RNC Chair Debate Week

It's a big week for the GOP, with no fewer than three different forums for the six candidates vying to be the next RNC chair. The first one is hosted today by Americans for Tax Reform. The race has, as Politico pointed out this morning, laid bare some rifts within the Republican party.

As we listen in to these forums, my personal hope is to hear something more creative than we saw from Republicans over the past two years. Just before Christmas, Rob Willington of RebuildTheParty.com broke down the candidate's answers to a questionnaire released by Virginia's RNC Committeeman Morton Blackwell. Willington charted the candidates' use of several key terms (such as "technology," "recruitment," "Internet," etc.). Though the candidates ran through many of the same themes, there were some differences in how those themes were presented. For instance, Saul Anuzis - the candidate who launched his bid on Twitter - did not mention technology once in his responses.

During the Republican presidential primaries, candidates all but fell over each other themselves "conservative" or quote Ronald Reagan. But as much as I consider myself a conservative who admires Ronald Reagan, I don't want to hear that from a Republican leader. I want someone who walks the walk - and when they talk the talk, it shouldn't be directed at the "base" but at the people who should be in the base but aren't - like the record numbers of people signing up for the party of pay-to-play.