Good Questions to Vote for in the ATR Debate

Tomorrow is the RNC candidates debate hosted by ATR. You can submit your question for the candidates and vote here.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Ron Paul activists have voted up the majority of questions con the site. Most of these questions deal not with the vital and necessary goal of getting more Republicans who supported Ron Paul involved in the process, but on policy questions like eliminating the Federal Reserve, Austrian economics, the Fair Tax and the 2nd Amendment that the RNC Chairman has absolutely no jurisdiction over.

Whether it's Ron Paul Republicans or movement conservatives or moderates, my message to all is one and the same: the RNC is not a policymaking body -- nor should it be. It cannot make Republicans in Congress spend less, worthy a goal as that might be. The RNC's job is to win elections -- period. That means the RNC is made up of good political people -- not policy wonks -- who with all due respect, you wouldn't want making policy.

All the candidates for RNC Chairman are good conservatives. RNC members should choose the one who will win elections. As I've written over the last few days, technology, strategy, and tactics are not the only things -- and success in these areas is inextricably linked to having a Republican message "we can believe in."

That said, technology, strategy, and tactics ARE an outsized concern of anyone leading a political committee like the RNC, and so it's important we probe the candidates on these matters. If you want to ask the powers-that-be about what the GOP's philosophy should be, ask John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and the Republican governors.

Below the fold are the top 10 questions that are relevant to the job of RNC Chairman, including some Ron Paul questions and a question about the authenticity of our small government message. I will be voting all of these up and encourage you to do the same, regardless of whether you agree with the specific angle the questioner is taking. I will also be exercising my right to vote down any questions that are not relevant to the job of RNC Chairman, ensuring a 2 vote swing from irrelevant to relevant questions. I went through every question for about 10 pages to generate this list.

In light of the success of the Ron Paul presidential campaign attracting large numbers of young activists to the conservative cause, what specifically will you do to ensure they become Republicans?

-- Jon Seehusen

Bailouts, senior prescriptions, No Child Federal school governance...Please explain how the GOP-brand effectively stands for "smaller, less intrusive government" today, and your plans to restore that brand.

-- BrianB

Having been a lifelong Republican for over 30 years, and having participated since the last election cycle at the precinct committee officer level of Republican party politics I am gravely concerned that the Republican Party is soley interested in running candidates who have paid their dues, so to speak, instead of supporting/running the right candidate for the right moment running on the right issues/message at the right location, i.e candidates who can win races. ...

-- Blonduxo (goes on to be a Ron Paul question, but these concerns are very valid)

While many people in the party have spoken about the importance of young voters, few have offered concrete plans on how to work from within the RNC to attract young voters back to our party. What, specifically, would you do to make the Republican Party an attractive option for voters 18-29 years old? Please include any ideas you have for specific programs, policy initiatives, or organizational restructurings you would commit to as RNC Chairman.

-- Charlie Smith

What will you do as RNC Chairman to ensure there is no self-dealing among RNC staff and consultants and as part of efforts to mitigate consultant self-dealings will you commit to legitimately bidding out all of the RNC's vendor contracts for mail, phone banking, and GOTV programs?

-- Erick Erickson

Considering the Institutional advantage Democrats enjoy in the educational system and at the collegiate level, Republicans have to work even harder than Democrats to attract the youth vote. What strategies would you employ to spread the Republican message to young people, and to promote the party as an organization they would want to associate with?

-- Locke

As chairman of the RNC, will you pledge to keep the party OUT of primaries and not endorse or oppose any primary contender either publicly or privately; publicly vet federal candidates based on the standard of the party platform and the U.S. Constitution; and open the party back up to ALL conservatives, even those who might disagree with some elected officials' policies?

-- ProfG

What is your vision for the technology necessary for our future and what steps will you take to make sure the RNC and the Republican Party compete with the most current technology available in the future?

-- Sharon Day

I am a contributor to the blog HipHopRepublican.com in the past the Republican Party was seen as the party for civil rights and equal opportunity. Today when people think of Republicans they see the party as belonging only to white people. Whether this accusation is fair or not it is a view shared by thousands of Americans. How will the new RNC Chair person specifically address these concerns and what specific tools will it use to improve its outreach to Latino, Asian and African American communities?

-- Terrence

What three issues do you think conservatives can rally behind and can be used to defeat liberals in the 2010 election?

-- Slick3627