| | Conservative leaders endorse Blackwell for RNC chair
 Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell has some powerful names behind him in his run to chair the Republican National Committee. Blackwell is currently the Vice Chairman of the RNC Platform Committee.
Business leaders, political figures and self-appointed moral policemen are among those supporting Blackwell, including Reagan-era Attorney General Ed Meese, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and media mogul Steve Forbes. Their endorsements came after review of a January 2 questionnaire filled out by Blackwell and his five competitors: Saul Anuzis of Michigan, Katon Dawson on South Carolina, Mike Duncan of Kentucky, John "Chip" Saltsman of Tennessee and Michael Steele of Maryland.
Blackwell was a notable figure in the 2004 presidential elections, during which he was simultaneously the Chief Elections Official of Ohio and honorary co-chair of the "committee to re-elect George W. Bush." He was sued by the Ohio Democratic Party, accused of disenfranchising minority voters in part by forcing some to cast provisional ballots which were at additional risk of being thrown out if cast at the wrong precinct.
Blackwell, then a stockholder in the company, also ordered Diebold touch-screen voting machines over protest from Ohio State Senator Jeff Jacobson in July 2003, despite the machines' dubious accuracy and lack of paper trails. A fundraising letter sent to Ohio Republicans around the same time by former Diebold chairman Walden O'Dell sparked allegations of a conflict of interest with a statement that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president."
The presidential votes for Ohio, one of the key states in deciding the 2004 results, were also rerouted through a Tennessee web hosting company known for its close ties to the Republican Party and its hosting of external Bush administration e-mail accounts.
168 RNC members will elect their next chairman at a meeting in Washington, DC at the end of January.
|
