There may have been a time when the NRSC served a valuable function: accepting money from donors who believe generally in Republican principles, but don’t have the time or attention to determine which candidates are most worthy and/or needful of their support. This year’s debacle in Rhode Island, coupled with the ascendancy of the blogosphere, has convinced me that while the NRCC and RNC may yet have important roles to play, the time for the NRSC has come and gone.
The quote belongs to Leon H. Wolf of Red State, but the argument comes straight from the Matt Stoller school of “I don’t like it so it shouldn’t exist.” And with all due respect, it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen on the front page of the (handsomely redesigned) site. It’s one thing to criticize the NRSC’s decision to go negative on Laffey, as Dan McLaughlin does in the comments, but it’s another thing entirely to focus on one thing the NRSC does and argue that it’s all their good for. What’s more, it’s the sort of thing conservative bloggers would label “crazy” if they found it on MyDD.
The headline alone — “Disband the NRSC” — sounds like hyperbole, but reading further, it’s clearly not. What’s less clear is what Wolf thinks should replace it, and in the end he concludes, “the question still remains of whether the whole structure is even necessary.” Maybe I’m going too far here, but I think even Stoller — who has loudly and repeatedly criticized DCCC chairman Rahm Emanuel — recognizes the need for a party committee to coordinate campaign efforts. Someone needs to coordinate the strategery — right? Wolf says no:
With the rise of organizations like ABC Pac, which have handy websites with a slate of candidates that you can evaluate on your own and make an individual contribution to, the justification for a “donate and let someone else decide where it goes” organization like the NRSC – especially given its activity over the last two years – is rather slim.
Heck, why even bother having a Republican party in the first place?
That is to say, I think Wolf is being more than a little too optimistic. The Army of Davids are great at short bursts of brilliance, but you still need a brain trust and someone to work the phones. For one thing, online efforts like Rightroots and ActBlue pull in a fraction of the dollars raised at traditional rubber chicken dinners and through the mail, and probably will for at least a generation. For another, does Wolf believe, say, Red State is prepared to recruit candidates to run for office? To pick up the slack on independent expenditures? To maintain voter rolls and carry out a GOTV effort Democrats would call “exquisite”?
Moreover, just because people can sit down and figure things out for themselves doesn’t mean they will. Nor necessarily should they. Parties require interests and factions to make common cause and fashion a governing majority. They also lower the cost of civic involvement, saving people the hassle of figuring it all out for themselves (or trying to). The wider choice enabled by new technologies and communities, from ABC PAC to Red State, is a positive development. But the aforementioned groups supplement, rather than replace the organizations preceding them.
I hesitate to accuse Wolf of “triumphalism” — but it’s down to that or “naivete.” And at this point even I’m feeling kind of ridiculous for carrying on, in part because one other thing is certain: If the NRSC was “disbanded,” an RNSC or RSCC would quickly replace it.
