Posted on 11/11/2010 2:56:40 PM PST by jazusamo
Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason is reaching out to members of the Republican National Committee and top GOP operatives in advance of a possible bid for national party chairman, a source close to Gleason told POLITICO.
Gleason has talked to a handful of RNC insiders — including former New Jersey committeeman David Norcross — about a potential run, and is touting last Tuesday’s huge Republican gains in Pennsylvania as a chief selling point.
“We had more Democratic takeaways than any other state in the country,” said the Gleason confidant. “Gleason’s proved his worth at taking a blue state and turning it red.”
The Pennsylvania chairman has also spoken to Karl Rove — who along with fellow former George W. Bush political hand Ed Gillespie is looking for a challenger to sitting RNC chairman Michael Steele — about a potential run.
The source declined to say who else on the committee Gleason has spoken to about an RNC run, saying only “he’s pitched some bigger name folks.”
“Obviously there is a lot of movement right now,” the source said.
Gleason is one of roughly a dozen Republican insiders said to be considering campaigns, according to committee sources.
Other RNC insiders whose names have been floated for chairman include former Michigan Chairman Saul Anuzis, Connecticut Chairman Chris Healy, Wisconsin Chairman Reince Priebus, former North Dakota Chairman Gary Emineth, California Chairman Ron Nehring, District of Columbia Committeeman Tony Parker, Texas Committeeman Bill Crocker, former RNC Deputy Chairwoman Maria Cino, RNC Co-Chair Jan Larimer and former RNC Chairman Mike Duncan.
Several others, including Norcross, have received mention as potential challengers to Steele.
Three outsiders are also receiving attention from the 168-member committee: former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association.
Gleason supported former South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson during the January 2009 RNC election, which Steele won on the sixth ballot.
Steele has not yet announced whether he will run for reelection in the contest slated for early next year.
Barf Ping!
He is the definition of a Republican Rino Elite.
No Way.
I nominate Carly Fiorina.
I will make it my personal mission to stop it.
Steele has to go though.
Thanks, HC, that's a very worthy endeavor.
I don’t know exactly how things go in your country. Please explain to me what the RNC does?
does it direct resources?
does it influence primaries?
etc.
GOP chairman in CT says he might want to run. This is after they lost almost every possible office here. Not what we need.
The RNC is a center of power for an elite few.
It supports grassroots candidates who are true conservatives with pinched noses if at all.
It endorses hand picked boy toys BEFORE the primary and hesitates to support candidates who win inspite of the RNCs efforts to have them defeated.
Rob Gleason is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party.
Lets talk about this business dealings and collusion with Jack Murtha for example. Books could be written on the subject.
Absolutely NOT! Putting this guy in charge of the RNC would be just like handing it over to his old pal Murtha!
He would still endorse Specter if he had remained a Republican.
These guys need there heads surgically removed from their butts.
Lets just get Scuzzyfavor!
LMAO!
Really.
Or lets give Snarlin’ Arlen the job. He’s out of work. /s
If he backed Murtha he can go suck an egg.
Other potential candidates mentioned in the article include Mike Duncan (WTF?).
So that’s all it does? Endorse? I thought they directed money etc. too.
This may say more about the state of the republican party in Pennsylvania and perhaps the miracle of Toomey’s candidacy. If tea partiers need another seat to contest, perhaps it should be GOP chairman seats everywhere.
I have lived in PA since 1987, and there hasn't been a legitimate Republican primary in all of that time. The "Committe" has "thier" "chosen one" all picked out months before the primary election, and the challenger has almost no chance.
There were several good (i.e. "actual" conservative) candidates in the primary to pick a challenger to Tim Holden, but the "chosen one" got the votes and then sat out the rest of the campaign. It's been this way for a long time. They figure that a "so-called" blue dog Demonrat can't be beat, so they just plop in someone just so it's not unopposed. The last time they "picked" Joe Paterno's son. It doesn't matter who they pick, they all disappear after the primary and make no effort to defeat Holden.
Can you imagine the RNC pushing "their" "chosen one" (i.e. anyone but Palin) through the 2012 primary season, and even into the convention (i.e. Mooocowski)??? No matter who they pick, they will make no real effort to defeat the Demonrats since they still want to get their invites to those posh DC soirees.
The "Committee" has "their" "chosen one"
PA, of course.
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