RNC Chair Race, Round Four: Dawson Now Edging Steele
We now know where the RNC chairmanship race is going: The black candidate versus the white Southerner candidate.
Here are the vote totals from the fourth round of voting, compared to the third round held right before incumbent Mike Duncan dropped out:
• Dawson 62 (+28)
• Steele 60 (+9)
• Anuzis 31 (+7)
• Blackwell 15 (+0)
So Michael Steele has lost the lead he achieved on the third ballot, and is now narrowly trailing South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson.
This is now pitting Steele, an African-American conservative who has criticized the GOP for failing to reach out to minority voters, against Dawson -- who until recently belonged to an all-white country club, and has said he got involved with politics as a teenager in opposition to busing programs.
Josh
Elana
Matt
Eric
Dawson: how embarrassing for the GOP, how stay the course. Rule book for losing future elections. I am constantly surprised they fail to recognize the make-up of the American populace.
January 30, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Prediction
Anuzis and Blackwell throw in with Dawson. Man that would be AWESOME! A Uncle Tom getting out Uncle Tomed lol
January 30, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Legree'd would be more like it.
January 30, 2009 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
hmm. I'd guess Blackwell goes to Dawson, but Anuzis goes to Steele, giving him the win.
January 30, 2009 2:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which way will Anuzis and Blackwell votes go?
January 30, 2009 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I predict the loser of Dawson/Steele will be the co-chair.
January 30, 2009 2:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was Dawson the one who had the backwards B carved in his butt cheek?
January 30, 2009 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
yes.
(This is teh awesome.)
January 30, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Blackwell's dropping out.
January 30, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Am I the only one hoping Dawson wins?
January 30, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
NO, me too.
January 30, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely not, I want Dawson too. Though I would have preferred Blackwell or, even better, Chip Saltsman.
January 30, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Chip would've been a little much. I'll take the guy who, in 2003, said this:
He'll do just fine.
January 30, 2009 3:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is a stellar quote, Scientific. And yes, Saltsman would have been excessive; the comedy value wouldn't have outweighed the repugnance, in the end.
Looks like it's likely to be Steele, though, unfortunately.
January 30, 2009 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Steele winning will have it's own issues and could divide the party. Steele wants moderate candidates and a minority reach out after all.
January 30, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Blackwell's OUT!!!!!
January 30, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, my. Blackwell mentions the Koran as a "Good Book". That's not going to please many supporters.
January 30, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did Blackwell endorse anybody? What would be really interesting is all his votes went to Anuzis.
January 30, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I gotta give it to the GOP. They sure know how to make a run for Chairman a hoot.
January 30, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
He endorsed Steele
January 30, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Blackwell's support was solid the last couple of rounds, which leads me to believe they'll move en masse to Steele.
Anuzis will back Steele as well. Storyline "The New Republican Party - Republicans choose black man over All-White Social club member Dawson"
January 30, 2009 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The RNC Chairman is Black, but the DNC Chairman is White: Does the Democratic Party Have a Race Problem?"
January 30, 2009 3:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Man. I was rooting for the segregationist, not the token...
January 30, 2009 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well see in a few minutes, but I think Steele will get it now, and the RNC will have dodged a bullet.
January 30, 2009 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's go, Dawson! It never gets old seeing the GOP show its true face. Yee-ha!
January 30, 2009 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
By the way, I know that's tremendously cynical of me. Even though I think Steele is a seriously confused individual, he'd be better than Dawson. But to think that a party steeped in the kind of race-hatred that the GOP is would actually listen to Steele is, to me, laughable. Steele is fooling himself. (I'm from Ohio, and already knew Blackwell was a lost cause.)
January 30, 2009 3:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Look on the bright side: Blackwell is now free to run for the US Senate or go for a rematch against Strickland.
January 30, 2009 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink