I would like to thank all of my friends in the conservative community for their humbling support in my bid for Chairman of the Republican National Committee. I know my late entry and lack of membership on the committee made it an uphill battle for us, but with your help and your voice, we made a major national impact and re-affirmed that conservative principles are alive and well in the Republican Party.

Just because the race is over doesn’t mean our jobs are finished. Now is the time to take our message of reform, especially the need to return the party to the grassroots, to the new leadership team at party headquarters.

Last week, the 168 members of the Republican National Committee elected Michael Steele as their national chairman. I was proud to be a significant part of that effort, not only by encouraging my supporters to elect him, but also by assuring the members of the RNC, and Republicans following the race nationwide, that Michael Steele is taken seriously by conservatives like us. Governor Ronald Reagan once told his staff, “the person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally - not a 20 percent traitor.” While Michael Steele and I may differ on our approach to some aspects of conservatism, he is still a strong ally in the fight to defeat Democrats and a supporter of the conservative Republican platform, and I look forward to working with him as we energize, inspire, and expand the base.

This election was a battle to see who can best unite these members - or at least 85 of them - to capture a majority of the votes in the short term. But in the long term, we need a plan that will rebuild the party by articulating conservative principles, inspiring our base, decentralizing authority, and building the technical infrastructure that will unite the millions of Republican voters behind a common goal of a conservative resurgence across the country.

Republican voters have spoken - at the ballot box, with their donations, through grassroots activities, and in online communication. We’ve all heard and echoed their message: let’s get back to basics. Now we have someone on the national stage who can do something about it, including returning party operations to the state and local leadership, dominating technology in order to position us to win, and preparing for our toughest redistricting battle yet. Michael Steele has assured members of the conservative community that we will not only have a voice, but a place at the table as decisions directing the RNC are made. And I don’t know about all of you, but I’m ready to be put back to work.

Peggy is a prominent and respected conservative leader who you can count on to be a key member of Ken’s team when he is elected. We are honored that she has joined the conservative resurgence team today.

If you’re serious about change, following our party’s worst performance in decades, please consider offering your support for the candidate who offers the most fundamental change — Ken Blackwell.

Mr Blackwell’s history and stated views closely match those of our membership.  History has shown the Republicans cannot win national elections running a “Moderate” fence straddling campaign.  We must return the party to its conservative values or we are looking at a very bleak future for the party and our country.

We look forward to helping you the party win on 2010 and 2012.

Best wishes;

Owen Morell
President
Tennessee Republican Assembly

And who/where is the Republican Steve Jobs?

Nobody in the race for chairman of the Republican National Committee has attracted as many high-profile conservative movement supporters as has former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. And it’s true that conservatives have a host of good reasons to be high on Blackwell. But while Blackwell clearly would re-energize the movement, he is not rightly seen as appealing only to conservatives. This is a man with a history of winning elections and a comprehensive plan for helping his party win plenty more of them, at all levels of government.

First, to be clear: The list of conservatives who have endorsed Blackwell’s campaign is more than impressive. Former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese. American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene. Former presidential candidate and supply-side economic champion Steve Forbes. Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson. Legendary conservative direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie. Former Reagan Budget Director James C. Miller. Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly. Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. American Spectator Publisher Al Regnery. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. Media Research Center President Brent Bozell. Virginia National Committeeman and conservative youth trainer extraordinaire Morton Blackwell (no relation to the candidate)….

And on and on the list goes.

Even longer than the list of prominent conservative backers is the list of impressive items on Blackwell’s résumé. In elective office, he has been mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio State Treasurer, and two-term Ohio Secretary of State. In appointive office he has been U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, an undersecretary (under Jack Kemp) of HUD, and on official commissions for the Department of Labor, on retirement savings, and on tax reform. He has won awards for his work in government finance and in technology. And he has served on more boards and been given more honorary degrees than most people would do in several lifetimes.

Blackwell is quite good on TV. He’s even better on a podium, and even better yet in a large roundtable discussion. He has every bit of “presence” you would expect from a college football linebacker who was invited to training camp by the Dallas Cowboys — which is what he was, before getting a graduate degree and teaching for 17 years at his alma mater, Xavier University. He speaks forcefully, with a real directness. He speaks with the authority of a man who knows his facts and knows his mind.

The complete article is online at The American Spectator.

