Noted conservative columnist Linda Chavez calls for the resignation of GOP Chair Michael Steele in a column today in the National Review. Her surprise choice for his replacement: former Senator Jim Talent.
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The party could look to its own elected leaders. There are lots of good people to pick from: Sen. John Thune, Rep. Paul Ryan, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Gov. Mitch Daniels — to name just a few. But all these people are busy with legislative duties or running their states. So why not look to someone who’s been elected — and therefore understands best how elections are won and lost — but is out of office now and isn’t planning to run for office again anytime soon.
Jim Talent comes to mind. A four-term congressman from Missouri, he won a special election for U.S. Senate in 2002 but lost his re-election bid in the Democratic sweep of 2006. He recently announced he won’t be running to fill retiring GOP Sen. Kit Bond’s seat this year, which means he could devote full time to the job.
Talent’s accomplishments are many. He was one of the principle authors of the 1994 welfare reform bill. He is vice chairman of the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism. He’s a terrific debater and as bright as they come. Talent could actually help the GOP regain the mantle as the party of ideas. Read more…
Related:
Sen. Talent’s twitter: “Talking with @DLoesch at 3:30 today on 971Talk.com or 97.1 FM in STL.”
0 responses so far ↓
1 Jane // Apr 2, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I wish Talent would run for Senate again!
2 Thomas L. Knapp // Apr 3, 2010 at 3:44 am
I’d love to see Talent as RNC chair.
Of course, I’d also love to see the RNC implode under the leadership of a second-rate party hack who goes down in flames every time the Democrats put up an opponent whose qualifications extend beyond “widow of a politician with a big name” and barely pulls it out in those cases, even in a red state.
But I repeat myself.
3 Doug Allen // Apr 3, 2010 at 6:10 pm
I saw this man, in action, like no other. I was his pilot while running for office. I saw his strengths and human weaknesses and I will share with you that Jim would be an excellent choice for such a position. I am happy to see he is being considered.
4 Bosun // Apr 4, 2010 at 10:49 am
A very DECENT man. But he LOST to Claire, NOT exactly the WINNING tradition you need to turn those guys around. Based on the Claire campaign, I’d question his organizational skills. As to Steele, well for quite some time the republicans have resemebled the “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”.
5 April Womack // Apr 4, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Jim is a very honorable, decent, dynamic person and he would be excellent in this position! When he lost the senate race to Claire, we lost a very good man and one I wish everyday was holding that seat. He didn’t lose it because he was not good enough. He lost it because of the apron strings she had tied to the Mess-iah. I respect Jim Steele for what he has tried to do, but he is just not up to the job. It is time to clean house, before the real campaigns for ’10 begin. Maybe even right now, we might still be able to positively effect the Nov elections even more.
JIM, IF YOU ARE OUT THERE, WE NEED YOU NOW!
6 Thomas L. Knapp // Apr 5, 2010 at 9:04 am
“When he lost the senate race to Claire, we lost a very good man and one I wish everyday was holding that seat. He didn’t lose it because he was not good enough. He lost it because of the apron strings she had tied to the Mess-iah.”
Nice try, but the facts don’t support it. The election in which McCaskill beat Talent occurred three months before Obama announced for president and 15 months before McCaskill endorsed him for the Democratic nomination.
Talent hasn’t won a genuinely competitive general election since his days in the state legislature.
He managed to get into Congress through re-districting after the 1990 census — the 2nd US House District was gerrymandered into a “safe” GOP district, with many of its Democrat-leaning areas cut into the already heavily Democratic 1st and 3rd districts.
After an abysmal record as a congresscritter, his anti-gun-rights record cost him his shot at the governorship of Missouri in 2000.
If the Democrats had put up a strong candidate in 2002, he’d never have seen the inside of the US Senate chamber. He only barely managed to slip past an opponent whose only resume credential was that she was Mel Carnahan’s widow. And he wouldn’t even have managed that if she hadn’t been as bad on the war issue as he was.
In 2006, he went down like he always does in a genuinely contested election.
The best argument for putting him in charge of the RNC is as damage control — it will keep him off the GOP ballot line for public office.
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