Republican National Committee
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention. Similar committees exist in every U.S. state and most U.S. counties, although in some states party organization is structured by congressional district, allied campaign organizations being governed by a national committee. Michael Steele is the current RNC chairman, and will serve until January 2011.
The RNC's main counterpart is the Democratic National Committee.
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[edit] History
The 1856 Republican National Convention appointed the first RNC. It consisted of one member from each state and territory to serve for four years. Each national convention since then has followed the precedent of one representative per state or territory, regardless of population. From 1924 to 1952 there was a national committeeman and national committeewoman from each state and U.S. possession, and from Washington, D.C.. In 1952, committee membership was expanded to include the state party chairs of states that voted Republican in the preceding presidential election, have a Republican majority in their combined U.S. representatives and senators, or have Republican governors. By 1968, membership reached 145.
The only person to have chaired the RNC and later become U.S. president is George H.W. Bush. A number of the chairs of the RNC have been state governors.
[edit] 2009 RNC Chairman Selection
RNC Chairman Vote
Source: CQPolitics,[1] and Poll Pundit[2]
Candidate | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Steele | 46 | 48 | 51 | 60 | 79 | 91 |
Katon Dawson | 28 | 29 | 34 | 62 | 69 | 77 |
Saul Anuzis | 22 | 24 | 24 | 31 | 20 | Withdrew |
Ken Blackwell | 20 | 19 | 15 | 15 | Withdrew | |
Mike Duncan | 52 | 48 | 44 | Withdrew |
- Candidate won that Round of voting
- Candidate withdrew
- Candidate won RNC Chairmanship
On announcing his candidacy to succeed RNC Chairman Duncan, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele described the party as being at a crossroads and not knowing what to do. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," he said.[3]
Six men ran for the 2009 RNC Chairmanship: Steele, Ken Blackwell, Mike Duncan, Saul Anuzis, Katon Dawson and Chip Saltsman. After Saltsman's withdrawal, there were only five candidates during the hotly-contested balloting January 30, 2009.
After the third round of balloting that day, Steele held a small lead over incumbent Mike Duncan of Kentucky, with 51 votes to Duncan's 44. Shortly after the announcement of the standings, Duncan dropped out of contention without endorsing a candidate.[4] Ken Blackwell, the only other African-American candidate, dropped out after the fourth ballot and endorsed Steele, though Blackwell had been the most socially conservative of the candidates and Steele had been accused of not being "sufficiently conservative." Steele picked up Blackwell's votes.[5] After the fifth round, Steele held a ten vote lead over Katon Dawson, with 79 votes, and Saul Anuzis dropped out.[6] After the sixth vote, he won the chairmanship of the RNC over Dawson by a vote of 91 to 77.[7]
Mississippi Governor and former RNC chair Haley Barbour has suggested the party will focus its efforts on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the coming years rather than the next presidential election. "When I was chairman of the Republican National Committee the last time we lost the White House in 1992 we focused exclusively on 1993 and 1994. And at the end of that time, we had both houses of Congress with Republican majorities, and we’d gone from 17 Republican governors to 31. So anyone talking about 2012 today doesn’t have their eye on the ball. What we ought to worry about is rebuilding our party over the next year and particularly in 2010,” Barbour said at the November 2008 Republican Governors conference.[8]
[edit] Chairmen of the Republican National Committee
[edit] 2009 RNC Health Coverage-Abortion Controversy
On November 12, 2009, the Republican National Committee was involved in a controversy over its opposition to funding for abortion in government sponsored health plans. After strong support for the Stupak Amendment – which prohibited any coverage of abortion services under government-subsidized or government-operated health insurance plans operating under the terms of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, regardless of whether that coverage was itself funded by the government – it became known that the employer-based health care provided to members of the RNC provides coverage for elective abortions. Republican leaders stated they did not realize this coverage was within the health care terms, and promised to promptly remove such coverage. It has been noted that this coverage is not precisely in contradiction with the intention of the Stupak amendment because the health coverage for RNC members is private insurance, not publicly funded.[11]
[edit] See also
- Republican Party (United States)
- Republican National Committee members
- Microtargeting
- Right Now: A 12-Step Program for Defeating the Obama Agenda
[edit] References
- ^ "Republican Choose Michael Steele as Party Chairman". CQ Politics. January 30, 2009. http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003021842&cpage=1.
- ^ "RNC Chairman Vote: Live Coverage". PollPundit.com. January 30, 2009. http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=20632.
- ^ Cillizza, Chris (November 13, 2008). "Michael Steele to Run For RNC Chair". The Fix. The Washington Post. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/11/michael_steele_to_run_for_rnc.html?nav=rss_blog. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
- ^ Armbinder, Mark. RNC Chairman Duncan Drops Re-Election Bid, January 30, 2009, The Atlantic.
- ^ Cillizza, Chris. Steele Elected RNC Chair, January 30, 2009, Washington Post.
- ^ Hamby, Peter. BREAKING: Steele picked to lead RNC, January 30, 2009, CNN Political Ticker.
- ^ Burns, Alexander (January 30, 2009). "It's Steele!". The Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18216.html. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
- ^ York, Byron (November 13, 2008). "Palin, the Governors, and the New Power in the Republican Party". National Review Online. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTgxMDMyNTU4NTE2MjM5MDQyNDlkMzU0YTlkNmNiMjQ=. Retrieved February 12, 2009.
- ^ The Political Graveyard web site, A Database of Historic Cemeteries, accessed July 17, 2006.
- ^ "U.S. government departments and offices, etc.". rulers.org. B. Schemmel. http://rulers.org/usgovt.html#parties. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
- ^ Allen, Jonathan; Shiner, Meredith (November 13, 2009). "RNC to opt out of abortion coverage". politico.com. Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29456.html. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Republican National Committee: News clippings and publications, 1932-65, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library