Ken Blackwell for RNC Chair?

Another hat may get into the ring for RNC chair - Ken Blackwell of Ohio. Blackwell, a former Mayor and City Councilman from Cincinnati, was also Ohio Secretary of State and State Treasurer, Under Secrtary of Housing & Urban Development under Bush Sr., as well as US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission. He lost the 2006 Ohio gubernatorial race to Ted Strickland. Blackwell is a well known conservative columnist at Townhall (like Fred Thompson) and is a strong propenent of limited ogvernment and a flat tax. Blackwell espoused the following principles in his failed 2006 run in an interview with Terence Heffrey:

"When Blackwell was running for governor of Ohio in 2006, I asked him what he believed to be the core principles the Republican Party must defend. "First, that the individual is at the center of our political system, not the state, not government," he said. "I believe in limited government. I actually believe that free men and free women and free markets can overcome any kind of economic challenge."

"I trust in people to make good decisions," he added. "I understand there are things, but only a limited number of things, that government can do that individuals and communities of individuals cannot do by themselves."

Club for Growth President Pat Toomey appears inclined to support Blackwell, stating:

"I think Ken would be a great chairman," Club for Growth President Pat Toomey told me this week. "He understands the importance of holding the coalition that can restore the Republican Party to its majority. He's a solid conservative. He's a very appealing guy. He will go over well with not just the Republican base but also with the moderate Republicans and independents that we need to attract and energize. "I think he would be a great choice," said Toomey."

Like another RNC candidate, Michael Steel, Blackwell is African-American. Blackwell's latest op-ed at Twonhall is here. In it he reminds readers that things looked pretty dark for the GOP after the 1992 election defeat, but the party took both houses of Congress just two years later.