RNC

Race Recriminations Pop Up In RNC Election

Eric Kleefeld | December 27, 2010, 10:08AM

Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee chairmanship race is on -- and so are the recriminations on race, Jonathan Martin reports.

When Steele officially launched his re-election bid earlier this month, he said of the contest: "Who you elect as our next Chairman will speak volumes about our willingness to truly be the party of Lincoln."

This line was immediately attacked by a Steele detractor, committeeman James Bopp of Indiana: "This is the threat he has made by playing the race card - he will smear the RNC by saying we are all racist by not voting for him."

Now Bopp is jousting with a Steele-supporter, Idaho GOP chairman and Steele-supporter Norm Semanko, who is calling the blanket anybody-but-Steele campaign launched by Bopp and others "hateful."

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Michael Steele

RNC Passes Compromise On 'Purity' Resolutions

Eric Kleefeld | January 29, 2010, 6:00PM

RNC Committee Member James Bopp Jr.

The Republican National Committee has just passed a compromise measure on a key set of resolutions that were being offered at today's winter meeting. It would require Republican candidates to pass ideological muster in order to receive party funding.

RNC committee member James Bopp, Jr., had previously offered two resolutions. The more controversial one -- commonly dubbed the "purity resolution" in the media, and opposed by RNC Chairman Michael Steele -- would have forbidden RNC funding for candidates who don't show they match up with conservative positions on eight out of ten key issues. A second resolution, which Bopp called the "accountability" resolution, would have specifically empowered the RNC chairman to consider ideology in apportioning funds to candidates.

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James Bopp

RNC Member Bopp: Steele 'Misstates Reagan's Position'

Eric Kleefeld | January 28, 2010, 4:03PM

RNC Committee Member James Bopp Jr.

I just spoke with James Bopp Jr., the Republican National Committee member from Indiana who is sponsoring two key resolutions to prevent RNC funding from going to insufficiently conservative candidates. He says he is still reviewing his options headed into today's meeting of the resolutions committee, and tomorrow's full session of the RNC's winter meeting in Hawaii.

Bopp's main resolution, to forbid RNC funding for candidates who do not show that they hold conservative positions on at least eight out of ten key issues, suffered two setbacks yesterday. A committee of state party chairmen voted against it, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele came out against it. Bopp is simultaneously pursuing that resolution as well as a simpler one, which would expressly empower the RNC chairman to consider ideology as a factor in sending money to candidates.

"Well, I'm glad to know what his [Steele's] position is," Bopp told me, "And I still look forward to coming up with some approach that ensures accountability. I mean, we have two resolutions that deal with that issue, and hopefully one of them will win. I expect one of them will win."

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Michael Steele

Steele Opposes 'Purity' Resolution, Says 'Ronald Reagan Would Be Ashamed'

Eric Kleefeld | January 28, 2010, 10:21AM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has formally come out against a proposed resolution at this week's RNC winter meeting, commonly known as the "purity" resolution, which would require Republican candidates to show they support at least eight out of ten selected conservative positions in order to receive RNC funding.

"Litmus tests don't work. They don't build parties, they don't build relationships, they can be divisive," Steele told reporters yesterday, after a committee of state party chairmen voted to oppose it. He also added: "This is not the business of the RNC. Ronald Reagan would be ashamed if the party moved in that direction."

Steele's invocation of Reagan's name here was probably not random. This was likely done because the resolution's main author, RNC committee member James Bopp of Indiana, named it the "Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates." The inferred "Reagan's Unity Principle" here comes from a line from Reagan about the need for Republicans to stop fighting each other, saying that someone who agrees with him 80% of the time was his friend and not his 20% enemy -- which is taken literally here, as a solid floor for support.

RNC

RNC To Take Up 'Purity' Resolutions This Week

Eric Kleefeld | January 26, 2010, 10:29AM

RNC Committee Member James Bopp Jr.

The Republican National Committee is headed to Hawaii this week for its winter meeting. One of the top issues on the agenda, being put forward in a series of resolutions on Friday by Indiana committee member James Bopp Jr., is whether the party's candidates will be conservative enough -- and what steps the party can take to enforce it.

Bopp is offering two key resolutions. The first is a test that requires GOP candidates to show that they hold conservative positions on eight out of ten key conservative positions, such as opposing President Obama on health care and the stimulus, in order to receive RNC funding. This has been commonly referred to in the media as the "purity" test. The other, which Bopp calls the "accountability" resolution, would empower the chairman to cut off party funding for a candidate if the chair judged them to be insufficiently conservative. In an interview with TPMDC, Bopp explained that the resolutions serve an important need of maintaining the party's credibility.

"Well, we would just like to pass some forceful provision that requires accountability and puts our money where our mouth is, not just talk," said Bopp. "We're great at talking a game, but people don't trust us to follow through, and that's what we're trying to fix. So if we put our money where our mouth is, I think people will believe us."

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RNC

GOP Operative: Party Campaign Committees Probably Won't Honor 'Purity' Resolution

Eric Kleefeld | November 25, 2009, 12:27PM

RNC chairman Michael Steele

A Republican operative tells us that if the Republican National Committee ends up passing the so-called "purity" resolution - which would cut off party support for candidate that violate three or or more out of ten key conservative policy positions -- it's unlikely that party campaign committees will actually abide by it.

"The litmus test puts too little emphasis on people's most pressing concerns of spending and taxes and therefore cannot be considered an effective tool to fully judge a candidate," the source said. "Because of this, its doubtful this will be a major factor in candidate support."

The resolution officially calls for cutting off support for candidates from the Republican National Committee. But another important question with this resolution is whether the party's other campaign committees -- such as the NRCC and the NRSC, among others -- would obey the edict to exclude candidates who don't measure up. As far as this one GOP operative says, probably not.

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