Chip Saltsman resigns from Joe Carr's campaign, supports Lamar Alexander

After learning of Joe Carr's decision to run for the United States Senate, Chip Saltsman has resigned from Carr's campaign efforts.

The entire letter is below: 

CHIP SALTSMAN

 August 20, 2013

Representative Joe Carr

PO Box 192

Lascassas, TN 37085

Dear Joe,

Having learned of your decision to run for the United States Senate, I must resign from your campaign. I signed up to help you run for Congress, not the Senate.

I have been a longtime supporter of Senator Alexander for many reasons, and I will continue to be a strong supporter. When I was Party Chairman in 2000, nobody believed we could beat Al Gore in his home state, but Lamar Alexander worked hard to make sure Al Gore would not, and did not, win his home state. Lamar traveled across the state to help candidates win local, state, and federal races. Most importantly, though, Lamar always told me if conservatives worked hard, and governed effectively, we would soon control state government. And he was right! Due to the hard work of Lamar Alexander, and because he stayed true to his conservative ideals, our state has no income tax, great roads with no debt, and an economy that is the envy of most states.

It is because of Lamar Alexander that people like you have the honor of serving in the majority of the state legislature. It is because of Lamar Alexander that our children and grandchildren go to better schools, and are able to compete for better jobs. It is because of Lamar Alexander that we live in a state people want to move to, start a family in, start a business in, and even retire to. I am honored to support Lamar Alexander for re-election.

Sincerely,

Chip Saltsman

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More on Mark Winslow sues State GOP

Mark Winslow

Mark Winslow, the former Chief of Staff of the Tennessee Republican Party is suing the Tennessee Republican Party. He already had a law suit pending against U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Chip Saltsman, a former top aid to Fleishmann. He amended his suit to include the State GOP. He is seeking $500,000 in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages from Saltsman.

This conflict stems from the 2010 primary campaign between Robin Smith and Chuck Fleishman. Winslow was working for Robin Smith in that campaign. Prior to that campaign, Smith was State Party Chair and Winslow was her Chief of Staff.  According to sources, shortly before Smith left office as Chair of the Party, she gave Winslow a contract, which is unusual.  When Devaney took over as Chair of the Party, naturally he wanted to select his own chief of staff, so to terminated Winslow and awarded him severance pay of $12,504.

During the Fleishman-Smith campaign, someone released Winslow's payroll records to Saltsman and the Fleishman campaign ran an add critical of Smith's management of the Republican Party. She had left the party with a substantial debt. The salary and bonuses paid Winslow, who by then was working on Smith's campaign, was used as an example of her poor management of the party.  I don't know how much Winslow was making and do not know how much is reasonable for that position so I don't know if he was paid lavishly or not. As far as leaving the party in debt, after a campaign it is not unusual for a State or local party to be broke or in debt, so again, I don't know if that was valid criticism or not.

The Fleishman-Smith campaign was hotly contested. There were twenty-one candidates vying for the seat left vacant by Zack Wamp who had chosen not to seek reelection so he could pursue a race for governor. In this crowed field, the two leading candidates were Fleishman and Smith.  Fleischmann put $544,000 of his own money into the campaign.  Former Arkansas Governor and Fox TV host Mike Huckabee endorsed Fleichman; the Club for Growth endorsed Smith. While the Fleishman campaign accused Smith of mismanagement of the Party, the Smith campaign ran ads calling Fleischmann a “slip-and-fall” attorney who had gotten rich by suing a local rifle club, Walmart and a church. Fleishman won the race by getting 30% of the vote to Smith's 28% , beating Smith by 1,300 votes out of 80,000 votes cast. After the primary, Smith refused to endorse Fleishman.

Winslow is suing, claiming he has been unable to get work as a political consultant due the damage the Fleishman campaign did to his reputation and charging that payroll records should not have been made public. Winslow is currently serving on the State Executive Committee of the State Party. In essence, he is suing himself. The party is already spending money on attorney's to represent itself in this matter. When the State Executive Committee meets in February, I would bet Winslow will get an icy reception.

Just to spread more light on who's who in this mess, Chip  Saltsman is also a  former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party and in 2008 was national manager of Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign.

For other reports on this issue see here and here. If anyone has insight as to what is going on or an opinion, please leave a comment. If you have a copy of the law suit, I would like to see it. If you would be so kind as to email it to me, I would appreciate it.

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Congratulations Michael Steele!

The Republican Party today chose former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele to be the next Chairman of the Republicans National Committee beating out four other candidates, including former President Bush's hand-picked GOP chief Mike Duncan. The race was hotly contested and it took six ballots before any candidate could get enough votes to win the election.

"Obviously the winds of change are blowing," said Mike Duncan as he bowed out of the race. I am very pleased that the winds of change are blowing in the Republican Party and I am pleased with the direction in which they are blowing. Mike Duncan was my least favorite candidate.

