Chip Saltsman For Chairman: Jump On His Magic Band Wagon [stupid people]

In recent news, former Mike Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman announced his candidacy for Republican National Committee Chairman. Can you think of a worse job (other than being president, given the present circumstances)? I'd just assume volunteer to be chained to a chair and be forced to watch Highlander The Series in its entirety than be responsible for leadership of the Republican National Committee. As you may know, Mr. Saltsman has impeccable taste in music. He got into a little bit of trouble by gifting some fellow members of the Republican National Committee a mixed CD...how sweet. Actually, the CD was very sour. It included a song, first made public by that wingnut Rush Limbaugh, called "Barack The Magic Negro." Wow, stay classy Chip!

So what credentials does Huckabee's man bring to the table to be head of this down and out political party? My first stop was stop at his Facebook page. Big mistake. I was instantly greeted with a supposedly candid shot of Chip, nonchalantly holding a rifle on his shoulder while wearing some dopey orange colored hunting apparel. He looks like some sort of walking clothing ad for a bizarro JCPenney Conservative Southern Edition Catalog. After enduring that pukefest, I re-embarked on my quest for stupid news and performed some exhaustive internet searches (not really) to find out who this conservative buckhunter really was.

Wikipedia lists Chip Saltsman as 'an American political operative'. (Ed: The Wikipedia page has now been edited to 'an American politican'. Chip's guys work quickly) Take that how you will but we know what that means. As then Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, Saltsman helped deliver Al Gore's home state to Bush. This proved to be a launching pad for Saltsman's career, as he began to be seen as a young dynamo within the Republican Party. Since then he's given political advice to some powerful Republicans, including Senators Fred Thompson and Bill Frist. So fast forward to today.

As many were throwing their hat into the ring for the presidential primaries, Saltsman now a star within his party, was helping to prepare Frist for a run at the nation's top job. In the end, Frist decided not to run and such sealed Saltsman's role in the 2008 Republican Presidential Primaries. In February 2007, Saltsman became the National Campaign manager for Evangelical candidate, Mike Huckabee. Although extremely telegenic, Huckabee was facing the daunting task of going up against more recognizable Republican candidates such as John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Rudy Guilliani. After surprising some pundits, by finishing second in the Iowa Caucus and eventually winning some southern states, the Huckabee-Saltsman love affair had to come to in but not after finishing the Repbulican primaries with 270 delegates.


Obviously, Chip Saltsman has the credentials and the support of some fairly formidable players within his party and is a viable candidate but they should really ask themselves this question: Do we really want appoint a Republican National Committee Chairman who revels in racist idiocy like "Barack The Magic Negro?" What kind of message does Chip Saltsman for Chairman of the Republican National Committee send out to the general public. If you happen to be conservative and Republican and not a racist, will that affect your party affiliation?

In the end, Saltsman will probably get the job because thats just how things work. I for one though, can't wait for this maniacal Chip Saltsman for Chairman hoopla to die down because one way or another the Republican National Committee will find a way to hate on a brotha.



Other Tennessee politicians on Bumblr:

• The Basil Marceaux Transcript