Meet the New RNC Boss – Same as the Old RNC Boss

Ronna McDaniel managed to avoid the fallout from the Republican Party’s less-than-inspiring performance in the 2022 midterm elections as she secured a fourth consecutive term as Republican National Committee (RNC) chair on Friday, Jan. 27. McDaniel secured the votes of 111 of the 168 committee members – 167 of whom cast a ballot – fending off a challenge from Harmeet Dhillon, who is also an RNC member.

Kevin McCarthy’s painful but perhaps inevitable victory in the election for speaker of the House of Representatives was a sign that the GOP isn’t about to make any bold changes despite almost snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in November. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is still at the helm for Republicans in the Senate. So, McDaniel’s win appears to confirm that no one is going to be blamed – or shoulder the responsibility – for squandering what was a very achievable Senate majority and almost burning what probably should have been a 30-seat pickup in the House.

Then again, there’s always Donald Trump, so let’s just say it was his fault and get back to business as usual. Nice work if you can get it – or, perhaps, if you can avoid doing it.

RNC Show Must Go On

An eleventh-hour endorsement of Dillon from GOP superstar Ron DeSantis wasn’t enough to buck the establishment. The member from California got 51 votes, which wasn’t a bad showing, at all. Also-rans included MyPillow founder and CEO, Mike Lindell, who garnered four votes and Lee Zeldin, who wasn’t actively running for the job and received the support of one committee member. Trump has had good things to say about both Dillon and McDaniel and endorsed neither of them.

"With all of us united, the Democrats are going to hear from us in 2024," McDaniel said after the RNC result was in. Yes, Ma’am – if you say so. If at first, you don't succeed...

The shadow of the former president and 2024 candidate lay across both of the main contenders. McDaniel was Trump’s choice to steer the RNC when he got elected in 2016. Dillon served as his legal advisor for a time. Ironic, then, that while many party figures and Republican operatives are trying to pull the GOP away from The Donald – and senior Republican figures point the finger at him for the 2022 debacle – his influence is still evident at the highest levels of party administration.

To be fair, no one can claim that Ronna McDaniel has been asleep at the wheel for the RNC. She has guided the hauling in of record contributions. But she doesn’t exactly have a winning record when it comes to federal elections. One might say she is practically 0 and 2, between the midterm contests of 2018 and 2022.

So, the show goes on with nary a blink of an eye as the RNC, congressional GOPers, Trump, and whoever else throws their hat in the ring look to 2024. Given the Senate landscape, Republicans are, this time around, looking at the very real prospect of a workable majority in the 119th Congress. Preserving and perhaps expanding their fingertip hold on the House could be more of a challenge. Surely, too, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is within easy grasp, considering the parlous state of America’s economic and social cohesion. Then again, after what happened in 2020, who knows? Success in 2024, of course, will all but guarantee no change of direction or strategy – at least not in terms of the RNC or the GOP’s congressional caucus. What would failure bring? Some retooling, at last, perhaps? Or will the old guard just blame Trump, again, and carry on as if nothing is amiss?