Earlier in the day Former Tennessee GOP leader Chip Saltsman withdrew his name. Saltzman had lessened his chances of being elected chairman when controversy erupted over a Paul Shanklin CD that contained the parody "Barack the Magic Negro." Saltzman had sent that CD as a Christmas gift to members of the RNC. I am glad he was forced to withdraw. The image of a Republican Party with a chairman who is racially insensitive is the last thing the party needs.

Recently I watched a debate between all of the candidates. At that time there were about eight or so people in the running. I knew I did not want Duncan or Saltsman to be selected and none of the others impressed me except for Michael Steele. I was hoping he would be elected but did not think it likely.

One of the things that I thought was revealing about that debate was that one of the questions asked of the candidates was the number of guns they owned. Some of the candidates owned small arsenals. Michael Steele was the only RNC candidate that said he did not own a gun. I was displeased that that was even a relevant question to ask. I am pleased that you do not have to be a gun owner to be elected chairman of the RNC.

I am also pleased that we selected a Black man. The Republican Party has nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to race. Clarence Thomas, J. C. Watts, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice are just a few of the prominent Black Republicans that come to mind. Since Blacks vote Democratic about 95% of the time, it is surprising we have as many prominent Black leaders as we do. However, with the country having just elected a Black person as President, we need to remind people that minorities are welcome in the Republican Party. If the party is going to win elections in the future we must attract more Black, Hispanic, and other ethnic voters. Having a Black man as leader of the party should help spread the word that we are an inclusive welcoming political party.

The party has a lot of rebuilding to do. We must reach out to those who do not now vote Republican. We cannot win elections by kicking out everyone who deviates from the most narrow of definition of what it means to be a conservative. Anyone who agrees with us more often than they agree with Democrats should be welcome to be a Republican. We need to be adding to our ranks not subtracting.

There is a segment of the party that is going to be displeased. They will accuse Steele of being a RINO, Republican in name only. “RINO” seems to be one of the worse epitaphs that one Republican can hurl at another. It is worse than “neo-con.” According to some Republicans, John McCain was a RINO. These are the same people who think George Will is a “so called conservative”. I don’t want the Rush followers or the Ron Paul followers to feel unwelcome in the Republican Party but neither should they be allowed to take it over. Those of us who think John McCain was the best candidate the party had to offer and who were actually proud of our candidate should not cower in face of those who showed only lukewarm support for the party’s candidate.

If you are going to reply to this blog post by calling me a RINO, go ahead. The winds of change are blowing in our direction. We RINO’s, like John McCain, and “so called conservatives,” like George Will, just got ourselves a good chairman for this party.

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Obama the Magic Negro

If you haven’t heard it yet, this is the song that is creating so much controversy. The lyrics of this parody are pretty much self-explanatory. The song takes it title from a March 2007 opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times that argued that Obama was the “magic Negro” and his candidacy helped white voters alleviate guilt over past racial injustices. This parody from Paul Shanklin was first aired on the Rush Limbaugh program. I am not offended by it. I find it humorous. Like a lot of humor, however, someone is bound to take offence. Mush of the media is characterizing the song as racist and as insulting to Barack Obama. I think it is a real stretch to label this as racist. The target of the parody is not even Obama but Al Sharpton and those who criticized Obama for being insufficiently “Black.”

Former Tennessee GOP leader Chip Saltsman, who was campaign manager for Mike Huckabee and is now a candidate for Chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent as a Christmas gift a Paul Shanklin CD to members of the RNC and other prominent people on his gift list. Among the 41 songs on the CD was this one. In my view it is just silly that this is an issue. I don’t think that giving a gift of a CD of political parodies should be reason to disqualify Saltsman for the position of RNC chairman. On the other hand, the world is not fair and the party needs a Chairman that can rebuild the party.
I am not concerned about this because I think Blacks will take offence and not support the GOP. Ninety-six percent of African Americans voted for Obama, which was an increase from the 90% who almost always vote for Democrats. The African American community is so tied to the Democratic Party that I doubt we will ever pry them loose. There are not enough Black votes in play to make a difference. My concern is that we will permanently loose those white voters who voted for the “magic Negro” if the Republican Party is perceived as tolerant of racist attitudes.

It is unfair I know and I hate that we have to succumb to political correctness, but now is not the time to stand up to the dominant political establishment and defend a conservative comedian. We have more important things on the agenda. We do not need this distraction. We need to choose our battles and now is not the time to battle extreme sensitivity and political correctness. Most people will never even hear the song to judge it for themselves; they will just hear that the Republican Party selected as their chairman someone who sent out a racist song that made fun of Obama.

If one has aspirations to be Chairman of the RNC, then one should send out tasteful paperweights that are a bust of Lincoln or maybe a brass elephant paperweight or a book of Ronald Regan quotations. Political humor is a landmine for a politician. Leave the promotion of political humor to Rush Limbaugh. The Party has enough problems without this. I am sympathetic to Saltsman, but we need to throw him under the bus and move on.

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