Endorsement of Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair

I’ve held off publicly endorsing any of the candidates for RNC chair, but I believe now is the time for conservative Republicans to join forces and support Ken Blackwell.

Ken Blackwell

Yesterday, Mr. Blackwell published his plan to reinvigorate the GOP on his website.  Read the plan and you will see that Mr. Blackwell understands the need to completely overhaul strategic and tactical operations in the party.  He plans to implement a strategy of working closely with state RNC members and helping empower those members to engage and assist Republican activists county by county and precinct by precinct.  He will put more RNC funds in use at the county and precinct levels, thereby completely revamping the tactical operations of the RNC.

For too long, RNC strategy has been to focus on races it believed it could win.  We have to believe we can win every race.  In my home state of Arkansas, we didn’t even have a GOP candidate for the Senate seat of Blanche Lincoln, D-AR.  This is intolerable.  Senator Lincoln’s only challenger was Rebekah Kennedy, a Green Party candidate, who received 20% of the vote.  This in an extremely conservative state.  A Republican candidate would have had a real shot, but the RNC wrote this seat off.  This must change, we must make it our strategy to compete with the intent to win in every district, in every state.

Mr. Blackwell will host quarterly conference calls between himself and state RNC members to “stay in the loop.”  The divide that currently separates GOP voters and RNC leadership will be bridged.  This strategic change is designed to identify current needs of members at the state level and how the RNC can fill those needs.  With the support of the RNC, this will lead to more effective tactics at the local level.

Mr. Blackwell’s conservative principles are not in question.  Many think the crushing defeat in November indicates we must abandon conservativism to be competitive in the future.  They couldn’t be more wrong.  Our problems have arisen from not adhering to those principles in the past few years.  With Republicans in control of the White House and both Houses of Congress, we expanded government and spent money like drunken sailors.  Our GOP elected officials have pandered to liberals because there’s been a disconnect between the RNC leadership and voters who elect Republican candidates.

His columns, available at Townhall.com, are evidence of his deep-rooted conservative philosophy.  He recognizes, in his column GOP Strength Rests in Its Core Beliefs, that conservative values correspond to most Americans’ values.  Our problems do not stem from our message, but rather from our inability to communicate that message.

Mr. Blackwell has also endorsed Rebuild the Party‘s 10-point plan to bring the RNC into the 21st century–techologically.   He is participates on the social networking sites Rebuild the Party, Facebook, and Twitter, interacting with grassroots activists dedicated to a common goal–reinvigorating the Republican Party.

For these reasons, I will be contacting the Republican National Committee members in Arkansas to encourage them to vote for Ken Blackwell in the RNC Chairman’s race.

God Bless and Merry Christmas,

John Allison, III