As the holidays come to a close and we look forward to celebrating the New Year, Rosa and I wish to convey our sincere appreciation for the support that many of you have given to this campaign during our first three weeks. I am humbled when I consider our progress so far.
We started the race on December 5th, 2008 and quickly received the endorsement of one of America’s most prominent business leaders and fiscal conservatives, Steve Forbes, who agreed to serve as Honorary Chairman of our campaign.
Chuck Yob, longtime National Committeeman from Michigan and recent candidate for RNC Chairman, quickly departed the race and enthusiastically endorsed my candidacy. Tina Benkiser, GOP State Chairman from Texas, decided to forego the race for RNC Chairman and instead joined our ticket as a candidate for RNC Co-Chairman. Gary Jones, GOP State Chairman from Oklahoma, and Roger Villere, Jr., GOP State Chairman from Louisiana, signed on as Co-Chairs of our campaign.
Seven more RNC Members endorsed my candidacy…and I am very appreciative for every one of you. Special thanks goes out to Debbie Joslin, Ralph Seekins, Ruth Ulrich, Ross Little, Jr., Cathie Adams, Bill Crocker, and Senator Holland Redfield!
While we were busy promoting fundamental change and building support, two of my competitors came under attack…and two others played into the racial hypersensitivity of the press. Since I don’t think it is appropriate to score political points on these types of matters, I chose not to “pile on” my opponents because I believe they are all good Republicans and fine individuals.
More importantly, after our losses in 2006 and 2008, we can’t afford to “eat our own”. Now is the time for unity, not division. And I refuse to throw bright young Republican leaders under the bus.
Now, the national media is starting to report that we are leading in the race for Chairman. We have released more public endorsements from RNC Members who will be voting in the race for RNC Chairman than any other candidate. Politico.com wrote yesterday that I “appear(s) to be leading in the race to become the next Chairman of the Republican National Committee”.
This is politics, and it means some of my competitors and their friends in the political consulting world may now focus on attacking me, just as they have done to at least two other candidates.
This is unfortunate, but be assured that I will not be deterred. As they say, this is not my first rodeo. (Actually, it’s my 18th!) I have been through 17 campaigns and won 13 of them. I will continue to fight until we win a majority of the votes and bring the type of fundamental change that the RNC sorely needs.
We must have a national party that involves RNC Members, has a revenue sharing plan that returns 10% of net fundraising proceeds to state parties, and legitimately rebuilds our infrastructure from the ground up with unprecedented investment in precinct organization across the country.
With your help, we will be successful in this campaign for RNC Chairman and will put our party back on track for victory in 2010.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
Happy New Year!
