The Race for Chairman: Comparing the PACs

It's no surprise that I am a big believer in Fred Thompson.  I was making the case for Fred several months before getting involved with his campaign.  He is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the party - small government, personal responsibility, Federalism, and traditional values.

In looking at the race for RNC Chair, count me among the many voices who have made the argument that Fred should be our guy. As General Chairman of the party, he would be fantastic.  He is solid on principles, good on camera and able to articulate our party's message in a way that resonates with real people, and firmly committed to electing solid conservatives.

It's that last point that leads me to write this post. 

I have heard a number of people talking up Michael Steele as a potential party chair. While I think Steele is an appealing candidate with a great narrative (I love that he used to be a monk), I have to judge him on performance leading an organization like the RNC.

Steele has, most recently, been the Chairman of GOPAC.  If that name is familiar, it's because of the tremendous role it played in the '94 revolution. It was once a powerhouse in GOP campaigns.  It provided candidate training nationwide and recruited some great candidates.

Under Michael Steele, as of October 15, GOPAC had raised a whopping $77,135 this year.  Of that, it gave just over $29,000 to candidates - with $5,000 of that going to Steele's own campaign in Maryland.

By comparison, Fred Thompson launched FredPAC at the beginning of September - just 60 days before the election.  In that 60 days, Fred contributed $42,000 to candidates, recorded ads and robo-calls for GOP candidates, and criss-crossed the country trying to elect Republicans and the McCain-Palin ticket.

In trying to answer the question "Who is better able to rebuild the party, raise money, and actively campaign for our candidates?" I think we need to look at what the candidates have done to actually help candidates. 

Given that Steele raised very little, contributed very little, and took 17% for himself, I'm just not sure he's the best guy to dig us out of this particular hole.