IT'S NOT JUST THAT HE'S WET ON ABORTION...:

The RNC Chairman's Race: Updated Handicapping (Marc Ambinder, 03 Dec 2008, The Atlantic)

Who will Sarah Palin endorse for RNC chair? Who's the Palin candidate? Saxby Chambliss's victory has certified the Palin wing of the party as the center of its gravity -- at least, that's how the GOP seems to be treating things. If Chambliss's words are indicative of GOP thinking, Republican activists and conservatives, then Palin must have a pretty tight grip.

The answer to the question is that Palin hasn't endorsed an RNC candidate, and her political advisers aren't saying whether she will. [...]

[Michael] Steele is the semi-celebrity candidate, owing to his Fox News contributorship, his Senate race, and his chairmanship of GOPAC. He's enlisted several prominent GOP consultants, including former RNC political director Blaise Hazelwood and media strategist Curt Anderson, to help his bid. There's a little bit of vendor envy between the Duncan factions and the Steele factions. Steele's biggest demerit isn't his past murkiness on abortion; it's his endorsement of the centrist Republican Leadership Council, a bugbear to party conservatives.

Steele is the best communicator of the bunch, although Dawson, Duncan and Anuzis have all been given informal tryouts on Fox News. He's got the clearest message; being black, he understands explicitly what the party has to do to expand its base without compromising its principals. Anuzis argues that Republicans need a tonal adjustment; what works for a Republican in Michigan isn't going to be what works for a Republican in Mississippi. He's also pushing technology and transparency. Duncan touts his fundraising successes and his knowledge of the party. On the other hand, he's definitely not the change candidate.

...but that he thinks the Reagan amnesty was wrong and opposes the next. Being anti-Latino is no way to return to governance.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 3, 2008 7:13 PM