Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips sent a letter to former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin asking her to run for chairwoman of the Republican National Committee.
"In order for the tea party, conservative movement to be successful, we have to have someone conservative running the GOP," Phillips told POLITICO. "She is the perfect candidate. If she does not try, I am afraid we will end up with just another establishment flunky running the party and the [Republicans in name] will control the party again."
"She has a track record of cutting wasteful spending, which has occurred under the watch of Michael Steele," he added. "Finally, she is simply a rock star. She can raise money like no one else out there that I can think of."
In his letter to Palin, Phillips pleaded, “We need you as [chairwoman] of the RNC. You have shown in the past no hesitation to take on the establishment. ... If we end up with establishment control of the GOP and their support for an establishment candidate in 2012, Obama and the socialists will have won."
Palin, however, declined Phillips's proposal in a statement released on Monday.
"I respect the desire to have someone in charge of the RNC who understands the wishes of the conservative grassroots and understands that power rests with the people and not the vested interests in D.C.," Palin said. "However, the primary role of the RNC chair seems to be that of fundraiser-in-chief, and there are others who would probably be much more comfortable asking people for money than I would be, and they would definitely enjoy it more."
Tea Party Nation, the second-tier national tea party group, has been plagued by reported financial troubles of its own, but under Phillips' leadership it has demonstrated an ability to maintain an outsized national political impact. Palin delivered the keynote speech at the group's first National Tea Party Convention in February, which was broadcast live on by Fox News.
Roughly a half of a dozen candidates are vying to replace RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who has yet to announce whether he will run for reelection.
The RNC race is the ultimate insider's game, with 85 votes from the 168 committee members needed to win. The current candidates from outside the national committee have struggled to gain traction. And some of the race's potential big name candidates -– including former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and former Oklahoma GOP Gov. Frank Keating -– have taken a pass.
In his letter, Phillips focused on much of the same criticism the current candidates have lobbed at Steele, contending that RNC fundraising problems prevented the committee from maximizing GOP gains in the 2010 midterms.
“Something is really wrong with the GOP when the RNC cannot fund a get out the vote campaign for midterm elections,” Phillips writes.
Steele and his allies have vigorously challenged critics, but criticism of the committee's behind the scenes organizational work in the 2010 cycle is widespread -- and what most of the RNC candidates seeking to replace Steele are pledging to reinvigorate.
A spokesman for the former Alaska governor did not respond to a request for comment, but a Palin RNC run seems improbable.
Palin has been an ardent Steele defender during some of the most trying times of his chairmanship. She even lent her high profile to a pair of RNC fundraising events in October in California and Florida.
Palin is also weighing a potential presidential run during the same cycle that Phillips would like her to serve as chairwoman of the party. Accepting such a post would effectively end her campaign before it starts.
