Blackwell enters GOP chairman race

The race for Republican National Committee chairman got more crowded Friday as a prominent conservative made a splashy entrance.

Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who has strong ties to the party’s conservative wing, is the latest candidate to declare for the position, doing so Friday in an email to RNC members.

{mosads}Touting himself as a strong fundraiser with electoral experience and a vision for the future of the party (as well as a part-owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team), Blackwell promised to pull no punches.

“[F]or the next few weeks, I am going to be very direct and blunt. The RNC needs a more basic and more comprehensive change of course than my competitors have thus far presented or, frankly, envisioned,” Blackwell wrote.

Blackwell lost a bid for governor in 2006 and later launched the Coalition for a Conservative Majority with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). He is also a senior fellow with the prominent conservative group Family Research Council.

Blackwell will propose an “RNC Conservative Resurgence Plan” he claims will put the committee back into the hands of members and focus efforts on voter registration and identification, “regardless of the cost.” Messages left on Blackwell’s cell phone and at his office were not immediately returned.

He becomes the ninth serious candidate actively in or considering the race, with a tenth leaning away from running. But while his entrance will scramble other candidates’ political calculus, it makes life the most difficult for one candidate in particular, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.

Blackwell and Steele have more in common than simply being prominent Republican African Americans. Both are constant presences on the cable news circuit and show up frequently on Fox News.

And both men are former officeholders who can claim personal electoral experience that other candidates lack. They are also big draws on the fundraising circuit, which gives them valuable favors to call in from those they’ve helped in the past.

But the biggest difference between the two is that Blackwell is a hard-core conservative, while Steele is seen as much more moderate. And that could seriously harm Steele’s chances among a body of 168 elected Republican committee members.

Then again, Blackwell “doesn’t have the campaign experience and the party experience that Steele has,” said one Republican who backs Steele and who is convinced Blackwell’s candidacy is an attempt to derail the Marylander. Steele served as chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, giving him deeper roots with many current RNC members – the same people that pick the chairman.

One candidate reached Friday afternoon by The Hill said he respected Blackwell’s past as an elected official but that his entry won’t affect previously-laid plans.

“I’m excited about my race and the future of the Republican Party,” said South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson. “We’re going to continue to talk about the historic successes we’ve had in South Carolina for the past seven years.”

Michigan Republican Party chair Saul Anuzis is the fourth declared candidate. Current RNC chair Mike Duncan, Texas GOP chief Tina Benkiser and former Tennessee Party chair Chip Saltsman are seriously contemplating bids of their own, though none could be immediately reached for comment on Blackwell’s candidacy. Former Michigan RNC member Chuck Yob and former Office of Management and Budget director/ex-Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) are also circling the race.