Live from the RNC Meeting: Nominating Ken Blackwell and Michael Steele

I’m at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting, where the party members will choose their next chairman. Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is the first candidate to be nominated (the order is random), and Gary Jones of the Virginia GOP rises for a sort of scattered nominating speech.

“It’s funny that this is Superbowl weekend, you know,” Jones said. “Ken Blackwell has a 13-3 record of winning elections. Leadership matters. Nobody thought the Cardinals could make it to the Superbowl, and then they picked Kurt Warner.”

Former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele’s nominating team call him a “quality man” and a “natural leader” who understands the media.

“He’s prepared to be on the Chris Wallace Show this Sunday,” says a Florida Republican. “He’s ready to take on Bob Beckel.”