The American Spectator

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Re: RNC Rumble

By John Tabin on 1.6.09 @ 7:42PM

My laptop died yesterday afternoon, and with it went a post about the RNC debate yesterday. That's okay, though; all I really have to add to what Phil and Stacy have already reported is an observation about the peculiar nature of the Steele for Chairman campaign. Because Michael Steele is from Maryland, Washington is convenient for his supporters, and they were handing out Steele signs and stickers an hour before the event. Unfortunately for Steele, the Steele paraphenalia was mostly confined to the sides of the auditorium; the Committee members who actually vote for the chairmanship were seated in the middle of the auditorium behind the press tables. After the debate Steele was mobbed by well-wishers at the front of the room, while his rivals, like Mike Duncan and Ken Blackwell, slipped behind the press tables and started actually glad-handing the Committee members, which is to say securing votes. I did think that Steele came off as the most charismatic of the candidates on the stage (not that that's saying a whole lot), and weird things can happen in a six-way race with 168 voters, but for now it seems like Steele is basically making a big show of losing.