Conversations with Party Chairs: Ronna McDaniel of the RNC
GRACE XU: On Wednesday, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel joined Mo Elleithee, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service, for a conversation on campaigning during a global pandemic. This was the second part of GU Politics’ virtual forum event, “Election 2020: Conversations with Party Chairs,” which had featured Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez two days earlier.
The evening’s discussion began with the Chairwoman laying out where the race currently stands. She affirmed that the Republican Party was continuing to raise money, register voters, and expand their operations ahead of the November elections. Although the COVID-19 crisis has brought unprecedented challenges, McDaniel was confident in President Trump’s head-start with fundraising and his ability to rebuild the economy after the pandemic.
Elleithee followed up with a question about the Republican Party’s messaging strategy at a time when there is increasing anxiety over the economy and public health, as well as declining trust in President Trump’s handling of the crisis. McDaniel addressed these concerns, noting that “this pandemic is something the President had no control of” and “he is going to be better suited to bring us back.” While pushing back on polls highlighting disapproval of President Trump’s performance, she drew attention to his efforts to “harness the private sector” in providing testing and flattening the curve.
One of the most debated topics in recent news coverage of the coronavirus has been the issue of reopening, with many Republican governors seeking to reopen states ahead of even the President’s recommended timeline. With regard to how the RNC is handling these disparities, McDaniel emphasized that differences between federal governance and state policies actually fit with the Republican Party’s values. She not only alluded to states’ rights and the 10th Amendment, but also explained that the President recognizes there is not a “one-size-fits-all” standard for reopening states.
Since political campaigns draw substantial strength from grassroots engagement and community-building, McDaniel’s role as head of a national party has been transformed by social distancing measures. She recalled how the RNC rapidly shifted its strategy, switching from reliance on door-knocking to a “virtual operation” beginning in early March. In spite of these changes, McDaniel does not think Republicans have “lost any ground.” She instead stressed the importance of maintaining connections by checking in with people through Zoom calls and email exchanges.
Addressing the issue of fundraising when economic hardships are mounting across the country, McDaniel was firm in asserting that now is “not the right time” to be calling for donations. Campaigning has not been “on the President’s mind,” and it would “frankly be inappropriate.” She reiterated that the Party’s success thus far can only be attributed to the strong digital organization early on, which included an investment of millions of dollars into building out email lists and SMS text messaging. This has been “fuel for our small-dollar fundraising,” explained the Chairwoman.
A hallmark of President Trump’s campaign strategy has been his rallies. Although they are no longer possible under the current circumstances, McDaniel believes that President Trump has an advantage over Vice President Joe Biden, who only recently received the Democratic nomination and lacks any comparable channel for gathering data. However, she hopes the nation can get back “to the place where we can have rallies again.”
Both the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention are set to take place in August. Responding to growing concerns over the pandemic’s potential impact extending into the summer, McDaniel maintained that the RNC is going “full steam ahead planning a traditional convention” as required by the bylaws. In the meantime, “it is way too early to make a determination to cancel,” and any decision-making will occur near the end of June or early July.
In addition to the issue of reopening states, voting by mail and election integrity has emerged as subjects of contention between Democrats and Republicans. McDaniel argued that the central problem with nationalizing mail-in voting was varying levels of voting safeguards across states. Referring to the President’s stance, she discussed the need to let states take charge of “balancing those safeguards” in order to give voters “confidence in the process.” Addressing arguments about voter fraud, McDaniel also explained that an important distinction should be made between sending out ballots and ballot requests. While she expressed full support for the latter, she claimed the former would not give states enough time to audit their voter roll.
During the student Q&A session, McDaniel elaborated on the Republican Party’s broader strategy and President Trump’s leadership. She praised the President’s role in bringing a new constituency into the Party and expanding it to “places where it hasn’t been before.” In the long run, one of McDaniel’s priorities will be developing the GOP’s footprint and “showing up” in communities that Republicans typically do not win. In particular, Republicans are looking to flip Nevada, New Hampshire, and Minnesota.
The conversation concluded with final words of advice from Chairwoman McDaniel. She underscored the importance of coming together as a nation, rooting for success rather than partisanship, and realizing that “this is a time when we need to be rallying behind every leader.” Addressing students in the audience, she encouraged them to “find a candidate you believe in,” but also to “learn about [politics], get involved, and then…run for office.”
Grace Xu hails from Atlanta, Georgia and is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service studying International Politics.