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• Jim Fields

  12/10/2008 08:05 PM

  Chip, I think you'd be the perfect person to fill the RNC Chairman spot. The party needs some fresh faces and someone with charisma, like you. Following Mike Huckabee's campaign throughout the primaries, I was always impressed with the way you handled yourself during your interviews in the national media for Huckabee.

  Good luck!
  Jim Fields

• ruver west

  12/09/2008 06:39 PM

  re-hashing all the nuances of politics is a good game so may i join in?

  one of its most interesting aspects is watching the changing of jockeys and horses mid stream during a primary.

  my memory says mccain jumping out of the starting gate gathering republican electoral votes on super tuesday and continued to do so all the way
  around the track.

  republicans arent always good at it but i do recall from the beginning john charles fremont’s reminder - after the primary ..... well we know what should happen?

  today my friend mark hillman reminds us that ‘rational republicans accept that we must work together to form an electoral majority'. with that said i will add let’s look for a common denominator in states
  who had winning results.

  oh yes! tennessee and chip saltsman.
  

• Ginny Desiderio

  12/09/2008 05:49 PM

  Dave L. I appreciate your comments and respect your opinion, but you have several important facts wrong. First, I know of Mr. Wichterman, he is an honorable person. Mr. Wichterman is working for President Bush at the present time. He did not return to the Christian coalition after he ceased working for Senator Frist, in fact, he went to work for a major firm in Washington D.C. Mr. Wichterman advised Senator Thompson on a few social issues late in his campaign, a move that had nothing to do with Senator Frist. You seem to be saying that Senator Frist has even more influence and importance than I have thought, although I must admit he is the politician I most admire. Let's see, Senator Thompson didn't have the energy to campaign, so that is Senator Frist's fault, he never endorses Governor Romney, but a former staffer goes to work for him, so that is somehow Senator Frist's fault too??? Wow!!! pretty impressive. Then McCain loses, so somehow that is the fault of Republican values which Mr. McCain didn't believe in and refused to make a part of his campaign. And yes, it was the economy. It was also the charismatic Barack Obama, and the opportunity people saw to vote for the first black candidate. By the way, Senator Frist's numbers in Iowa weren't the reason he didn't run for re-election or for the Presidency. Actually his poll numbers in Iowa were pretty good. Oh yeah, in 1994, Senator Frist made a pledge to the people of Tennessee that he would only serve two terms, Dave L. That's why he didn't run for reelection. He is a man of honor and integrity. He is also a young man, and we have not heard the last of him. The United States of America could do a lot worse than electing a Bill Frist as President, or to any other office that he chooses to run for. I am first and foremost a realist, and I have seen nothing over the last few years to make me change my opinion of Bill Frist. He is one of the best and brightest our country has to offer. We should all be so lucky to have him get back into politics.

• Dave L.

  12/09/2008 05:00 PM

  Ginny Desiderio,

  While I appreciate the “importance” Frist once had, I am a realist as well.

  While I value and practice “conservative” values in my life, I am not one to try and legislate my values. They are of course my values and others may have their own. Keeping my house is enough of a challenge.

  Back to Frist and his respect, respect limited to a portion of the GOP only.

  A simple example of this may be in order. Early on the previous election Sen. McCain was in dead last.

  Along comes Frist supporting former Sen. Thompson; even having his former staff member Bill Witcherman as an advisor on social conservative issues.

  Lets digress a moment. Witcherman came to Frist from the Christian conservative groups (Dr. Dobson) then returned to them after Frist left office.

  
  Now, Thompson drops out after a while, Witcherman goes to the front-runner Romney in the same capacity. Guess what, Romney drops in the polls, McCain make a resurgence.

  In time McCain wins and each person the Frist / Witcherman team worked with dropped and lost.

  Along comes the convention and guess what? The very “values” espoused by this team were, through the amendment process, reinserted into the Party Platform after the committee removed most trying to make a big umbrella to encompass the center right and moderate Independents.

  Guess what, McCain went from a big lead (no, it was not the economy) to another loss.

  No, we cannot win anything anymore with Frist. He himself saw the writing on the wall during the 2006 Mid-Term elections when conducting polling in Iowa for his own presidential run. The numbers were so bad he retired from politics rather than, as planned, run for the GOP nomination.

  Frist and his support need to stay retired, his time has passed.

  Dave L.

• Jim Jeffers

  12/09/2008 10:40 AM

  Chip

  Look forward to you being the RNC and certainly hope this happens. As you may be aware, I worked with your dad at TDOT and know what a great man and leader he was there. I certainly enjoyed my time working for him and meeting you. I know you are of the same caliber as your dad and I look forward to you being in this position.

  Best of Luck!
  Jim Jeffers

• Joan Varga (Joan of Argghh!)

  12/09/2008 08:58 AM

  Mr. Saltsman, I already like your ideas better than those of Mr. Steele. However, if your chairmanship means we have to prop up Huckabee as our next losing candidate, I will have to demur on any sort of endorsement.

