disfunction of the national party.

As I have written before, the first job of the RNC Chair is to ‘do no harm.’ Don’t make gaffes on the Sunday shows or in speeches, raise lots of money and execute a robust ground game for election day. In the closing days of the midterms, the RNC pulled out of most of its election-day GOTV operations…because they didn’t have any money…because the current Chair and organization had alienated the grassroots, which cost them lots of donations. (You can see a theme, right?) Who knows how many more races the GOP could have won with a normally functioning party?

But, enough with the past. This isn’t about the RNC we had, but about the RNC we want to have. And that election is in less than two weeks.

So, let’s recap where we are on this race. Because, while most of us were gorging on College Bowl games or ignoring the world because we gorged on things that weren’t College Bowl games, several interesting things happened. So, let’s have a roundup.

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I am very excited to announce this news…
Ambassador, Proven Republican Leader, Visionary, and “West Point Mom” — Ann Wagner is running for RNC Chair.

Ann Wagner stands with the troops.

Who is Ann Wagner?
Ann Wagner, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, announced in a video message this month that she is running for Chairman of the RNC.

From her website…

Ann Wagner is one of the most successful political professionals working in Republican politics today. Her career is rich in service to her community, state and nation.

Following nomination by President George W. Bush and confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Ann Wagner was sworn in as the 19th U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on August 1st, 2005, in Washington, D.C. She served as U.S. Ambassador for four years until July, 2009.

For her service as U.S. Ambassador, Ann Wagner received The Grand Cross, Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The highest Order awarded for professional achievements or meritorious services.

Most recently, Ann Wagner served as the Chairman of Roy Blunt’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in Missouri where she focused on campaign strategy, fundraising, message development and bringing old and new elements of the grassroots together for an historic victory. POLITICO named Blunt’s campaign one of the top 10 best campaigns in the nation in the 2010 election cycle.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Alex Pappas, a writer and reporter at the Daily Caller, to discuss the race for RNC Chair including, who’s running, and how the Tea Party may impact the race.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

RNC chairman race narrows; Conn. chairman, Chris Healy, says he will not run
Dick Cheney hosts fundraiser for potential challenger to RNC chairman Michael Steele
Hotline Whip Count: The RNC Chairman’s Race
Alex Pappas’ articles at the Daily Caller

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