If Reince Priebus lives up to his potential, the Republican National Committee may have elected a chairman that will be around for a very long time.
Priebus had a very successful stint as the party chairman in Wisconsin – picking up two U.S. House seats and capturing both houses of the state’s legislature.
He promises a no nonsense, no drama approach to leading the party.
“I will run a tight ship at the RNC,” he has said. “I will keep expenses low. I will put in strong and serious controls. We will raise the necessary funds to make sure we are successful. We will work to regain the confidence of our donor base and I will personally call our major donors to ask them to rejoin our efforts at the RNC.”
He’s also respected.
Case in point, look at the reaction from his counterpart, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate:
“Congratulations to Reince Priebus. I will miss our spirited – and civil – debates on the direction of our state and our nation. While we don’t agree politically, I am grateful for his generous spirit during the hard-fought campaign season behind us – and in the hard-fought campaigns yet to come. And while of course we don’t wish him luck, we do wish the first national party chairman from Wisconsin well in his new endeavor.”
When it comes to politics, that is about as high a praise as you’ll get from the “other” political party.
I wonder what Tim Kaine thinks? Let’s hope he rises above the fray and represents “the Virginia way” well.
Update: Kathy Terry, one of Virginia’s national committee members, had this to say about Priebus:
The RNC members sent a very clear message in their votes for Chairman that they wanted change. I am very excited about our new RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus. He is a solid social and fiscal conservative and I believe he will work hard to raise the necessary money to beat Obama in 2012. My first impressions of him are that he is a hard worker and will do much to restore credibility to the RNC. Although he is from Wisconsin, I have already talked to him about having RNC meetings in Right to Work states, such as Virginia. I am confident that Virginia Republicans will be very pleased with our new leader as they get to know him.