  I get the feeling, from the comments, that Mr. Steele's site and yours are supposed to be for a cheering section, and if I've missed yet another elitist Republican political cue, I apologize for my obtuseness.

  As a Christian, I am loathe to see the RNC falsely pandering to Christians and setting us up for further targeting by the Media as idiots, pariahs, and bigots. The Left has won the whole false debate on Separation. Time to go with it and let the Christians fend for themselves. We are quite capable.

  As a Republican, I have been ashamed of our party's inability to think outside of the DC box. Here's an idea: instead of lining the pockets of politicians, how about training young lawyers to defend the small businesses and the middle class against IRS terrorism? Have you ever stared down the barrel of that particular fright? The Left has manufactured a victim class and has milked it for votes. Well, there is a victim class for real and the RNC hasn't begun to defend it. Not in 40 years have I seen a street-level commitment to the taxpayer workhorse.

  Here's another thought: I will donate as much as I can to the party, if they will promise to bail out the MSM outlets with RNC money, in exchange for premium access. Money should be available for educational programs on television, for elementary schools' programs, and high-profile community scholarship programs for young entrepreneurs.

  We keep losing the young vote because we start way too late. The hand that rocks the cradle these days happens to be the State and the Media hand. Fact of life at this point. You fight it, you're going to lose. Better to own it.

  We're 40 years behind Bill Ayers and the Education Mafia on this.

  Good luck, etc.

• ruver west

  12/09/2008 08:52 AM

  dave – i dont usually think in terms of generalities but would you consider the numbers in my county/state for a moment?

  the numbers show more women voted for obama than men by 2%. my county is kind of a man's mans county if you will – their jobs pay top dollar and are available by the thousands ... women's jobs are fewer and most pay just over minimum wage.
  
  i believe it was assistance women are hoping far from obama which sadly wont be forthcoming.

  at another time and space republicans might have won based on advertising president bush and republicans making available small business loans which women were recipients of more of those dollars than men ....

  perhaps we did not draw the correlation strongly enough between the stated fact that obama intends to increase mom and pop small business taxes and that effect upon women who could and do have their businesses? .... or perhaps the media didnt show mccain/palin stressing this fact? perhaps republicans simply didnt contribute enough dollars to advertise most of our ideas?

  the important thing is we lived to fight another day and selecting a 'how to guy' is what this site is about.
  

• Ginny Desiderio

  12/09/2008 07:57 AM

  Dave L, I simply can't let your comment go unanswered. The support of Senator Bill Frist is incredibly important to anyone running for RNC Chair. Senator Frist is well respected around the country, and will be an asset to Chip because of his contacts within the party. As far as Republican core principles, they are no more exclusionary than the liberal principles of the Democrats. Our Party has at its very foundation certain core principles. I do not agree with every one of them, but I do support strongly those that I agree with. Chip Saltsman will be a great RNC Chair and Senator Frist will be a great help to him.

• Lynn

  12/09/2008 01:38 AM

  Thanks, Chip, for all you did for Gov. Mike Huckabee. If it weren't for Fred Thompson in SC, Gov. Huckabee would probably have been our nominee...and I believe that with Mike's qualifications & personality... and your skills together to run a highly effective, frugal, creative, original campaign... the November election would have ended much differently.

• Dave L.

  12/08/2008 08:11 PM

  Sir;

  Being supported by former Sen. Frist is one most assured way of NOT gaining the support of those who defected the GOP in 2008, those you refer to "Unfortunately, 20 percent of “conservatives” and 60 percent of “moderates” sided with President-elect Barack Obama."

  What was it or rather is it that caused this defection? You refer to as a solution and I quote "Unless we’re going to be relegated to irrelevancy, we must take the “members-only” sign off the clubhouse and replace it with a welcome mat: as a solution.

  Idealistic as it is, this will never, ever happen as long as your strategy relies on the same old rethotic you mention, "Republican resurgence must begin with a return to our longstanding ideals of principled conservatism and fiscal responsibility."

  It is these very "principled" values, principles that are exclusive not inclusive that are driving members away.

  Rebuilding the GOP and actually making strides forward does not require "strategy" rather it requires a real commitment to individual responsibility, not the current collective version. A version that seeks to foist a select value set on others.

  No, endorsement and support by former Sen. Frist is the death nell of your candidacy, not the beginning of a victiory for yourself or our cherished party.

  All In for REAL change,

  Dave L.
  Weston, WV

• Ginny Desiderio

  12/08/2008 07:47 PM

  I enjoyed hearing from Senator Frist and Lt. Governor Ramsey. They both understand completely the qualifications of Chip Saltsman, and I am sure will work as hard as they can for him.

• ruver west

  12/08/2008 07:11 PM

  thank you for your statements gentlemen.

  wow! money was not the republican long suit this past election....new ideas and new approach with chip saltsman’s leadership will certainly brighten our results in 2010. im hopeful mt saltsman will be the new rnc chairman