My experience working under five chairs in four different positions at the Republican National Committee, as well as being a “client” of the RNC while serving as Executive Director of the New Jersey Republican Party, has given me a unique vantage point to assess the effectiveness of the organization in an election cycle, as well as the benefits of different leadership styles and skill sets. The chairmen I have worked with — Fahrenkopf, Barbour, Gilmore, Racicot and Gillespie — all had their own unique attributes. But there are several constants to successful party leadership: political savvy, tactical knowledge, communication skills, people skills, fundraising ability and drive. The reality is that while all these attributes are important, major donor fundraising is the essential component that allows the others to follow, and unfortunately major donor fundraising at the RNC has become nonexistent over the past two years. My purpose here is to respectfully suggest to RNC members that Ann Wagner is the one candidate for RNC chair with a proven track record of national major donor fundraising.
Maria Cino is an indisputably talented manager, and Reince Priebus did a fantastic job on the local level with the Wisconsin party in 2010. Only Ann, however, was part of President George W. Bush’s fundraising leadership and served as co-chair of the RNC for the record-breaking 2003-2004 election cycle, when the RNC raised over $250 million. More recently, she served as chair of Roy Blunt’s campaign for US Senate in 2010, which raised $12 million and defeated a strong Democratic opponent. Ann, alone among the candidates, has successfully led Republican fundraising efforts at all levels over the past decade.
Fundraising is necessary, but not sufficient, for an organization to be effective. Successful political organizations also need innovation and adaptability. In 2001, while Wagner was co-chair, the RNC began exploring what lessons could be learned from the 2000 election. After expansive research, control groups and testing of political mobilization techniques, the 72-hour program emerged. This program used test races to determine the effectiveness of various techniques, and the result was to re-emphasize grassroots organizing and person-to-person contacts over paid media. Ann was involved at all phases of the initiatives that evolved into the vaunted 72-hour program. Of course, many talented people throughout the RNC and state parties also worked on this seminal project, but Ann lent staff, energy and focus to it. Her office took the lead on several of the voter contact and voter registration experiments, and throughout Ann helped sell the project’s overall ideas to the party leadership.
Ann understands we need to make similar changes now. The political and cultural landscape in America has changed and the Republican Party’s tactics need to change too. One new idea she has proposed is building online activist hubs called “virtual precincts.” Through this and other ideas, I am confident that she will foster a culture of innovation and experimentation. But these new ideas will not come at the expense of good, old-fashioned hard work and grassroots campaigning. When it comes to campaigning, Ann has always talked about the need to “meet the voters where they are,” and her track record supports that philosophy.
Ann’s experience and leadership ability, along with her political savvy, tactical knowledge, communication skills and people skills, will make Ann a successful chair.
As RNC co-chair, Ann was a critical part of the Republican successes in the 2002 and 2004 elections. She traveled to nearly every state to help state parties and candidates with grassroots events and fundraising. She was deeply involved in RNC fundraising, meeting with potential donors and keynoting major donor events. She also led the member relations section of the RNC and built strong connections with state chairs, RNC members and key state party staff. She listened to party leaders and grassroots activists and her door was always open to someone with a good idea.
Her experience in Missouri also helped prepare her to be RNC chair. As chair of the Missouri Republican Party, she took a moribund organization and infused it with new blood, new ideas and new money. She twice successfully led the Republican redistricting effort in the state, and Ann has accomplished a lot over a long period of time in Missouri. Most importantly, however, when she has been in charge, Republicans have won elections, as most recently evidenced by Sen. Roy Blunt’s successful campaign, which Ann proudly chaired.
One of the secrets to Ann’s effectiveness is that she has worked her way up the ladder in politics. She started as an activist, became a local committee member and then a state leader. Ann can work with grassroots activists because she is one. She understands what’s needed for a successful campaign because she has run them, and she will work well with the state parties when she’s RNC chair because she was a state party chair. As has been said about Ann many times, “she gets it.”
As chief of staff for Ann when she served as RNC co-chair, I saw first-hand her leadership abilities. She led by example through her hard work and dedication. When dealing with people, Ann was very skillful, knowing when to push and when to tread lightly. As she referenced at the candidates’ forum last Monday, sometimes she administered “tough love.” I learned a lot working for Ann and believe that Ann is the right candidate at the right time to deliver that tough love our beloved national committee needs.
NOTE: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Roy Blunt knocked off a sitting Democratic senator. In fact, the Senate seat that Blunt won in November 2010 was vacated by Republican Senator Kit Bond.
Dean Armandroff is a Republican political and policy strategist who has served five different RNC chairmen, including as Chief of Staff for Co-Chair Ann Wagner from 2001 to 2005.