Chip Saltsman was always a long-shot for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee and probably didn't help himself much by trying to woo RNC members by distributing a CD featuring the offensive "Barack the Magic Negro" song and then blaming the whole thing on the media.
But, as it turns out, there might have been other factors at work - namely, the support of Mike Huckabee, who came out with an early and strong endorsement of his former campaign manager and, in doing so, quite possibly doomed his hopes, as Marc Ambinder explains:
Tennessean Chip Saltsman's bid was clipped early on when former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee began to make calls on his behalf. As there is no frontrunner for the 2012 nomination - not even Sarah Palin merits that designation - the committee doesn't want to endorse a chairman who is beholden to a particular candidate.
And now that the election is coming down to the wire, Hotline On Call is reporting that Saltsman might not even manage to make it onto the ballot and appears to have all but given up:
Sources say Chip Saltsman, former chairman of Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, is unlikely to meet the threshold to get on the ballot for Republican National Committee chairman. Rules require each candidate to be endorsed by the majority, or two of three members, of three state delegations. He hasn't been spotted at the committee meeting at the Capital Hilton either.
On Call also reports that supporters of Ken Blackwell, the designated choice of the Religious Right, are already being approached by different candidates' campaigns seeking their support on the assumption that Blackwell will go down early once the voting begins, with one insider saying "He's roadkill."