“We make no secret that we are conservatives before we are Republicans. Ken Blackwell is a conservative. He is not just a conservative, but of all the men in the race, Ken Blackwell has run and won elected office on his own….

“In addition, Ken Blackwell got into the race for Chairman by surrounding himself with extremely competent, principled people. This is a sign both of his understanding the needs of the RNC and of his commitment to the cause….

“Ken Blackwell is fundamentally a conservative first and knows the party grassroots extremely well….

“We believe Ken Blackwell would be an excellent, innovative choice for Chairman of the RNC who would run the party competently and conservatively. We encourage the 168 members of the RNC to vote for him.”

Star Parker agrees that we need a “shareholder’s revolt” at the RNC. Thanks Star!

“In this sense, I like what Ken Blackwell is proposing in his run for RNC Chairman. Blackwell is calling for a “shareholder revolt” within the Republican Party and to move power, money, and influence to State organizations.

We do need a shareholder revolt in the Republican Party followed by one in the country as a whole.”

Read her complete article at TownHall.com.

I am now pleased to announce that the leadership of the College Republican National Committee has endorsed me in my campaign for Chairman.  Lee Atwater, Karl Rove, Morton Blackwell, and Grover Norquist are former leaders of this important organization.

I want to give a special thank you to Charlie Smith and his team for their support.  Together, we will ignite a conservative resurgence across the country.

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Members of the Republican National Committee:

After two difficult election cycles our party is at a crossroads.  We have obligations to our ideals and our constituents to evaluate our strengths and weakness, successes and failures, and set ourselves on a path of renewal and revitalization.    We must take this opportunity to elect a leader with a bold vision and the strength to carry it through.  We need a leader that will stop allowing the Republican Party to surrender to the other party on campus and online. It is our opinion and the opinion of a large part of our organization that, of the many qualified candidates for RNC Chairman, the candidate best suited to take on these new challenges is Ken Blackwell.

Ken understands the importance of increasing our outreach to young and first time voters who will be making formative choices in the next few elections that will shape their voting habits for the rest of their lives. We cannot afford to continue to ignore an entire generation of voters. Ken also understands that we must increase our capabilities online if we’re going to inform and persuade voters effectively and remain competitive with Internet and email fundraising.

We believe that Ken Blackwell has the convictions to make him a great spokesman for our party and that he will drive us forward towards successes in elections at all levels of government. That belief is further strengthened after watching his performance in the debate yesterday. As the leaders of tomorrow’s Republican Party we respectfully ask that you consider supporting Ken and cast a vote for the next generation of Republicans.

Charlie Smith, CRNC National Chairman
Blake Harris, CRNC National Co-Chairman
Dan Carlson, CRNC National Secretary
Esther Clark, CRNC National Treasurer
Tom Jardon, CRNC Southern Vice-Chairman

Justin Zatkoff, Michigan College Republican Chairman
Taylor Hall, South Carolina College Republican Chairman
Lance Kennedy, Texas College Republican Chairman
Chandler Harris, Alabama College Republican Chairman
Ed Cox, Utah College Republican Chairman

Jeremy Hagen, Missouri College Republican Chairman
Rudy Perciful, Louisiana College Republican Chairman
Terence Grado, New Jersey College Republican Chairman
Matt Wharton, Arizona College Republican Chairman
Meagan Szydlowski, Illinois College Republican Chairman

Erica Castelo, Colorado College Republican Chairman
Richard Walters, Mississippi College Republican Chairman
Reece Hrizuk, Oregon College Republican Chairman
Brand Kroeger, District of Columbia College Republican Chairman

This plan is how I intend to bring about fundamental change as Chairman and return power back to its rightful owners, the RNC members.

To succeed as a party, we must completely change the way the RNC does business. RNC members need to have a say in the operation and direction of the party they are elected to oversee.

As Chairman, I will flatten the RNC and push much of the decision-making out into the states and I will view the RNC members as Shareholders that have a stake in our success.

This will enable us to tailor the strategy applied in each state to the needs of that state. If I find an idea that works well in one state, I will share it around the country, but I will not force it on you. You know your states better than the Washington insiders do, so you should run your states.

Since I entered the race, I have earned the support of a diverse group of members from across the country that are ready to take our party back.

If you are ready to demand your ownership rights as a member of the RNC, I ask you to please support my Conservative Resurgence Plan and vote for Ken Blackwell for RNC Chairman.