Live from the RNC: Blackwell Endorses Steele

As Ken Blackwell took the stage five minutes ago, Ana Marie Cox broke the news that he would drop out and endorse Michael Steele. Once he started talking about the “promise of the party of Lincoln,” everyone knew it. This shellacks a strategy that I had just heard developing over at Saul Anuzis’s camp: convincing everyone that Steele had tapped out in the low 60s.

Blackwell had 15 votes, and if they all go to Steele, that puts him at 77: nine votes shy of victory. Everyone’s watching to see whether Blackwell’s supporters move in unison, as they are largely conservative stalwarts and Steele is considered the most moderate candidate in the field.