Battle Rages For RNC Chair

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Republicans

4687725Who knew the battle for the Republican National Committee chairmanship would be so entertaining?

First came the uproar over candidate Chip Saltsman's decision to distribute a CD with the parody song "Barack The Magic Negro" to committee members.

Then came yesterday's debate at the National Press club, about which we've just posted Dana Milbank's entertaining Washington Post column. Here's a bit:

"Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook," contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson's and Anuzis's knees. "That's probably more than these two guys put together, but who's counting, you know?" Acknowledged Saltsman: "I'm not sure all of us combined Twitter as much as Saul."

Anuzis claimed he had "somewhere between 2- and 3,000" Facebook friends, which prompted Blackwell to remind the audience that he has 4,000 friends on the social networking site by waving four fingers behind Anuzis's head.

The candidates were significantly more comfortable when asked how many guns they own. Duncan claimed four handguns and two rifles, Anuzis boasted of two, and Blackwell replied: "Seven -- and I'm good."

"In my closet at home," replied Saltsman, "I've got two 12-gauges, a 20-gauge, three handguns and a .30-06. And I'll take you on anytime, Ken."

Don't think the fun is over: Tomorrow morning at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington DC, the RNC will be holding a candidate forum for all the candidates for the chairmanship and other positions. The 168 members of the RNC will vote for their new leader on Jan. 28.