Dem
47
GOP
53
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) thinks the Republican Party's HQ has become too cautious, too staid, too by-the-book. And so, she has decided that she'd maybe like to bring a touch of crazy to the place. To that end, she said yesterday that she has a "bone to pick with the RNC," and that she's thinking about running for chair of the GOP.
The Representative is being very clear about her ultimate goal. There are two very big questions that she is not answering, at least not at the moment. The first is: What's the timeline here? The current RNC Chair, Joe Gruters, has been on the job less than a year, and he wants to stay for many years more. So, maybe she's talking about shooting for the post many years from now. Alternatively, it is true that a sitting president can effectively seat any chair he wants at any time he wants. So Luna could try to get the job on a shorter timeframe by making nice with Donald Trump. But she'd have to convince him that she will be better for Trump than Gruters, who is already a hardcore loyalist. So, that's a tough sell.
The other question is whether Luna would try to keep her current job AND be chair of the RNC. It's not impossible; Tim Kaine was simultaneously chair of the DNC and governor of Virginia for about a year, while Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) was chair of the DNC and a member of the House for nearly 5 years. That said, trying to run the party and be an officeholder tends to spread a person a little too thin. Also, it can create questions about whether the party organ is treating all candidates fairly (as with Wasserman Schulz and Hillary Clinton in 2016).
The thing that is most clear is that Luna sees a bright future for herself, and she's not going to be satisfied just being one of 435 members of the House. We tend to think she's a little too wacky to win outside of her current district. And we think she's poked the establishment in the eye enough times that she'll have a hard time getting the support she needs, either from Trump or from RNC delegates, to be elected chair. Still, as with Graham Platner, it's at least possible we're looking at the opening moments of what will become the Eighth Party System. So, it's worth a mention. (Z)