Ambassador, Proven Republican Leader, Visionary, and “West Point Mom” — Ann Wagner is running for RNC Chair.
Ann Wagner stands with the troops – and keeps a Glock pistol at home in her gun cabinet.
RNC delegates will vote today for a new chair.
Michael Steele, the current RNC Chair, will leave his predecessor with a $20 million tab.
It’s time for new leadership.
The Washington Post reported, via Free Republic:
Hundreds of major donors have abandoned the Republican National Committee, leaving it $20 million in debt and threatening its future as a central player in the 2012 presidential election.
The RNC raised just $7 million from major donors for the midterm elections, one sixth as much as it brought in for the previous midterms, in 2006. By contrast, the Democratic National Committee raised $38 million from large donors for last fall’s midterms, three times as much as for the 2006 elections, according to a Washington Post analysis of donor records.
On Friday, when RNC members gather at National Harbor to select a chairman, they will meet under the shadow of the committee’s finances, which are in worse shape than at any time since the Federal Election Commission began keeping records 35 years ago.
“You can’t even dream of winning in 2012 with that kind of operation,” said John Dowd, a Washington lawyer and longtime RNC donor who decided against contributing in the past two years because of the “mess” at the party. “As long as it’s in that kind of shape, I can’t even think of giving.”
The run-up to Friday’s vote, with Chairman Michael Steele in a tough race for reelection against four other candidates, has been laced with acrimony largely focused on the party’s struggles to raise and manage money.
Ann Wagner stands alone in the race today for RNC chair.
** The first vote will be sometime around noon.